Is Conviction Truly the Absence of Doubt?

It is said that scientists, using instruments, have detected that the Earth is elliptical, and almost everyone believes it, seemingly with unwavering conviction, as if such belief has become deeply ingrained and unalterable. Some who disbelieve may even engage in debates with others, ridiculing and mocking them, yet this does not constitute genuine, doubt-free faith. Faith exists at many levels, ranging to the point where some hold beliefs with absolute certainty, utterly without doubt. However, if one has not personally verified it, such faith remains blind faith and superstition, not verified faith. Therefore, doubt still exists, merely deeply concealed and difficult to observe.

Knowing the Earth is elliptical is merely hearsay, not personally witnessed; it is knowledge acquired through the consciousness's rumor-mongering. Since the manas (mind-root) has not personally seen it, doubt remains uneradicated. Moreover, even what many witness with their own eyes may not necessarily be true or real; cases of misperception are extremely common. Seeing is not necessarily believing, so the manas's doubt cannot be eliminated. Once some other cause and condition arises, claiming the Earth is not elliptical but rhombus-shaped or triangular, many people's previous faith wavers, turning into disbelief.

Why can faith change? Precisely because there is no experiential verification. The consciousness's conviction, regardless of its degree, is unreliable. Once causes and conditions change, doubt arises in the consciousness. Why? Because the manas originally did not believe; the manas had not eliminated doubt. When causes and conditions change, without the support of the manas's experiential verification, the consciousness becomes fickle, lacking a core anchor. Alternatively, it can be said that the consciousness's core anchor is always the manas; at critical moments, it inevitably follows the manas. Only by truly seeing the Earth, genuinely witnessing its shape from a holistic and macroscopic perspective, can the manas eliminate doubt and generate faith. In the future, even if causes and conditions change, the manas will remain unwavering in its faith. Then, the consciousness will follow the manas in unwavering faith; even if doubt arises in the consciousness, it will be ineffective, and the consciousness will still trust the manas.

Some say that as long as you yourself are convinced you have eradicated self-view and harbor no doubt, you have attained the first fruit (Sotāpanna). How utterly naive and laughable such a statement is. Is the conviction of an ordinary person reliable? If it were reliable, why are sentient beings so fickle, changing their minds at the slightest disturbance, ceasing to believe? If the conviction and absence of doubt in ordinary people were reliable, why did the Buddha say, "Do not trust your mind, your mind is not to be trusted," and that only upon attaining Arhatship can you trust your mind?

Historically recorded individuals who verified others' eradication of self-view and attainment of fruition were, first, the Buddha himself during his lifetime, and second, the Fourth Patriarch Prajñāgupta after the Buddha's parinirvana. The Buddha, needless to say, possessed immeasurable wisdom, limitless spiritual powers, and omniscience. With the power of reading minds and knowing past lives, he could perceive all sentient beings' thoughts exactly as they were. He could immediately know whether his disciples had attained fruition without needing to see them. The Fourth Patriarch Prajñāgupta not only attained Arhatship but also possessed great spiritual powers. He even personally subdued Māra's various disturbances and harassments, restoring purity to the Buddhist community.

Given the Fourth Patriarch's level of liberation, realization, and his powers of knowing past lives and reading minds, he could, of course, immediately know whether disciples had attained fruition without error. Others, lacking realization, insufficient wisdom and realization, and devoid of spiritual powers, likely cannot accurately observe others' mental states and thus cannot verify whether someone has attained fruition. Those with extremely profound wisdom, who have attained fruition countless times over lifetimes, possessing rich experience, may be able to accurately verify fruition for others even without spiritual powers. Apart from such individuals, others lack the ability and qualification to verify for others. How much less so for an ordinary person to self-verify! Lacking experience, misjudgment is fundamentally unavoidable, and the consequences are unimaginable.

Cultivating the Buddha Dharma demands even more pragmatism and strictness than worldly affairs. One cannot treat the Dharma as child's play, thinking it simple. In reality, nothing is more difficult than the Buddha Dharma, because sentient beings have been engaged in worldly affairs since beginningless time; the Dharma is far too unfamiliar and distant to them. Compounded by layers upon layers of karmic obstacles, the hindrances are often beyond our imagination. Therefore, diligently and steadfastly studying the Buddha's teachings and cultivating practice is our fundamental duty. Only then can we avoid increasing karmic obstacles and afflictions, sinking deeper into the abyss of birth and death.