The Daughters Of The Buddha Are Fearless

Great faith means having faith in the way things are. It is easy to have faith when everything is going well, you are happy, you just passed your kong-an, or perhaps after a retreat when we all feel bonded to our fellow meditators and are showing our gratitude. But what about having faith in the way things are when you’re doing the dishes? What about having faith in the way things are when your best friend dies or when you have a flat tire? What about having faith in the way things are when you’ve turned sixty-five and your knees don’t work anymore?

The Buddha was right—everything has this quality of suffering, duhkha, this dissatisfaction with the way things are. How can we have faith in the midst of our suffering, the suffering of others, and the suffering of the planet?

There is a story about Dipa Ma and one of her attendants. They were on a plane that had hit some bad turbulence and the plane was jolting the passengers. During one particularly bad lurch, her attendant screamed. Dipa Ma reached across the aisle, took her hand, and very quietly said, “The daughters of the Buddha are fearless.” I love that. The Heart Sutra says “the Mind is no hindrance. Without any hindrance no fears exist.” The daughters of Buddha are fearless. This is having faith in the way things are. Zen Master Seung Sahn said the most important thing you can do is to find the one pure and clear thing—that even if the world were to explode tomorrow, it couldn’t touch the one pure and clear thing in the least bit. Dipa Ma knew in that moment that even if the plane were to crash, everything would be OK. Such equanimity, you know? Having faith in the way things are allows you to accept whatever comes before you without judgment and with tranquility.


By Rebecca Otte JDPSN
From Inka Speech
Primary Point: Summer 2021, Volume 38, Number 2