Wisdom and Faith
A reflection on practice by Sayadaw Vivekananda
There is a very simple connection between wisdom and faith.
Wisdom is bound to arise as we keep being mindful from moment to moment, exerting effort with concentration building.
At first, wisdom arises in simple ways: just knowing the nature of one rising movement, knowing the nature of a falling movement; knowing the specific nature of some pain, some ache, some hardness, some softness; gradually getting to know the different mental states; discerning the specifics of mind and matter and their relationship to each other, and other insight knowledges.
Every time a meditator intuitively (not just intellectually) realizes a new insight knowledge the meditator understands “Wow, I’m seeing something that I’ve never seen before. There really seems to be something to this path. Something is really happening.” One begins to find that their experience is in accord with what has been said in Dhamma talks or written in the texts. As a result of this, one’s faith increases.
And as our wisdom increases stage by stage, the wholesome mental state of faith is strengthened.
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