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Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience
In this beautifully written work, one of America's most beloved meditation teachers offers discerning wisdom on understanding faith as a healing quality. Through the teachings of Buddha and insight gained from her lifelong spiritual quest, Salzberg provides us with a road map for cultivating a feeling of peace that can be practiced by anyone of any tradition.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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2,326 people want to read
About the author
Sharon Salzberg
93books1,342followersOne of America’s leading spiritual teachers and authors, Sharon Salzberg is cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, Massachusetts. She has played a crucial role in bringing Asian meditation practices to the West. The ancient Buddhist practices of vipassana (mindfulness) and metta (lovingkindness) are the foundations of her work.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 140 reviews
May 16, 2016
Faith by renowned meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg is one of those books that can change your entire perspective of the world. There are few books that can do that, that can challenge the foundation of your reality. For me, such books were On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche and Walden by Henry David Thoreau. As a heavy reader of religion and spirituality, I thought I’d never read a book on faith apart from God, or a deity we know as God. I didn’t think the word could exist without God.
But Salzberg challenges all of this. She speaks of her version of faith, one that doesn’t revolve around God at all. Salzberg lost her mother at nine when she witnessed her hemorrhage right before her eyes. Her father left the family when she was a young child and ended up institutionalized. To experience such devastation in childhood, it is no wonder that she could dismiss God entirely, or any higher being. But miraculously, Salzberg doesn’t reject God, or she doesn’t say so. She just has a different view of faith.
She begins by explaining that the word faith in Pali, the language of the original Buddhist texts, means “to place the heart upon.� In Faith, part memoir, part essay, Salzberg shares the many beliefs and tenets of Buddhism that have shaped her spirituality and concept of faith. To her faith is to keep walking forward, even in the dark. It’s the strength to take that magnitude of risk, though you know not what lies ahead.
I found this concept of faith wholly original, a Godless faith. What kind of faith can you really have without the power of God?
Deeper into her book, Salzberg speaks of an immense interconnectedness among us, and a truth like protective hands that holds her. It sounds like God, but she doesn’t elaborate as to what this is. Her concept sounds oddly familiar, like the invisible hand that Newton referred to in his writings, or that unexplainable uplifting force that Tolstoy explains at the end of his memoir. Both are referring to God, and it sounds like Salzberg is too, but she isn’t.
Suffering, such as when we experience trauma or loss, she says, comes from feeling alone, separate from everyone and everything around us. The core aspect of despair is this sense of utter isolation and disconnection. She explains that Buddhist teachings reveal that it is in deep suffering that faith can be uncovered and renewed. It is at this low point, the abyss, that we begin to sense this interconnectedness, that we are intimately connected to a bigger reality.
But what is that thread that connects us? What is it that makes us so united and so whole? What is the source of this unity? To me, that source of unity is God, and I wonder, what is this source to Salzberg? How does she refer to this interconnectedness that is just there?
Though Salzberg’s book doesn’t answer all of my questions, Faith is still a beautifully written, poignant, pivotal book that can stretch all notions of spirituality.
But Salzberg challenges all of this. She speaks of her version of faith, one that doesn’t revolve around God at all. Salzberg lost her mother at nine when she witnessed her hemorrhage right before her eyes. Her father left the family when she was a young child and ended up institutionalized. To experience such devastation in childhood, it is no wonder that she could dismiss God entirely, or any higher being. But miraculously, Salzberg doesn’t reject God, or she doesn’t say so. She just has a different view of faith.
She begins by explaining that the word faith in Pali, the language of the original Buddhist texts, means “to place the heart upon.� In Faith, part memoir, part essay, Salzberg shares the many beliefs and tenets of Buddhism that have shaped her spirituality and concept of faith. To her faith is to keep walking forward, even in the dark. It’s the strength to take that magnitude of risk, though you know not what lies ahead.
I found this concept of faith wholly original, a Godless faith. What kind of faith can you really have without the power of God?
Deeper into her book, Salzberg speaks of an immense interconnectedness among us, and a truth like protective hands that holds her. It sounds like God, but she doesn’t elaborate as to what this is. Her concept sounds oddly familiar, like the invisible hand that Newton referred to in his writings, or that unexplainable uplifting force that Tolstoy explains at the end of his memoir. Both are referring to God, and it sounds like Salzberg is too, but she isn’t.
Suffering, such as when we experience trauma or loss, she says, comes from feeling alone, separate from everyone and everything around us. The core aspect of despair is this sense of utter isolation and disconnection. She explains that Buddhist teachings reveal that it is in deep suffering that faith can be uncovered and renewed. It is at this low point, the abyss, that we begin to sense this interconnectedness, that we are intimately connected to a bigger reality.
But what is that thread that connects us? What is it that makes us so united and so whole? What is the source of this unity? To me, that source of unity is God, and I wonder, what is this source to Salzberg? How does she refer to this interconnectedness that is just there?
Though Salzberg’s book doesn’t answer all of my questions, Faith is still a beautifully written, poignant, pivotal book that can stretch all notions of spirituality.
January 22, 2021
Plan is to read this every January for the rest of my years.
January 25, 2011
I heard about this book through one of the talks on audiodharma.org. I've always had trouble, I guess, with having faith in myself. Yes, now that I've written this, I know it's true. Faith, self-confidence, trusting in oneself. And I've seen what happens when one places blind faith in others, even if these are people close to you, even if they are related to you. So reading this book gave new perspective. The author shares part of her own story, which draws you in and connects you, but oh Lord, did she have a hard childhood and life. She really was the perfect person to write this book. If you're looking for a way to learn more about what faith is -- from a fairly non-denominational point of view (though Sharon Salzberg is a well-known teacher of Buddhism), you'll find whatever specks of light and brightness you're looking for here. More importantly, you'll see how finding faith is really the work of finding one's self, in a way that requires a lot of inward work. Oh now I can't but recall the words of Jimmy Cliff:
I've got a hard road to travel
and a rough, rough way to go
Said it's a hard road to travel
and a rough, rough way to go
But I can't look back
My heart is set
My mind's made up
I'll never stop
My faith, will see, see me through
I've got a hard road to travel
and a rough, rough way to go
Said it's a hard road to travel
and a rough, rough way to go
But I can't look back
My heart is set
My mind's made up
I'll never stop
My faith, will see, see me through
August 20, 2013
Sharon Salzberg speaks simply and honestly about her faith journey in this book. Her early life was hard, which led her to seek meaning and wisdom, which led her to Buddhism.
I really appreciate Salzberg's artful way of illustrating her experiences and those of others, while teaching the universal truths about what it means to have faith, question it, and rediscover it. Having gained much from this book, I now want to read her other titles. The main focus is Buddhist teaching, but she quotes many teachers from various faith traditions. There is much to relate to even if you are not steeped in Buddhist tradition. After reading this book I begin each day with a prayer and meditation on loving kindness. She powerfully illustrates the exercise of greeting each person with a silent prayer, "May you have happiness. May you have peace." What a powerful action. I am grateful to be reminded about the power of prayer and steps I can take to impact my world. It is natural to shrug, give up, question what faith-based actions can possibly do in our troubled world. Yet, she simply and steadfastly illustrates how such steps can yield deeper connection and faith experience.
I really appreciate Salzberg's artful way of illustrating her experiences and those of others, while teaching the universal truths about what it means to have faith, question it, and rediscover it. Having gained much from this book, I now want to read her other titles. The main focus is Buddhist teaching, but she quotes many teachers from various faith traditions. There is much to relate to even if you are not steeped in Buddhist tradition. After reading this book I begin each day with a prayer and meditation on loving kindness. She powerfully illustrates the exercise of greeting each person with a silent prayer, "May you have happiness. May you have peace." What a powerful action. I am grateful to be reminded about the power of prayer and steps I can take to impact my world. It is natural to shrug, give up, question what faith-based actions can possibly do in our troubled world. Yet, she simply and steadfastly illustrates how such steps can yield deeper connection and faith experience.
Read
September 12, 2010Finally picked this up to figure out what all the Sharon Salzberg fuss was about. Ended up thoroughly enjoying it. The premise in itself is interesting: A non-theistic, Buddhist approach to the concept of faith. What does it mean to have faith if you do not have faith in a deity? Furthermore, what are the stages and pitfalls involved in the development of this faith? The subtitle gives a strong hint as to the answers Salzberg provides to the first question. In some way the second question becomes even more interesting as the book progresses. What I particularly appreciated was Salzberg's willingness to criticize her previous dogmatic stances (a particularly memorable passage involves an argument she had about varying Buddhist approaches to the afterlife where she finally admits that in retrospect she of course can have no idea what the afterlife entails) and shows how these kinds of arguments just get in the way of her spiritual progress. And importantly she demonstrates how her spiritual progress provides a sustenance that allows her to move beyond the traumas of her youth which persistently plagued her, often at the most unsuspecting times. A valuable book.
November 19, 2023
"Faith Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience" outlines the author's approach to faith which is quite different to faith being equated to doctrine or to a deity. The author states that faith does not require a belief system but it is an inner quality that is revealed through one's deepest experience. This capacity is inherent in every person. The author tells her story of faith vis a vis her tumultuous childhood of abuse and loss. The author outlines the basic teachings of Buddhism; however, the connection between the tenets of Buddhism and the author's own life seems nebulous and difficult to understand.
July 8, 2012
An extremely personal account of Salzberg's experiences with faith. She is a Buddhist and from the first page deconstructs the notion that faith is based in an object or an external subject (i.e. 'god'), but that true, unwavering faith can only be found in trust and courage found within oneself. That sounds more touchy-feeling that this book actually is - it's clear and concise and also a quick read. I wouldn't start with this book if you are just entering Salzberg's writings, but found it an amazing follow up to Real Happiness, her phenomenal book about the how-to's of meditation.
March 15, 2008
A book that I constanly refer back to....don't be put off by the title. The faith that Salzberg refers to is trusting your own deepest intuition, having self-confidence, and knowing that doubting is not a sign of being faithless–it is a key to spiritual strength.
This is from a Buddhist perspective, but she includes information from other spiritual guides from other belief systems.
This is from a Buddhist perspective, but she includes information from other spiritual guides from other belief systems.
September 18, 2008
Having been raised in a pagan/atheist "interfaith" family, the idea of "faith" has also seemed distinctly foreign and Christian to me. Salzburg approaches faith from a Buddhist perspective and frames faith as opening up to the possible, particularly in difficult times. I love her writing - she's smart, funny, and surprisingly acerbic. Two thumbs up.
May 31, 2009
I find her thinking very clear and expressive. Good foundation for meditation and lovingkindness practice.
July 13, 2020
Finally found my way to this classic. Sharon Salzberg's writing is lucid, compassionate, practical and inspiring. This is an essential text for anyone pursuing a spiritual path of any kind!
October 20, 2020
I got this book for one dollar.
I had read Salzberg before, but was not a serious fan.
This small book was a surprise. Thanks, I read it slowly, and my concept of faith has changed.
I had read Salzberg before, but was not a serious fan.
This small book was a surprise. Thanks, I read it slowly, and my concept of faith has changed.
January 30, 2022
I like Salzburg’s approach to Buddhism�
December 19, 2022
What a wonderful Sharon Salzberg. I felt so nourished learning her story and the ways in which we can seek to find faith. Also, always love hearing more about Dipa Ma.
December 16, 2019
Sharon is an extraordinary writer. She's smart and she certainly knows what she is talking about. She generously shares the stories of her journey for greater understanding. She talks again and again about getting "close" to the truth. Wanting to be close to the truth, to living next to it. What is the truth? She uses a borrowed term, ultimate concern, to explain what it is we strive to put our faith in. For some this is justice, for others it is realizing the innate buddha nature in each of us. She talks about two wings of the buddha's teachings, awareness and love. Her journey is inspiring and she takes you along on that journey and inspires you. She remembers one teacher drawing "a loose V shape on a large sheet of paper." The teacher asked the students to describe what the shape was intended to mean. They answered , "a bird." Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche responded, "it is the sky with a bird flying through it." We see the bird representing our thoughts and feelings instead of the vast and unbounded sky. The sky is awareness and can handle any thoughts which come and go. It is our job to practice awareness. Thoughts and feelings properly considered expand awareness. I was often touched by her loving descriptions of her mentors and teachers. Most revealing and relatable was her description of lama khenpo (Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche). It was him who most awakened in her abiding faith. She was so overcome by his kindness and spaciousness and selflessness. He instead would remind her of her own potentials, ones she kept seeing only in others. The idea that she could aspire to be a bodhisattva was a conceit beyond contemplation. But Nyoshul offered the question why she would not think to achieve this in order to be of service to all human beings and all living creatures. She would demur again and again, thinking who I am to think I'm good enough for that. This gentle goading got her to see her thoughts as those things, birds, and not awareness. I also like her definitions of bright faith versus blind faith and abiding faith versus a faith in something we are taught to believe but told not to question. In the sub title it says "trusting in your own deepest experience." This is where she stresses getting close. She is impressing on us the readers the importance of our connectedness to everything and everyone around us. We won't see this unless we are willing to get up close, close to ourselves and our experiences.
July 9, 2018
Incredibly thoughtful, inspiring exploration of the topic, without dogma or righteousness, just kindness and encouragement.
Some of my favorite excerpts:
"One of the meanings of “saddha�, the word for faith in Pali, is hospitality. Faith is about opening up and making room for even the most painful experiences, the ones where we “take apart the chord� of our suffering to find notes of horror, desolation, and piercing fear. If I could be willing to make room for my aching numbness, and the river of grief it covered, allowing it, even trusting it, I would be acting in faith." p120
"We can never know how our actions will ripple out and affect others. We may, through force of habit, disparage ourself, considering an action to be inadequate, or resign ourselves to its certain mediocrity, but we can’t possibly know the ultimate result of anything we do. T.S. Eliot: “For us there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.� p141
"Yet when we assess the value of our actions, we often do so in terms of whether or not they will produce a certain consequence - doing the good we envisioned, in the time frame we anticipated. If it doesn’t work out that way, we may lose faith in what we do and grow dispirited. Unless we can guarantee the response we want, we might even decide not tot are certain actions at all. Such attachment to achieving results can lead to relentless expectation, burnout, and the desolating habits of feeling we can never do enough." p142
"Lack of faith in our own potential limits our sense of possibility to habitual concepts. It keeps us from sensing who we might yet become, or how we needlessly circumscribe our lives. Whatever we might be conditioned to believe, the teachings say that beneath our small, constricted, mean-voiced Dorothy or Lucy from Peanuts-defined identity, lies the innate capacity for awareness and love that is buddha nature. This is what faith in ourselves rests upon." p153
Some of my favorite excerpts:
"One of the meanings of “saddha�, the word for faith in Pali, is hospitality. Faith is about opening up and making room for even the most painful experiences, the ones where we “take apart the chord� of our suffering to find notes of horror, desolation, and piercing fear. If I could be willing to make room for my aching numbness, and the river of grief it covered, allowing it, even trusting it, I would be acting in faith." p120
"We can never know how our actions will ripple out and affect others. We may, through force of habit, disparage ourself, considering an action to be inadequate, or resign ourselves to its certain mediocrity, but we can’t possibly know the ultimate result of anything we do. T.S. Eliot: “For us there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.� p141
"Yet when we assess the value of our actions, we often do so in terms of whether or not they will produce a certain consequence - doing the good we envisioned, in the time frame we anticipated. If it doesn’t work out that way, we may lose faith in what we do and grow dispirited. Unless we can guarantee the response we want, we might even decide not tot are certain actions at all. Such attachment to achieving results can lead to relentless expectation, burnout, and the desolating habits of feeling we can never do enough." p142
"Lack of faith in our own potential limits our sense of possibility to habitual concepts. It keeps us from sensing who we might yet become, or how we needlessly circumscribe our lives. Whatever we might be conditioned to believe, the teachings say that beneath our small, constricted, mean-voiced Dorothy or Lucy from Peanuts-defined identity, lies the innate capacity for awareness and love that is buddha nature. This is what faith in ourselves rests upon." p153
March 22, 2018
Salzberg offers a poetic, vulnerable, and transformative take on finding meaning and purpose in life. Though grounded in the tenets of Buddhism, her messages transcend religion or traditional interpretations of "faith", offering perspective to anyone who ponders sources of foundational inspiration. A great metaphor appears about halfway through the book about how constricting it is to blindly accept beliefs that someone else offers you: it's like looking at the sky through a straw. You see something and the straw may in and of itself be amazing, but that's all you see, missing the expanse of the sky itself. This is but one example of the precise yet generous narrative that Salzberg uses to invite readers to see that faith is really a questioning of beliefs as well as an openness to and awareness of all that life has to offer. There is a poignant chapter on fear and pain and how these challenge our resolve, but the conclusion of this chapter (and all chapters) is rooted in compassion and the realization that suffering is going to happen to us all; it's how we cling or not cling to fixated hopes that can transform our response to inevitable suffering.
August 2, 2018
I knew of Sharon Salzberg from reading another of her works, “Lovingkindness,� that I found very inspiring. In “Faith� Salzberg explores her quest to define, apply, and refine her version of trusting her “deepest experience�: faith. It's a very thoughtful and well written exploration.
There’s a lot of wisdom in this book, as the following passage displays:
“It is in the nature of our existence that we can’t, by decree, or effort of will, or fervent desire, or even by all-consuming love, make the pain go away for someone. We can’t, no matter how hard we try, always get someone who is resistant to accept help, or bring a frightened person to safety…And many times our hearts will break when we do in fact fail.
But if that inevitable sorrow is joined with faith in interconnectedness, rather than bitterness at the nature of things, we can more likely get up the next morning and once again do the best we can, knowing that in this interconnected reality, even the smallest action done with good intention is consequential.�
There’s many more gems like this in Salzberg's book. I will no doubt be reading it again.
There’s a lot of wisdom in this book, as the following passage displays:
“It is in the nature of our existence that we can’t, by decree, or effort of will, or fervent desire, or even by all-consuming love, make the pain go away for someone. We can’t, no matter how hard we try, always get someone who is resistant to accept help, or bring a frightened person to safety…And many times our hearts will break when we do in fact fail.
But if that inevitable sorrow is joined with faith in interconnectedness, rather than bitterness at the nature of things, we can more likely get up the next morning and once again do the best we can, knowing that in this interconnected reality, even the smallest action done with good intention is consequential.�
There’s many more gems like this in Salzberg's book. I will no doubt be reading it again.
February 8, 2021
I really want to read this again. I read so much fiction and memoirs, that works like this are harder for my poor little brain to wrap itself around. I found a lot of great wisdom in this book, but I often felt disconnected from my reading journey. I found that the more I listened to interviews and meditations with Salzberg and the more I became familiar with her VOICE, the easier it was to read, but at times I would read whole pages and have no idea what was being said because it just didn't GRAB me.
But she has a heartbreaking story and she takes us along much of her journey of enlightenment. Lots of good lessons and I underlined a LOT of stuff in this book and it will be a favorite to pick up and flip through to reread those passages, but as an overall WHOLE book, I just missed some stuff. Maybe not the author's fault, but rather my A.D.D. and that I've trained myself to read novels fast and furious....
But this book will live on my shelf and I will pick it up often. If I could leave a half star, I would leave this at 3.5 stars. Maybe in a few years, once I'm more use to reading these kind of books, it could grow to something more.
But she has a heartbreaking story and she takes us along much of her journey of enlightenment. Lots of good lessons and I underlined a LOT of stuff in this book and it will be a favorite to pick up and flip through to reread those passages, but as an overall WHOLE book, I just missed some stuff. Maybe not the author's fault, but rather my A.D.D. and that I've trained myself to read novels fast and furious....
But this book will live on my shelf and I will pick it up often. If I could leave a half star, I would leave this at 3.5 stars. Maybe in a few years, once I'm more use to reading these kind of books, it could grow to something more.
July 1, 2019
This is worth reading twice. Once to just immerse oneself in it, and then again with a pen to mark key passages about the meaning of faith and how it grows. Salzberg’s understanding of faith is grounded in Buddhism, but accessible to people of all or no faith. It is a positive, expansive vision of faith that centers on faith in the capacity for love and awareness that all human beings share.
May 24, 2016
glad I read it
January 1, 2022
This is a beautiful book. I wanted my brain to think the necessary way to understand all of the concepts. Unfortunately, said brain didn’t get the memo.
July 25, 2018
This review contains Quotes which could spoil things. You have been warned.
I both enjoyed this book and hated it. My first initial thought was that it was another book from the eat, love, pray phenomenon (though this book can first). White woman goes to India to find a holy person and her life is forever changed. It is that type of book. She uses almost that exact line word for word. So at least you know what you are getting into. Having that bit acknowledged I felt like I was able to relax into the words and actually see what it says. Chapters 1-4 I enjoyed, the rest felt very odd to me. If I had just had those four chapters I would have rated this 5 stars. But I didn't enjoy the last half of the book. So I am going to focus on the parts I enjoyed.
Her explanation of blind faith vs bright faith was very unique. I grew up with blind faith parents and seeing it laid out was kinda fascinating to me. I've had this experience below
_________________
" When we reconvened after lunch, a man sitting in the front row of the platform suddenly burst out with, "I came to Buddhism to get away from all this shit!" Then, more calmly, he went on, "For some of us who got faith pounded into our heads when we were young, it brings up a lot of misgivings." With that the group came alive, and person after person expressed their painful associations with "faith."
Many felt they had been forced to believe something that couldn't be proven, and they had been discouraged from asking questions. "The authorities within my religion were very annoyed when I asked, 'How do you know?' " one woman told the group. "They would just say, 'Have faith,' and I never could. Pretty soon I didn't have any faith at all."
Many had been hurt by religious teachings of their childhood, in which their degree of faith was the measure of their belonging; if they did not have enough there was something wrong with them or they would be condemned, maybe forevermore. Separating faith from intelligent inquiry casts it as a practice of the gullible. " PG54
_________________
Just a few pages earlier she talked about how it was easier to be quiet and preserve the illusion of stability and belonging than to question. Which is exactly what I did growing up. Everyone was "shocked" when I moved out and "became a different person". The reality was that I was finally able to be myself.
I have never read or looked into buddism. To be honest my experience with Christianity has made me uninterested in all things religious. However it is interesting to read that Buddism allows for questioning and seeking out answers.
I do wish that the momentum of the book hadn't been lost in the last three chapters. Here are a few favorite quotes
_________________
"Life is transition, movement, and growth. " Pg 13
_________________
"When we place our faith entirely in others, rather than remembering the need for faith in our own understanding, we end up caught in the shadow of surrender and devotion. Whatever relationships we form, whether with a friend or lover or coworker or teacher or doctrine, will be passive and dependent, leaving us afraid to question, afraid of being unable to see clearly for ourselves, afraid of being left out, of being challenging. We may subvert reason, intelligence, and whatever we have in order to keep someone as the repository of our trust." Pg 47
_________________
"When we hold a belief too tightly, it is often because we are afraid. We become rigid, and chastise others for believing the the wrong things without really listening to what they are saying. We become defensive and resist opening our minds to new ideas or perspectives. This doesn't mean that all beliefs are accurate reflections of the truth, but it does mean that we have to look at what's motivating our defensiveness." Pg 66
_________________
I both enjoyed this book and hated it. My first initial thought was that it was another book from the eat, love, pray phenomenon (though this book can first). White woman goes to India to find a holy person and her life is forever changed. It is that type of book. She uses almost that exact line word for word. So at least you know what you are getting into. Having that bit acknowledged I felt like I was able to relax into the words and actually see what it says. Chapters 1-4 I enjoyed, the rest felt very odd to me. If I had just had those four chapters I would have rated this 5 stars. But I didn't enjoy the last half of the book. So I am going to focus on the parts I enjoyed.
Her explanation of blind faith vs bright faith was very unique. I grew up with blind faith parents and seeing it laid out was kinda fascinating to me. I've had this experience below
_________________
" When we reconvened after lunch, a man sitting in the front row of the platform suddenly burst out with, "I came to Buddhism to get away from all this shit!" Then, more calmly, he went on, "For some of us who got faith pounded into our heads when we were young, it brings up a lot of misgivings." With that the group came alive, and person after person expressed their painful associations with "faith."
Many felt they had been forced to believe something that couldn't be proven, and they had been discouraged from asking questions. "The authorities within my religion were very annoyed when I asked, 'How do you know?' " one woman told the group. "They would just say, 'Have faith,' and I never could. Pretty soon I didn't have any faith at all."
Many had been hurt by religious teachings of their childhood, in which their degree of faith was the measure of their belonging; if they did not have enough there was something wrong with them or they would be condemned, maybe forevermore. Separating faith from intelligent inquiry casts it as a practice of the gullible. " PG54
_________________
Just a few pages earlier she talked about how it was easier to be quiet and preserve the illusion of stability and belonging than to question. Which is exactly what I did growing up. Everyone was "shocked" when I moved out and "became a different person". The reality was that I was finally able to be myself.
I have never read or looked into buddism. To be honest my experience with Christianity has made me uninterested in all things religious. However it is interesting to read that Buddism allows for questioning and seeking out answers.
I do wish that the momentum of the book hadn't been lost in the last three chapters. Here are a few favorite quotes
_________________
"Life is transition, movement, and growth. " Pg 13
_________________
"When we place our faith entirely in others, rather than remembering the need for faith in our own understanding, we end up caught in the shadow of surrender and devotion. Whatever relationships we form, whether with a friend or lover or coworker or teacher or doctrine, will be passive and dependent, leaving us afraid to question, afraid of being unable to see clearly for ourselves, afraid of being left out, of being challenging. We may subvert reason, intelligence, and whatever we have in order to keep someone as the repository of our trust." Pg 47
_________________
"When we hold a belief too tightly, it is often because we are afraid. We become rigid, and chastise others for believing the the wrong things without really listening to what they are saying. We become defensive and resist opening our minds to new ideas or perspectives. This doesn't mean that all beliefs are accurate reflections of the truth, but it does mean that we have to look at what's motivating our defensiveness." Pg 66
_________________
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2022
I was checking out a podcast –� I can't remember which one –� but it was with Jerry Colonna, the former venture capitalist who became a leadership coach, CEO of Reboot Inc and chair of the only Buddhist-inspired university in North America. Anyway, the podcast host asked what books he would recommend, and one of those was Sharon Salzberg's "Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience." So, I bought it, and with pencil in hand, I would read it during what free time away from work, family and other books I was reading.
Finally, I finally finished "Faith" 13 months later at the most appropriate place –� on a beach looking out at the Atlantic thinking about much and nothing. When I look back at "Faith," I find I've underlined the book everywhere in pencil. Just sentences and whole paragraphs, starred and bracketed with a few words in the margins like "Yes" or "Remember this." "Faith" first came out in 2003, but when I finished it in the summer of 2022, it seems so right, so appropriate. I finished it at a time when the Supreme Court has curtailed our basic rights, our country feels more authoritarian than democratic and our world feels more aflame than ever. So, for me, "Faith" is a book for our time of tumult. Take this passage. Salzberg writes:
"I know that sometimes things are so bad that no matter what practices we do or what medication we take, we can't seem to generate even that small amount of faith we need for inspiration to keep going. Then, if we can stand inside our pain for awhile and wait, over time we may come to also see it as a way into the deepest part of ourselves and then back out into the world, a vehicle for new insight into who we are and how much we need to care for ourselves and one another. If there is nothing we can do right now but wait, then, as T.S. Eliot wrote, "the faith is in the waiting." If we can but wait, we may yet emerge from despair with the same understanding that Zen master Suzuki Roshi expressed: "Sometimes, just to be alive is enough."
Salzberg's "Faith" is full of paragraphs just like that. It reminds me of Pema Chodron's "When Things Fall Apart," a book that helped me immensely in a tough time of my life. Salzberg's "Faith" does the same.
By the way, thanks, Jerry. Great book. Thanks for the suggestion.
Finally, I finally finished "Faith" 13 months later at the most appropriate place –� on a beach looking out at the Atlantic thinking about much and nothing. When I look back at "Faith," I find I've underlined the book everywhere in pencil. Just sentences and whole paragraphs, starred and bracketed with a few words in the margins like "Yes" or "Remember this." "Faith" first came out in 2003, but when I finished it in the summer of 2022, it seems so right, so appropriate. I finished it at a time when the Supreme Court has curtailed our basic rights, our country feels more authoritarian than democratic and our world feels more aflame than ever. So, for me, "Faith" is a book for our time of tumult. Take this passage. Salzberg writes:
"I know that sometimes things are so bad that no matter what practices we do or what medication we take, we can't seem to generate even that small amount of faith we need for inspiration to keep going. Then, if we can stand inside our pain for awhile and wait, over time we may come to also see it as a way into the deepest part of ourselves and then back out into the world, a vehicle for new insight into who we are and how much we need to care for ourselves and one another. If there is nothing we can do right now but wait, then, as T.S. Eliot wrote, "the faith is in the waiting." If we can but wait, we may yet emerge from despair with the same understanding that Zen master Suzuki Roshi expressed: "Sometimes, just to be alive is enough."
Salzberg's "Faith" is full of paragraphs just like that. It reminds me of Pema Chodron's "When Things Fall Apart," a book that helped me immensely in a tough time of my life. Salzberg's "Faith" does the same.
By the way, thanks, Jerry. Great book. Thanks for the suggestion.
April 20, 2020
These are my notes:
FAITH:
� its essence lies in trusting ourselves to discover the deepest truths on which we can rely
� No matter what we encounter in life, it is faith that enables us to try again, to trust again, to love again
� Faith is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience
� ✨As long as we are ignorant of what lies below the surface we will be unhappy�
� To have faith is to offer one’s heart of give over one’s heart
� Only when we have the courage to step into the darkness, does the light that guides you, reveal the next step itself
� With faith we move into the unknown, openly meeting whatever the next moment brings.
� Faith entails the understanding that we don’t know how things will unfold
� 💕 I’m going to go for it. I’m going to try
4 NOBLE TRUTHS:
� First Noble Truth � because we are born, we experience suffering, instability, sorrow , the hollowness of life. Sometimes the discomfort is minor; sometimes the pain is unspeakable
� Second Noble Truth � the causes of suffering are ignorance and attachment. We look at our personal histories , our bodies, our thoughts and feelings and we conclude “that’s who I am�
� Third Noble Truth � affirms that the way out of suffering lies in the liberation from distorted concepts of who we think we are by seeing clearly who we actually are.
� Fourth Noble Truth � the way to freedom lies in techniques developed by sages of old.
FEELINGS:
� The story I was telling myself was that what I felt didn’t matter anyway
� I had to acknowledge that underneath my façade of indifference, I CARED, and in fact cared a lot.
INTERNALIZED LUCY
� � You know what your problem is Charlie Brown? The problem with you is that you’re you�
� Many of us have an internalized Lucy, who tells us that our problem is who we are and that there is no way out, little reason to have faith in ourselves or in the possibility of turning our lives around.
� Our ingrained habit of viewing life as though standing with our noses pressed against the bakery window, believing that none of the goodies inside could possibly be for us, runs right up against this boundless, breathtaking inclusivity. The voice of the inner Lucy puts us outside the bakery window, saying “Life, freedom, happiness, love are for others. Not for you�. The Buddha holds out his hand, offering to bring us directly inside.
BUDDHIST CONCEPTS:
� Saddha �> to place the heart upon. Saddha is the willingness to take the next step, to see the unknown as an adventure, to launch a journey
� bright faith � the enthusiasm, energy and courage we need in order to stop aligning ourselves with the familiar or the convenient
TAKING REFUFE:
� Buddham saranam gachāmi � I take refuge in the Buddha
� dhammam saranam gachāmi � I take refuge in the dhamma, or dharma as it is commonly known in Sanskrit
�
FAITH:
� its essence lies in trusting ourselves to discover the deepest truths on which we can rely
� No matter what we encounter in life, it is faith that enables us to try again, to trust again, to love again
� Faith is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience
� ✨As long as we are ignorant of what lies below the surface we will be unhappy�
� To have faith is to offer one’s heart of give over one’s heart
� Only when we have the courage to step into the darkness, does the light that guides you, reveal the next step itself
� With faith we move into the unknown, openly meeting whatever the next moment brings.
� Faith entails the understanding that we don’t know how things will unfold
� 💕 I’m going to go for it. I’m going to try
4 NOBLE TRUTHS:
� First Noble Truth � because we are born, we experience suffering, instability, sorrow , the hollowness of life. Sometimes the discomfort is minor; sometimes the pain is unspeakable
� Second Noble Truth � the causes of suffering are ignorance and attachment. We look at our personal histories , our bodies, our thoughts and feelings and we conclude “that’s who I am�
� Third Noble Truth � affirms that the way out of suffering lies in the liberation from distorted concepts of who we think we are by seeing clearly who we actually are.
� Fourth Noble Truth � the way to freedom lies in techniques developed by sages of old.
FEELINGS:
� The story I was telling myself was that what I felt didn’t matter anyway
� I had to acknowledge that underneath my façade of indifference, I CARED, and in fact cared a lot.
INTERNALIZED LUCY
� � You know what your problem is Charlie Brown? The problem with you is that you’re you�
� Many of us have an internalized Lucy, who tells us that our problem is who we are and that there is no way out, little reason to have faith in ourselves or in the possibility of turning our lives around.
� Our ingrained habit of viewing life as though standing with our noses pressed against the bakery window, believing that none of the goodies inside could possibly be for us, runs right up against this boundless, breathtaking inclusivity. The voice of the inner Lucy puts us outside the bakery window, saying “Life, freedom, happiness, love are for others. Not for you�. The Buddha holds out his hand, offering to bring us directly inside.
BUDDHIST CONCEPTS:
� Saddha �> to place the heart upon. Saddha is the willingness to take the next step, to see the unknown as an adventure, to launch a journey
� bright faith � the enthusiasm, energy and courage we need in order to stop aligning ourselves with the familiar or the convenient
TAKING REFUFE:
� Buddham saranam gachāmi � I take refuge in the Buddha
� dhammam saranam gachāmi � I take refuge in the dhamma, or dharma as it is commonly known in Sanskrit
�
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2023
I first read this book not long after it came out, when I was still deep in the weeds of dealing with my Southern Baptist past. It was life-changing. I was raised to believe that faith meant believing what you were told without questioning it. "Growing in your faith" meant becoming ever more compliant with the beliefs of my church. It didn't take long after I left home for that to feel stagnant to me, but there wasn't really any room to grow in other directions in that belief system.
Salzberg is never anti-Christian or even anti-God, but her understanding of faith is entirely different. Faith is what enables us to go on when everything is falling apart. Faith is what enables us to get out of bed when we can't really think of a good reason to. My favorite phrase-- faith is believing in "the underlying pulse of life itself." It's not about blindly accepting various religious truths--the virgin birth, the resurrection, that women shouldn't be in leadership, or that certain ways of being in the world are sinful. It's about a bone-deep understanding that life is precious, that existence itself is worthwhile.
I'm not sure I made it all the way through the book that first time, since most of that is in the first couple of chapters. This time I read it all the way through, and I found it just as remarkable and thought-provoking as I did the first time, although in a different way since I am in a different place. Salzberg is Buddhist, and I am not Buddhist--but it doesn't matter. She isn't selling Buddhism, she's talking about how to keep going with an open and compassionate heart when you want to give up. This book is like a lifeline tossed out in confusing, difficult times. Highly recommended.
Salzberg is never anti-Christian or even anti-God, but her understanding of faith is entirely different. Faith is what enables us to go on when everything is falling apart. Faith is what enables us to get out of bed when we can't really think of a good reason to. My favorite phrase-- faith is believing in "the underlying pulse of life itself." It's not about blindly accepting various religious truths--the virgin birth, the resurrection, that women shouldn't be in leadership, or that certain ways of being in the world are sinful. It's about a bone-deep understanding that life is precious, that existence itself is worthwhile.
I'm not sure I made it all the way through the book that first time, since most of that is in the first couple of chapters. This time I read it all the way through, and I found it just as remarkable and thought-provoking as I did the first time, although in a different way since I am in a different place. Salzberg is Buddhist, and I am not Buddhist--but it doesn't matter. She isn't selling Buddhism, she's talking about how to keep going with an open and compassionate heart when you want to give up. This book is like a lifeline tossed out in confusing, difficult times. Highly recommended.
November 14, 2020
This was an incredibly helpful read. “Faith� has introduced me to an approach that I have been needing. And to a perspective that I would have, and will, benefit from.
At the end of faith Salzberg wrote, "To offer our hearts in faith means recognizing that our hearts are worth something, that we ourselves, in our deepest and truest nature, are of value."
I needed to read that. I needed to be reminded of this. Perhaps many of us need to, once in a while, remember that we are of value. That everything we do has a ripple effect whether we see it or not. That regardless of the vast and expansive nature of all that exists, we matter.
I plan to study Buddhism as I think it is the spiritual approach or rather “philosophy," I have been missing for all of my adult life. This book was a nice start. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in reducing their own and by extension, some of humanity’s suffering.
At the end of faith Salzberg wrote, "To offer our hearts in faith means recognizing that our hearts are worth something, that we ourselves, in our deepest and truest nature, are of value."
I needed to read that. I needed to be reminded of this. Perhaps many of us need to, once in a while, remember that we are of value. That everything we do has a ripple effect whether we see it or not. That regardless of the vast and expansive nature of all that exists, we matter.
I plan to study Buddhism as I think it is the spiritual approach or rather “philosophy," I have been missing for all of my adult life. This book was a nice start. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in reducing their own and by extension, some of humanity’s suffering.
September 29, 2021
Read for the IMS Book Club and enjoyed the read, along with the live sessions with the author. I've known Sharon as a teacher for a number of years, but this is most definitely her most personal book. I probably didn't read it before because I bristled at the title ... something she addresses right in the introduction. What "faith" really is and what it isn't ... and then sets out to reclaim it's original, true meaning in all its permutations and messiness. This is a deeply personal, lovely and practical book, and while I totally agree that the word "faith" needs to be reclaimed for what it really means, in the meantime I'm still more comfortable with the Pali word for faith "saddha" which (I learned in this book) literally means "to rest the heart upon". I blame a sort of PTSD from my Christian upbringing for my continued reluctance to embrace the word .... maybe a little further along the path I'll be able to let that go ....
February 24, 2019
Although most of this book is written from a Buddhist perspective, I believe it is applicable to any denomination or none at all. I have found that faith was often defined for me and now in a way that seems limiting. It has taken me 40+ years to actually realize that one of the most important definitions of faith is having trust in yourself. I was raised to defer to authority in many aspects and one of the by products in this deferment is losing confidence in yourself. Someone else has more knowledge or wisdom than yourself. So you suspend questions and personal beliefs and feelings and instead rely on someone else’s thoughts or beliefs. One of the greatest gifts of the last decade of my life was reclaiming my own mind and thoughts, having faith in myself, my experiences, my mind, and in my beliefs. I found her definitions of faith in practice expansive and meaningful.
July 22, 2022
This book took me quite a while to get into. I put it back on the shelf three times until this year. The author's statements become broader and more relevant to everyday life as the chapters progress, but its style can be a bit preachy with advice, which can be off-putting (to me) as I shy from any one-size fits all mentality. The reflections that come to mind while listening to this audio version were best achieved in small doses. I would not read this a second time. When I looked up the author online, I was shocked at her video about this book. Not at all my mind pictured she would be like. This is a solid read I would recommend to people who are thinking about the term "faith" and it's definitions at different times to different people.
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