In Senchu Murano’s translation of the Lotus Sutra, Chapter 16 begins:
“Thereupon the Buddha said to the great multitude including Bodhisattvas and others, ‘Good men! Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith!’ ”
In considering the meaning of “Understand my sincere and infallible words by faith,” it is useful to see how other translators have rendered the Buddha’s words.
Hendrik Kern, working from an 11th century Sanskrit original in 1884, rendered the Buddha’s words opening the chapter of The Duration of the Life of the Tathāgata:
“Trust me, young men of good family, believe in the Tathāgata speaking a veracious word.”
In Risshō Kōsei Kai’s 1975 translation, working from the same Chinese translation as Murano used, we get:
“Believe and discern, all you good sons, the veracious word of the Tathāgata.”
Risshō Kōsei Kai’s 2019 undated translation offers:
“Good children, you should believe and understand the sincere and true words of the Tathagata.”
And so “Understand … by faith” can be seen to mean “Trust” and “believe” or “Believe and discern.” “Trust” and “believe” require faith. “Discern” is the process with which we come to understand. What we are not being told is to have unquestioning faith.
As explained in the Introduction to the Lotus Sutra:
“There is a Japanese saying that ‘even the head of a sardine seems blessed if you have faith in it.’ This is not what we mean by faith. We can maintain a belief that is inspired by the experience of something beyond our ordinary capacities. We can evaluate it by means of our intellect and reason and form our own mental attitudes.”
As Nikkyō Niwano observes in Buddhism for Today:
Buddhism for Today, p211-212“The Buddha’s saying ‘Believe and discern it’ instead of commanding ‘Believe it’ has an important meaning. Śākyamuni Buddha never forced his ideas upon his disciples or other people. He preached the truth as it was and exhorted his listeners, saying, ‘You, too, behold it.’ He led them on the way of the truth and coaxed them, saying, ‘You, too, come to me.’ His exhortation to ‘behold the truth’ instead of saying only ‘Believe it’ is a very important point. This short phrase of the Buddha speaks for the character of his teachings. His words ‘Behold it’ are equivalent to the ‘scientific spirit’ in today’s parlance. The Buddha shows in these few words that if anyone thoroughly views the truth, studies it, and discerns it, he will surely be able to accept it to his satisfaction.
“His words ‘You, too, come to me’ include the same important idea. They mean: ‘Come to me and practice the Law as much as I do. Then you are sure to understand the value of the Law.’ The Buddha could never have uttered these words unless he had absolute confidence in the Law and the Way.
“Because Śākyamuni Buddha was a reasonable person, he did not say even to his leading disciples, ‘Believe the truth,’ but said, ‘Believe and discern it,’ that is, ‘Believe it after understanding it.’ ”
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