One Dharma

Faith also arises from our growing awareness of suffering. Faced with distress, we may go in one of two directions. We can fall prey to bewilderment, doubt, and further confusion, or we can begin to seek a way of understanding and release. There is suffering that leads to more suffering, and suffering that leads to its end. In times of great pain, we often drown in our feelings of despair, anger, or hopelessness. But it is also possible for that suffering to awaken a profound faith in new possibilities, to provoke our intense interest and investigation. We can ask, “What is going on? How can I understand this?

“If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will have complete peace. Your struggle in this world will have come to an end.”

Ideas of “right” and “wrong” are quickly followed by thoughts of “us” and “them.” Attachment to our own way of understanding then becomes the primary and misplaced issue of faith. But if we think of all metaphysics as skillful means, as tools for evoking new ways of perceiving, as methods for letting go of suffering, then it’s easier to open to someone else’s point of view. In this way, it actually becomes possible to learn from one another.