"Faith" from a Buddhist perspective

In my discussions with those who call themselves "conservative Christians" often the question comes up "What do you believe?" They are often unsatisfied or suspicious by my answer, which is usually "not much."

The level of "faith" required to step out of the street when there's an oncoming car of course is not very much. The level of faith required to subscribe to some byzantine theology is naturally much higher, and from a Buddhist perspective, irrelevant. There are from a Buddhist perspective, questions that are, from their irrelevancy, harmful, because they distract from what needs to be done. There is the parable told of the poisoned arrow:

"It's just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a priest, a merchant, or a worker.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me... until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short... until I know whether he was dark, ruddy-brown, or golden-colored... until I know his home village, town, or city... until I know whether the bow with which I was wounded was a long bow or a crossbow... until I know whether the bowstring with which I was wounded was fiber, bamboo threads, sinew, hemp, or bark... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was wild or cultivated... until I know whether the feathers of the shaft with which I was wounded were those of a vulture, a stork, a hawk, a peacock, or another bird... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was bound with the sinew of an ox, a water buffalo, a langur, or a monkey.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was that of a common arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.' The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him.

"In the same way, if anyone were to say, 'I won't live the holy life under the Blessed One as long as he does not declare to me that 'The cosmos is eternal,'... or that 'After death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist,' the man would die and those things would still remain undeclared by the Tathagata.

So rather than attempting to divert one's attention to what one "believes," actually helping - acting- brings results. The level of faith required is simply that one can help, through one's actions informed by perception and experience.

And the proof is in the pudding; acting this way will indeed help, if done sincerely and with wisdom, generosity and compassion in mind.

No recourse to a detailed metaphysics is necessary.

So my rejoinder to those who would say, "What do you believe?" is: "What do you perceive? What have you experienced? How can you help?"

It often doesn't satisfy the "believers," but it is where I can help.