Saddha: justifiable-trust

saddha: justifiable-trust

✅ justifiable-trust, earned-trust, justified-confidence, provisional-trust. See how saddha is earned in MN ⁹⁵
⛔ saddha is not 'blind faith', 'blind belief', 'unverified confidence'

Don’t ‘have faith’. Award ‘earned-trust’ judiciously and revoke when necessary.

Saddha: earned-trust, verified confidence,
provisional trust, justifiable trust.

Don’t ‘have faith’.
Give ‘earned-trust’ judiciously and revoke if broken.
opposite of saddha: blind faith, blind belief

In a loose sense, ''faith' is a valid translation, but highly inadvisable to use in EBT.
As one delves deeper into the EBT, it becomes evident that like critical terms “dukkha”, “arahant”, etc.,
“saddha” gets a stricter more nuanced redefinition than the pre-Buddhist meaning of the word.

A majority of the world follow religions
understand ‘faith’ as a blind belief in an unverifiable creator God who behaves randomly, egotistically, irrationally, cruelly.
Instead of questioning why a God that is supposed to be the embodiment of universal compassion, kindness,
any irrational and cruel behavior is explained away, justified with “faith” that “God works in mysterious ways” beyond our comprehension.

Though the Buddha is a man and not a ‘god’,
since he is the figurehead of Buddhism,
people naturally will think of ‘faith’ in the same context as someone who has blind belief in an unverifiable God.
Even under the umbrella of Buddhism,"
pure land Buddhism" has a type of 'faith'
and practice that is far different than
the 'saddha' of EBT suttas.
See for example MN ⁹⁵.

If you must translate it as ‘faith’, at least qualify it as provisional-faith,
or something of that nature.
Perhaps the pre-Buddhist use of 5 indriya and saddha had a meaning closer to blind-faith,
but once words get appropriated by the Buddha,
such as ‘arahant’, ‘brahman’, etc.,
they take on a more precise and exacting redefinition.

The Buddha earned our trust.
As MN ⁹⁵ shows, 'earned-trust' is judiciously awarded,
based on careful scrutiny of the Buddha's character,
and absence of defilements in his actions and teaching.

Why I didn't use Thanissaro’ translation of 'conviction'

Definition of conviction
1 : the act or process of finding a person guilty of a crime especially in a court of law
2a : a strong persuasion or belief
b : the state of being convinced

3a : the act of convincing a person of error or of compelling the admission of a truth
b : the state of being convinced of error or compelled to admit the truth

Because 'conviction' usually has a connotation of being persuaded on an intellectual level.
Also, people who have unverified, unjustified blind faith,
often also have unshakeable 'conviction.'

B.Bodhi: provisional trust

general meaning

Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi wrote: As a factor of the Buddhist path,
(saddhā) does not mean blind belief but a willingness to accept on trust certain propositions that we cannot,
at our present stage of development,
personally verify for ourselves.
These propositions concern both the nature of reality and the higher reaches of the path.
In the traditional map of the Buddhist training,
(saddhā) is placed at the beginning,
as the prerequisite for the later stages comprised in the triad of virtue,
concentration, and wisdom.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ...
say_45.pdf

example in Siha sutta

From his translation of Siha sutta: When this was said,
Sīha the general said to the Blessed One: “Bhante,
I do not go by (saddhā) in the Blessed One
concerning those four directly visible fruits of giving declared by him.
I know them, too.
For I am a donor, a munificent giver,
and I am dear and agreeable to many people.
I am a donor, a munificent giver, and many good persons resort to me.
I am a donor, a munificent giver, and I have acquired a good reputation as a donor,
sponsor, and supporter of the Saṅgha.
I am a donor, a munificent giver, and whatever assembly I approach—whether of khattiyas,
brahmins, householders, or ascetics—I approach it confidently and composed.
I do not go by (saddhā) in the Blessed One concerning these four directly visible fruits of giving declared by him.
I know them, too.
But when the Blessed One tells me: ‘Sīha,
with the breakup of the body, after death,
a donor, a munificent giver, is reborn in a good destination,
in a heavenly world,’ I do not know this,
and here I go by (saddhā) in the Blessed One.”
“So it is, Sīha, so it is!
With the breakup of the body, after death,
a donor, a munificent giver, is reborn in a good destination,
in a heavenly world.”

Compare saddha with faith and wisdom from the Bible, book of ‘Job’

Abridged version of Book of Job (derived from wikipedia,
Hebrew Bible)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_(biblical_figure)

The characters in the Book of Job consist of Job,
his wife, his three friends (Bildad,
Eliphaz, and Zophar), a man named Elihu,
God, and angels (one of whom is named Satan).

It begins with an introduction to Job's character—he is described
as a blessed man who lives righteously in the Land of Uz.

The Lord's praise of Job prompts an angel with the title of
"satan" ("accuser") to suggest that Job served God simply because God protected him.

God removes Job's protection and gives permission to the angel to take his wealth,
his children, and his physical health (but not his life).

Despite his difficult circumstances,
he does not curse God, but rather curses the day of his birth.

And although he anguishes over his plight,
he stops short of accusing God of injustice.

Job's miserable earthly condition is simply God's will.

In the following, Job debates with three friends concerning his condition.

They argue whether it was justified,
and they debate solutions to his problems.

Job ultimately condemns all their counsel,
beliefs, and critiques of him as false.

God then appears to Job and his friends out of a whirlwind,
not answering Job's central questions.

Job, by staying silent before God, stresses the point that he
understands that his affliction is God's will even though he despairs at not knowing why.

Job appears faithful without direct knowledge of God and without demands for special attention from God,
even for a cause that all others would declare to be just.

And the text gives an allusion to Job 28:28:

"And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord,
that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is understanding".

God rebukes the three friends and gives them instruction for the remission of sin,
followed by Job being restored to an even better condition than his former wealthy state (Job 42:10–17).

Job is blessed to have seven sons, and three daughters.
His daughters were said to be the most beautiful women in the land.

defn. "faith" from Merriam-webster dict.

1a: allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty
lost faith in the company's president
1b: fidelity to one's promises

(2): sincerity of intentions
example: acted in good faith

2a(1): belief and trust in and loyalty to God
2a(2): belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion
2b(1): firm belief in something for which there is no proof
clinging to the faith that her missing son would one day return
2b(2): complete trust

3: something that is believed especially with strong conviction
especially : a system of religious beliefs
example: the Protestant faith

Award Saddha (‘justifiable-trust’) judiciously and revoke when necessary.

Despite all my campaigning, almost everyone translates saddha wrongly as “faith.” Why?

TITWOW Syndrome
See Bhikkhu Bodhi’s gloss of ‘saddha’ above.
He essentially explains it, defines saddha as a “provisional-trust”, “not a blind belief.”
But when it comes time to translate,
he feels it necessary to pick a single misleading word “faith”, that doesn’t give the audience any impression at all of how he understands the term ‘saddha’ to mean.
Does this make any sense?
Almost no one is going to read his explanation of “saddha” and get the right meaning,
they’re going to see his translation of “faith” and project the meaning they’ve been conditioned by society to mean.
Blind-faith, blind-belief, complete trust in something without any proof, rationality, critical thinking or review.

Translators of the future and present,

break this cycle of madness!
You don’t have to translate a single word of pāḷi with a single English word.
Make sure your target translation actually means what it is supposed to mean!
Saddha = justifiable-trust.

4👑☸ Cattāri Ariya-saccaṃ 四聖諦