[Buddha-l] Re: belief in stuff

[Bob Zeuschner]

I do not find the word "believe" or "belief" to be very useful.
It covers such a broad range of possiblities, it is vague and even 
ambiguous.
One can believe (have faith) that an omnipotent omniscient omnibenevolt 
creator exists, who cares for us -- with zero evidence to support such a 
claim.
One can belief that wine becomes the blood of Jesus, or that an elephant 
tusk is the tooth of the Buddha.
One can believe that G. Bush is the president of the USA.
One can believe that one sees one's fingers in front of one's face -- 
and the evidence is quite strong and empirical.
One can believe that if one jumps off the roof, one will get hurt upon 
landing.

In my classes I prefer a term like "having confidence" in the teachings 
so that the vagueness and ambiguity of "belief" won't be so confusing.
The Chinese character "hsin" is usually translated as "belief," but it 
seems closer to "having confidence" and I like that.
The Buddha seems to have accepted the existence of Indra and Brahma, but 
I don't have confidence in these gods, nor do I believe in them in any 
sense.
Bob Zeuschner

Benito Carral wrote:
> On Sunday, January 29, 2006, Jim Peavler wrote:
> 
> 
>>Belief systems are not necessary.
> 
> 
>    For  what they are not neccesary? Why do you believe
> so?
> 
>    Best wishes,
> 
>    Beni
> 
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