In Zen Buddhism, the Three Pillars or Three Essentials of Practice are Great Faith, Great Doubt, and Great Determination (or Perseverance). They work in harmony like three legs of a stool providing balance on the path of awakening. Great Faith is having trust in this path, trust that awakening is possible and trust in your true nature – your Buddha nature. Great Doubt is the examination of reality and the nature of self which arises when faith is present. It is the deep inquiry into our assumptions while remaining curious and open to the mystery. Great Determination is the steadfast resolve to continue practice no matter what the obstacles or the doubt. It is tapping into our well of spiritual discipline, strength, and courage, meeting challenges with unwavering commitment.

Great Doubt
by Emyo Darlene Tataryn

I doubt it. I doubt almost everything. I doubt the media, politicians, the safety of vaccines, the weather, my place in the world, and a few other things I won’t mention. Yup, I doubt it all.

But …

My doubt divides me from people I love. With different views, I become one of “those” people – the “other” – and they become, well, “them.”

I believe “this” and question “that,” while actually gripping “this view” and rejecting “that view.” I depend upon my beliefs, sensations, and emotions, and like an algorithm, the world’s information, like some strange magic, supports my view. And, magically, supports yours, different as they might be. Each of us wonders what world the other is living in. 

This story illustrates how we often cling to partial views and perceptions of reality without grasping the reality of what is:

A Buddhist parable, tells of a king who brings a group of blind monks to touch an elephant they have never encountered before. One blind monk feels the leg and declares the form is like a pillar. Another touches the trunk and says it’s like a snake or plow.  A third grabs the tusk and calls it a spear, while others describe it as a fan (ear), a wall (body), a rope (tail), and so on. They argue fiercely, almost coming to blows, each insisting their experience is the full truth of how “it is.”

Without doubt and questioning, our viewpoints remain limited. It is the clinging to beliefs, views and perspectives that allows no space to ask a question and be receptive to the discomfort and ambiguity of just listening without an opinion; remaining in this state – not grasping at concepts of self and other that appear. This is skeptical doubt, different than Great Doubt.

Great Doubt, is a hard teacher and the means by which awakening can occur.  It drills deeply into the fabric of phenomena, concepts, and conditioned views.  The traditional teachings of the Matriarchs and Patriarchs, tell us that Great Doubt is intense questioning which fuels uncertainty, churns in the gut, drives us into a hot ball of unrest, till the shattering of the conceptual dualistic mind occurs in kensho.

In contemporary times and through the koan guidance of Mondo Zen, the “I” that willingly allows space for doubt is more process oriented and uses the koan to develop remarkable skill for riding life’s uncertainties and constant changes. Such awakening makes room for open interest and curiosity; factors of Enlightenment, with the result being greater understanding, humility, openness, and direct insight into Dharma, not dogma. 

Great Doubt is the catalyst for Not Knowing – the open mind, heart and hand, released of the contraction and formations of body and mind. Total presence. The Great Refuge. Free.

What do you think?