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Upon Faith

Faith.  I find the word quite scary actually.  In Christianity and Islam, faith is seen as a kind of blind faith.  Sometimes, people say you have to take a “leap” of faith.  In fact, this is what people of those religions do.  They act on emotions.

Now, I have been reading a few books on Jesus, and Christianity lately, and if I ran solely on emotions, I would be converted.  Jesus was a great leader, and definitely had a radical view of life.  It is the whole literal part of Jesus being God, and literally being resurrected that gets in the way.  It is almost like I walk to the edge of the diving board on a hot, humid day, blindfolded.  Everyone around me says to jump, the water feels good, but what they don’t realize is the jumped from the edge of the pool into the 2 feet of water.

Jesus said, “First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life. (Matthew 8:22, Message).  I do not know of anywhere in the Bible where it is said, especially by Jesus, to worship him and hold him up on a pedestal.  That is what I want to do, follow his actions and his life.  I want to have faith in Jesus, by putting his teachings and life to work in my own.  This does not require a leap, just a trail period.

This is what is meant by Faith in Buddhism.  This is one of the many many reasons I am drawn to Buddhism.  When asked how to know if his teachings were the true way to a happy life, the Buddha responded, “Go out into the world, try it out for yourself.  Accept what works, reject what doesn’t.”  In other words, I have been there, trust me, have faith that what I teach works, and will take you to understanding.

Of course, the way is the Eight Fold Path.  I try to follow it the best I can everyday, and it is quite tough, because, like Jesus, it goes against almost everything that modern day culture shows us and teaches us about life.  This is the kind of Faith that I want to have.  A give it a go, don’t jump off the edge if you can’t see what’s on the other side, just take it step by step and you won’t fall over.

Oh, and to get back to “leaps” of faith.  There are quite a few in Christianity, such as the belief in God that has a human’s image, or Jesus is going to come back on a white stallion with horns blowing, and they think you are crazy if you don’t believe.  What I want to know is what is the difference between that and Muslim’s believing that if they kill thousands of people in the name of Muhammad in jihad, they will go straight to paradise and have 92 virgins waiting on them?

[tags]Buddhism, faith, Islam, Christianity, holistic health, philosophy[/tags]

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