Saddha

Faith (Pāli: saddhā, Sanskrit: śraddhā) is an initial acceptance of the Buddha's teaching prior to realising its truth for oneself. It is an important constituent element of all traditions of Buddhism, although the kind and nature of faith changes in the different schools. Other translations of saddhā/śraddhā include confidence and trust. According to received Pali-Buddhist tradition, some of the first words voiced by the Buddha after resolving to teach Dharma were, "Wide opened is the door of the Deathless to all who have ears to hear; let them send forth faith [saddhā] to meet it."

According to Guiliano Giustarini, "Saddhā is usually translated as faith, but it is not to be meant as a dogmatic belief." In the Kalama Sutta the Buddha himself argues against simply following authority, tradition or specious reasoning. Instead, a person should himself derive a moral judgement thus:

when you yourselves know: 'These things are good; these things are not blamable; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness,' enter on and abide in them.

Even though one's own experience and judgement is emphasized in accepting Buddha and Buddhism, one should also heed to the counsel of the wise, meaning a Buddha or a Buddhist teacher well versed in the Buddhist teachings.

In the Canki Sutta, the Buddha points out that people's beliefs may turn out in two different ways: they might be genuine, factual and unmistaken or vain, empty and false. Thus, when a person holds a certain belief, they should not derive the conclusion "Only this is true, anything else is false." but instead preserve the truth by commenting on a belief with "This is my belief". The remainder of the sutta discusses how to attain truth by direct experience.

Faith is only an initial trust in the Buddha as a spiritual teacher and an initial acceptance of the Buddha's teachings. By listening to the teachings and putting them into practice, a Buddhist disciple can examine through direct experience whether they are true or not. In the Cula-hatthipadopama Sutta, the Buddha describes the path of enlightenment as starting with faith in the Buddha, but continuing by practicing the path of virtue, meditation and wisdom, culminating in the achievement of enlightenment.

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