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THE SNOW LION BUDDHIST NEWS & CATALOG
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The Six Types of Faith: Great Perfection: Outer and Inner Preliminaries Book Excerpt
by the Third Dzogchen Rinpoche, trans. by Cortland Dahl, intro. by Dzogchen Ponlop
In the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, the Great Perfection is considered the most profound and direct path to enlightenment. The instructions of this tradition present a spiritual shortcut, a radically direct approach that cuts through confusion and lays bare the mind's true nature of luminous purity. For centuries, these teachings have been taught and practiced in secret by some of the greatest adepts of the Buddhist tradition.
Great Perfection: Outer and Inner Preliminaries contains detailed instructions on the foundational practices of this tradition from the Excellent Chariot, a Great Perfection instruction manual compiled by the 3rd Dzogchen Rinpoche. This profound text is a commentary on the Heart Essence of the Dakinis, the Khandro Nyingtik, the most central collection of Great Perfection teachings in the Nyingma lineage. Distilling the teachings of the Heart Essence of the Dakinis into an accessible, easy-to-practice format, the Excellent Chariot leads the reader through the entire Buddhist path, starting with basic Buddhist contemplations that work to dislodge deeply ingrained patterns of thinking and behaving, and continuing on to the most advanced and secret meditative practices of the Great Perfection. |
For many Westerners, faith is a loaded term. This excerpt, taken from Great Perfection: Outer and Inner Preliminaries by the Third Dzogchen Rinpoche, lays out a map of the types of faith and the signs of their attainment.
There are six kinds of faith: (1) inspired faith, (2) interested faith, (3) respectful faith, (4) lucid faith, (5) the faith of conviction, and (6) the faith of mental certainty....
The first of these six types is inspired faith. Inspired faith involves the wish to engage samsara and abandon nirvana, and the subsequent joy one takes in wholesome activities. With this wish, one hopes to eliminate samsaric suffering and attain the liberation of enlightenment, as well as to engage the factors that cause these two. In the same way that someone who desires wealth hankers after money, with inspired faith, one wishes to seek out the Dharma. In other words, one desires to cast aside suffering and its source, and to enter into the path and cessation.
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The signs that one is fully present to the significance of this form of faith are that one no longer takes any interest in worldly activities, but instead pays attention solely to study and contemplation. As stated in the Jewel Lamp Sutra:
Developing faith is the
prerequisite, like a mother.
It safeguards all positive qualities
and causes them to develop.
It clears away doubt and
delivers one from the stream.
Faith is what characterizes the
city of happiness and goodness.
Interested faith entails a sense of complete delight concerning the guru and the Three Jewels, as well as an interest in engaging these objects and relying on a guru. One is interested in accomplishing buddhahood, taking the Dharma as one's path, and having the Sangha as one's companion. One engages these factors like a child following after its mother. As a sign that interested faith has taken birth in one's mind, when one sees, hears, or just remembers the precious guru who set one on the path to liberation, one will be deeply moved and supplicate him or her.
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Cortland Dahl with the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
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It would not be possible to give out such positive energy unless we felt positive ourselves, and the more we exchange good things for bad, the better we feel. We are the source of healing and happiness. Our generosity and concern pacify every negative situation. As we send out kindness, we grow accustomed to being strong and kind. In this way, our positive feelings are constantly renewed and can never be exhausted.
Listing its benefits, the Jewel Lamp Sutra states:
If one has faith in the Buddha and Dharma,
Is faithful towards the activities of the buddha's heirs,
And has faith in unsurpassed enlightenment,
The mindset of a great being has taken birth.
In the Sutra of the Inconceivable Secret, it is written:
When one has faith, the buddhas will be seen, the Dharma heard, and one will pay respect to the Sangha. One will not decline from this state and will never be apart from these, no matter where one is born.
Respectful faith is based on a lucid frame of mind and involves being conscientious and industrious, as well as physically, verbally, and mentally respectful towards one's spiritual elders. Being physically respectful entails circumambulation, making prostrations, and other forms of disciplined behavior. Verbal respect involves offering praises and speaking respectfully. With mental respect, one sees someone or something as being worthy of receiving offerings and then acts accordingly. Just as subjects venerate their king, one is diligent and acts with decorum. As a sign that this has taken birth in your being, you will be free from any expression of pride or conceit when in the presence of a spiritual elder.
Explaining the benefits of this form of faith, the Jewel Lamp Sutra states:
The elimination of pride is the root of respect.
Faith will gather in basic virtues as if by hand.
And further, again from the Jewel Lamp Sutra:
With persistent conscientiousness, restrain the sense gates, calm your mind and safeguard the minds of others as well. When consistently pursuing the Dharma with such faith and conscientiousness, there will be no danger of falling to the lower realms.
Lucid faith is directed towards the positive qualities of one's superiors. With great faith in this object, one has a sense of clear delight, while at the same time remaining untainted by guile or deceit. "Lucid" refers to this type of vivid presence. Lucid faith has three aspects: that which concerns the apparent, relative side of virtue, that which concerns the virtue related to ultimate knowledge, and that which concerns the union of these two, the virtue of equality. Just as a ketaka gem can clear murky water, lucid faith clears away all negative mental activity. As a sign that this form of faith has taken root, one will take great delight in virtuous endeavors, while no longer becoming involved with negativity, whether physically, mentally, or verbally. The Jewel Lamp Sutra explains its benefits:
Faith creates great joy in the teachings of the victorious ones.
Faith is what characterizes the city of happiness and goodness.
Faith pervades all positive qualities and wisdoms.
With the faith of conviction, one will have no doubt concerning the dharmas of the ground, path, and fruition. With a correct understanding of the words of the scriptures and the logical proofs that elucidate the meaning of the ground, path, and fruition, and with a correct understanding of their actual meaning, one will engage them accordingly. This is the faith of conviction. It also involves conviction in the causes and results of samsara as factors that need to be eliminated, and in the causes and results of nirvana as factors that need to be taken up. With the faith of conviction, one is also convinced of the pointlessness of neutral activity. Engaging in virtue in this way is like engaging in farm work with the conviction that one will be able to reap the harvest of one's labors the following fall.
The sign that the faith of conviction has taken birth in one's being is a sense of certainty, a conviction in the Buddha as one's teacher, in the sacred Dharma of the Great and Lesser Vehicles as the teachings, and in the two Sanghas as the retinue, as well as in the representations of these three.
Its benefits are cited in the Jewel Lamp Sutra:
Faith clarifies and sharpens the faculties.
Others will not create difficulties for those with the strength of faith.
It is the basis for the elimination of afflictions.
And in the collected teachings of the bodhisattvas:
Faith is the desire to listen to the sacred Dharma,
And conviction in karma and its ripening.
Rely upon this and take delight in it.
The faith of mental certainty concerns the profound Dharma and has three aspects. It is the desire for the definitive meaning, the nature of reality. It also entails settling into the state that ensues once this has been perceived. Finally, it involves studying, contemplating, and meditating on the scriptures that teach this nature. With this kind of faith, one holds true reality in great esteem, just as if one had found gold beneath the earth. As a sign that this has taken birth, one will be driven to practice day and night.
Concerning its benefits, the Jewel Lamp Sutra states:
Faith is what brings the attainment of buddhahood.
And in the Noble Chandragarbha Sutra:
The faith of mental certainty in the Three Jewels
Is like a wish-fulfilling gem.
....faith is the foremost of the seven riches. As written in the Sutra of the Inconceivable Secret:
With faith, lucidity, sincere interest, and a clear mind, one will have no doubts, hesitations, or second thoughts about karma and its ripening. With sincere interest, realization, and conviction, one will know that virtuous and non-virtuous karma ripens and does not just disappear. With this knowledge, one will not engage in negativity, even at the cost of one's own life. Instead, one will engage in the tenfold path of virtuous activity. By being generous, one will gain wealth. By being disciplined, one will be reborn in the higher realms. By studying, one will become intelligent, and with meditation, all positive qualities will develop.
For those without the good fortune to connect with the Dharma and who don't have even the slightest trace of faith, there will be innumerable problems. In brief, like the impossibility of a boulder rising to the surface of the ocean, without faith you will never arrive on the high ground of liberation. Just as a ferry with no ferryman will not be able to ford a river, without faith you won't be able to cross over the river of existence. In the same way that someone whose arms have been amputated may visit a jewel isle yet still be unable to take advantage of its riches, without faith it will be impossible to incorporate any positive qualities into your own state of being. Just as a burnt seed will produce no sprout, without faith the sprout of enlightenment will never arise. Like a blind man in a temple, if you have no faith you will never see the light of the Dharma. Like a clever man falling into the pit of samsara, without faith whatever you do will end up as a samsaric activity. In short, the problem with having no faith is that attaining the enlightenment of liberation will be impossible. As written in the Sutra of the Ten Dharmas:
Wholesome qualities do not occur
In those who have no faith.
As shown here, not having faith is a great loss, so it must be developed.
There are various objects that can serve as a basis for developing faith. Inspired faith develops by seeing the nature of samsara. Interested faith will take root once one grows weary of friends who have a negative influence. Respectful faith grows from the extraordinary support of the jewels. Lucid faith develops from the support of the supreme object and [hearing inspiring] stories. The faith of conviction grows out of hearing about the principle of causality. The faith of contemplating the Dharma comes from hearing of the profound. Since it arises based on these objects, you must develop faith by making these factors your focal point.
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