Drop of Dhamma Delight!

Friends:

What did the Buddha say about Faith (Saddha)?

The Blessed Buddha once said:
And even though a disciple of the Noble Ones lives off lumps of alms food and
wears rag-robes, still, because he is endowed with four qualities, then he is freed
from hell, freed from the animal womb, freed from the realm of hungry ghosts,
freed from all the planes of pain & deprivation, the bad and low destinations.

And what are the four? There is the case where the disciple of the Noble Ones is
endowed with verified faith, confidence & conviction in the Awakened Buddha like
this: Worthy, honourable and perfectly self-Enlightened is the Buddha! Fully
consummated in knowledge and behaviour, totally transcended, expert in all these
dimensions, knower of all worlds, unsurpassable trainer of those who can be tamed,
both teacher and guide of gods as well as of humans, blessed, exalted, awakened
and enlightened is the Buddha !!!

He/she is endowed with verified faith, confidence & conviction in the Dhamma like
this: Perfectly formulated is this Buddha-Dhamma, visible right here and now,
immediately effective, timeless, inviting each and everyone to come and see for
themselves, inspect, examine and verify. Leading each and everyone through
progress towards perfection. Directly observable, experiencable and realizable
by each intelligence...

He/she is endowed with verified faith, confidence & conviction in the Noble Sangha
like this: Perfectly training is this Noble Sangha community of the Buddha's Noble
disciples: Training the right way, the true way, the good way, the direct way!
Therefore do these 8 kinds of individuals, the four Noble pairs, deserve both gifts,
grants sacrifice, offerings, hospitality and reverential salutation even with joined
palms, since this Noble Sangha community of the Buddha's Noble disciples, is an
unsurpassable and forever unsurpassed field of merit, in this world, for this world,
to honour, respect, support, give to and protect.

He/she is endowed with long-term clean morality, which are dear to the Noble Ones:
Moral purity that is untorn, unbroken, unspotted, and impeccable, liberating, praised
by the wise, immaculate, and leading to concentration. SN 55.1
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn55/sn55.001.than.html

For a lay person, there are these five rewards of faith, confidence & conviction
Which five?
1: When truly good people in the world show compassion, they will first show true
compassion to people of faith, confidence & conviction, and not to people lacking
in faith, confidence & conviction...
2: When visiting, they visit people of faith, confidence & conviction, and not people
without faith, confidence & conviction...
3: When accepting gifts, they first accept gifts from people with faith, confidence
& conviction, & not from people lacking faith, confidence & conviction.
4: When teaching the Dhamma, they first teach those with faith, confidence and
conviction, & not those without faith, confidence & conviction .
5: A person of faith, confidence & conviction, on the break-up of the body, right
after death, will arise in a good destination, the heavenly world. For a lay person,
these are the five certain rewards of faith, confidence & conviction. AN 5:38
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an05/an05.038.than.html

And how is the individual who is released through faith, confidence & conviction?
There is the case where a certain individual does not dwell immersed in those
peaceful states that has transcended all form, but having understood the Dhamma,
some of his mental fermentations are ended, and his faith, confidence & conviction
in the Tathagata is settled, well rooted, and established. This is called an individual,
who is released through faith, confidence & conviction. Regarding this monk, I say
that he has still a task to do. Why is that? Perhaps this Venerable, when staying at
suitable places, associating with admirable friends, while balancing all his mental
abilities, will reach & dwell in the supreme goal of the Noble life for which good men
rightly go forth from home into homelessness, directly realizing it for himself right
here & now. Envisioning this fruit of further effort for this monk, I say that he
still has a task to complete. MN 70
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.070.than.html

Any female disciple of the Noble Ones who grows by these 5 types of growth grows
a Noble growth, and thereby get a handle on what is essential, and what is excellent.
Which five?
She grows in terms of Faith...
She grows in terms of Morality...
She grows in terms of Learning...
She grows in terms of Generosity...
She grows in terms of Understanding....
Growing by these five types of growth, any female disciple of the Noble Ones grows
a Noble growth, and thereby gets hold on what is really essential, and what indeed is
quite and truly excellent. Growing in faith, morality, learning, generosity, and finally
understanding, a virtuous female lay disciple, such as this, establishes real essence
within herself. SN 37.34
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Three_Jewels.htm

Faith is the Seed!