Grounded in cultural traditions or religious doctrines, faith-based cognitions offer personal lenses through which humans interpret reality, but their ultimate validity remains inconclusive.
Faith-based cognition is primarily a mental phenomenon, which can be formed and then expressed through words, graphics, and language. For example, Christianity believes in God; Islam believes in Allah; Buddhism believes in Buddha, who has Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya.
Have you seen the Buddha? You have not seen the Buddha with your own eyes. If you had seen the 32 marks of the Buddha, I would bow down to you with deepest respect. Only those who have practiced the generation and completion stages very well can see him. That counts as being half a saint. If you saw the 32 marks of the Buddha in your meditation, that would be truly extraordinary.
One of our fellow practitioners chanted the Buddha's name, and something truly extraordinary happened: a blue light began to envelop his body. We believe this was the Dharmakaya of Vairocana Buddha, showering him with blessings. Yet, he has not seen the glorious nirmanakaya, the Buddha with the 32 noble marks. If one were to witness the immeasurably vast Sambhogakaya, that would be even more remarkable. You have not seen the Buddha directly, but you still believe that he truly exists. How does this come about? The teachings have played their part, gradually shaping your faith-based cognition. Whether this is "correct" is not quite the point. Have you ever seen God, Brahman, or Brahma? Without direct perception, your knowledge of them is derived from books and logical inference.
Excerpted from:Cognition and Expression Part One
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