The religion of experience
Most of the world's religions are based on faith, such as faith in a supreme deity as the bridge linking believers and god, believers and clergymen, or believers and religious rites.
In Buddhism, faith plays lesser role compared to other religions, but this doesn’t mean there is no principle on faith in Buddhism.
We emphasise faith in the potentials of humans, which means having confidence in the fact that every human being can reach nibbana, the state of dukkha extinguishing. Thus, the faith in human potential is officially called bodhisaddha – faith in awakening.
The occurrence of faith in Buddhism also differs from religions that tend to emphasise that believers demonstrate faith first and seek answers later as to why they must have faith in something. Faith in Buddhism occurs after it has been clearly proven that the object of their faith is virtually good and valuable. We call this “faith that comes with wisdom” (saddhananasampayuta).
In other words, faith in Buddhism is faith that occurs after it has become proven by direct experience. Just as scientists have faith in the rules of nature because they have proved them to exist. The rule of gravity, for example, existed before Sir Isaac Newton made the discovery. Faith that occurs after the discovery of a truth is otherwise called acalasaddha, meaning unshakeable or unchangeable faith.
The canonical text, the Tipitaka, refers to the Kalama Sutta as the sermon delivered by the Lord Buddha to the community of the Kalamas. It reflects the attitude of Buddhism as the religion that put no emphasis on faith, but as the religion of “direct experience”, in which anyone can get to the core of the Lord Buddha’s teachings or the ultimate truth through “experimenting”.
The attitude on reaching the essence of the Lord Buddha’s teachings or the ultimate truth of Buddhism, which is in line with scientific methods, appears in Kalama Sutta as follows:
Maanussavena – be not led by report.
Maparamapraya – be not led by tradition.
Maitikiraya – be not led by hearsay.
Mapitakasampadanena – be not led by the authority of texts.
Matakkahetu – be not led by mere logic.
Manayahetu – be not led by inference.
Maakaraparivitakakena – be not led considering appearances.
Maditthinijhanakkhantiya – be not led by agreement with a considered and approved theory.
Mabhabbaruptaya – be not led by seeming possibilities.
Masamano no garuti – be not led by the idea, ‘This is our teacher.’
As has been mentioned, most religions primarily emphasise faith, but Buddhism focuses on wisdom, and the acquisition of wisdom does not place emphasis on academic knowledge, which highlights learned knowledge or ability to reason intelligently like academics. Wisdom in Buddhism is instead based on direct experience.
Why direct experience? Because wisdom from direct experience can eliminate dukkha, and virtually solve problems in life, especially dukkha in the mind.
In this world, there are numerous knowledgeable persons involved in Buddhism, but as long as they have never put the Lord Buddha’s teachings into real practice, they remain unable to eliminate their dukkha. At best they can serve as another “directional signpost”.
In Buddhism, what we require are spiritual travellers, “by themselves” primarily, with direct experience in dhamma practice. Otherwise, knowledge about Buddhism will be just another “body of knowledge”.
The essence of Buddhism is not in its status as a religion or another science to study, like economics, political science or law. The essence of Buddhism lies in its applicability and its ability to solve problems in present human lives, here and now!
