can experience well-being
so long as their actions
have not yet borne direct fruits.
However, when the results
have not yet borne direct fruits
of their actions ripen,
the painful consequences
cannot be avoided.
Dhammapada 119
We trust that the chair we are about to sit on will support us because similar objects have done so in the past. Having tried them out before and found them to be trustworthy, we henceforth suspend doubts and operate from faith. Dhamma principles similarly are available to be tried out; to be tested. There are many aspects of what the Buddha taught that we can examine and see for ourselves to be true. Some aspects however, like the law of kamma, we probably don't have the facility to see and fully understand directly. But given the accuracy of so much of the Teachings it can be a wise decision to suspend doubts and operate out of faith. This is not a naive form of faith conjured up in compensation for the anxiety we experience when we encounter chaos. This is an informed faith that we can consciously engage; a trusting relationship to life borne out of our careful investigation into what works. Because we trust does not mean we lose the ability to question.
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