Doubt: It is a kind of affliction characterized by hesitation toward the principles of Truth; its function is to hinder the arising of unwavering faith in wholesome qualities.
This is the Yogācāra (Vijñaptimātra) interpretation of “doubt” as a human mental activity. It suggests that the psychological phenomenon of doubt arises from a lack of understanding of the truth, leading to a state of hesitation that subsequently obstructs the wholesome actions of trusting and accepting that truth. Therefore, doubt is counted as one of the six root afflictions of human beings. The other five afflictions are greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and wrong views.
The “doubt” discussed here mainly refers to doubt toward the truths of the Buddhadharma. Extended further, it also includes the myriad forms of doubt that arise in our daily lives.
Whenever people lack a clear understanding of the individuals or circumstances before them, especially when their own interests are involved, doubt arises almost reflexively.
Doubt is part of the natural disposition of ordinary beings. However, as noted above, the arising of such doubt requires the presence of two primary factors.
First, the subject of doubt—be it a person or an event—must be connected to oneself and have the potential to affect one’s own interests or safety; only then does one develop the motivation to doubt. For example, you basically would not feel any doubt about whether two lions in Africa will fight, because that has absolutely nothing to do with your own interests.
Second—and this is the most fundamental reason—doubt arises only because of a profound lack of clarity regarding the person or situation that concerns you. If everything were clearly understood, there would be nothing left to doubt. For example, if you were absolutely certain of tomorrow’s winning lottery numbers, you would buy the ticket immediately; you would not hesitate, for there would be no shadow of doubt about the outcome.
For those in the early stages of Buddhist practice, every aspect of this path is profoundly and intricately bound up with one’s own interests and well-being, thus fulfilling the first condition. At the same time, it is only natural for beginners to lack a clear grasp of themselves, their fellow practitioners, the path of practice, as well as their teachers or spiritual mentors; this corresponds to the second condition. Consequently, doubt arises involuntarily and is bound to occur from time to time.
Most modern practitioners, in particular, live almost constantly in a state of doubt: cultivating bodhicitta yet feeling inwardly wounded; practicing a certain method yet failing to achieve the intended result; finding that one’s teachers or spiritual friends do not align with one’s expectations. Under such circumstances, doubt naturally emerges—doubting their own capacity or aptitude, the sincerity of their companions, the authenticity of their mentors... and eventually, the reality of the Three Jewels themselves.
Emotions and thoughts surge in a relentless succession, waxing and waning in turn, leaving the mind in a state of utter indecision and profound, overwhelming suffering.
Yet the scriptures proclaim: “Faith is the mother of all merits.” Especially in the practice of Dzogchen or other Vajrayāna traditions, absolute and unwavering faith is indispensable—without it, attainment is out of the question. To find oneself in dire need of faith, yet powerless to restrain the surge of doubt, is indeed a profoundly contradictory predicament.
How, then, should one deal with doubt and allow it to subside? Does the Dharma provide any method for resolving it?
Of course it does. First, through study and reflection, superstition is dispelled and genuine understanding is established, thereby eliminating preliminary doubt. Second, by relying on spiritual teachers and joining a community of practitioners, and by persevering in practice until direct experience arises, doubts that occur in the course of practice are gradually dissolved. Finally, when you discover that all your doubts are nothing more than thoughts, doubt itself loses any ground on which it can stand.
First, the arising of doubt actually indicates that you have truly begun to practice; prior to this, what existed may well have been mere superstition. Why is this so?
Many rather naive and wide-eyed Buddhists begin their study of the Dharma with no doubt whatsoever. They are instead filled with an overflowing devotion and confidence, fueled by their own romanticized expectations and imaginings toward religion. They imagine that after taking refuge, joining a Buddhist group, prostrating to a spiritual teacher, practicing a particular method, or reciting certain mantras or verses, everything in their life and future will unfold in their favor. They expect to encounter many miraculous phenomena and wondrous experiences that will gratify their curiosity, vanity, and even their cravings. All the problems they face, along with the needs and difficulties of daily life, will supposedly be resolved smoothly. And all that is required of them, they believe, is simply to say, “I believe,” seasoned by a few solemn rituals and some effortless actions.
Some beginners establish their faith precisely on such shaky foundations. However, these unrealistic hopes and imaginings are, in all likelihood, not fulfilled. Once they fail to materialize, doubt—entwined with inner conflict—spreads like wildfire and becomes impossible to restrain.
For these people, the genuine solution lies in systematic, accurate, and long-term study and contemplation. Only when the Buddhist worldview, view of life, value system, and the necessary process for their realization are fully and firmly established within one’s mind, can doubt be truly dispelled. Otherwise, over the long course of practice, there will always be some form of disappointment or inner entanglement tailored just for you, and doubt will naturally and inevitably arise in response.
Second, going a step further, there are some relatively rational practitioners who feel that merely saying “I believe” may not yield much result, but they assume that “I believe,” combined with a certain amount of practice, should soon bring about various experiences and states. Even if enlightenment is not attained, surely the path should at least unfold smoothly, filled with Dharma joy, and punctuated by sublime visions—should it not? Yet, in many cases, after several years have passed, not only do such sublime states fail to appear, but Dharma joy remains distant; the journey is not smooth at all, and may even be marked by hardship, anxiety, and an abundance of adverse conditions.
At this point, asking such a person not to doubt is far more difficult than it was initially to ask them to believe. Driven by a thirst for quick gains and obsession with lofty, unreachable goals, many practitioners ultimately succumb to doubt so profound that they even lose all confidence in themselves.
For this group of practitioners, in addition to systematic study and contemplation, what is even more crucial is the presence of a genuine spiritual teacher and a community that truly prioritizes practice. When difficulties arise, the encouragement and support of fellow practitioners are vital; when confusion emerges, the guidance and insights of a qualified spiritual teacher are indispensable. Only in this way can one successfully pass through many obstacles and pitfalls along the path of practice and eventually arrive at the ground of certainty, free from all doubt.
Ultimately, only through persistent and unrelenting practice, culminating in the realization of Buddhist truth, can the pervasive presence of doubt be genuinely and completely severed at its root.
When our practice is able to establish a relatively stable awareness of “one-sided emptiness” within the mental continuum, we will discover that no matter what form doubt takes, it can only ever be a thought lacking true existence. And once we recognize doubt as an unreal thought, almost simultaneously, such kind of awareness will effortlessly dissolve those thoughts, leaving no trace behind.
All externally directed doubts are unable to take hold or endure within this cognition of one-sided emptiness. One may even find oneself no longer capable of doubting anything at all, because no object can be established as truly existent within one’s cognition. Although this is not ultimate awakening, it genuinely resolves the problem.
Otherwise, when confronting an object, one may never be able to uproot doubt completely.
No matter what the object is—even if Śākyamuni Buddha himself were to appear before you—if you perceive him as a truly existent individual, given enough time, doubt will inevitably creep in: “Why is he like this?” “Why isn’t he like that?” Especially when his decisions or intentions do not align with your own, your sense of self is wounded; how could doubt not arise? This is exemplified by Bhikṣu Sunakṣatra.
When doubt no longer turns outward, yet the realization has not attained, doubt will naturally turn inward, questioning the very authenticity of awareness itself. Such doubt is exceedingly rare and precious; in the Chan tradition it is called “doubt-mass”. As the saying goes, “Small doubt, small awakening; great doubt, great awakening; no doubt, no awakening.”
Once a practitioner develops doubt concerning the true reality of awareness itself, this indicates that he is already hovering at the threshold of awakening. At this stage, all doubts regarding external trivialities and the various experiences encountered in practice have long since evaporated like mist. What remains is only the final question directed toward the nature of awareness itself.
The true cessation of doubt occurs precisely when one genuinely realizes “awareness” (rigpa), that is, the intrinsic nature of one’s own mind. When a Dzogchen practitioner reaches an initial recognition of this nature, the moment any form of doubt arises, he immediately recognizes that it is merely a discursive thought. There is no need, as in the practice of one-sided emptiness, to deliberately dissolve the thought; one simply abides naturally in clarity of the mind’s nature, and the conceptual thought will dissolve back into awareness of itself.
At this stage, Chan Buddhism refers to the practice as “sustaining and safeguarding” (baoren), while in Dzogchen it belongs to the practice of “Focused Yoga.” Through such practice, the practitioner’s recognition of awareness becomes increasingly clear and skilled.
Within this ultimate realization, it is fundamentally impossible for doubt to arise. Awareness is omnipresent—unborn and unceasing; it cannot be discarded, nor can it be destroyed. It accompanies you at all times: it is you, and you are it. You would never doubt it; rather, you would be certain that this very awareness is the Guru and is the Buddha. There is no need to doubt, and in fact, no way to doubt at all.
Only upon reaching this point can doubt be truly severed. Otherwise, in response to various external circumstances and experiential states, the mind will involuntarily engage in endless judgment—judging again and again. This indicates the continued presence of doubt and signifies that the practitioner’s view and realization are not yet firmly stable and grounded. In Chan Buddhism, this is described as “the heels not touching the ground,” while in Dzogchen it is regarded as still operating at the level of subtle dualistic grasping; as such, doubt cannot but persist.
Some Chan patriarchs have said that when a practitioner awakens, he should “harbor no doubt about birth, no doubt about death, no doubt about the Buddha, no doubt about the patriarchs, and no doubt about himself.” If even the slightest doubt remains, true realization has certainly not been fully penetrated. To cut through doubt once and for all, Chan practitioners spare no effort in their inquiry, pressing on until they recognize something that is “impossible to doubt.” At that point, doubt collapses of itself, allowing the mind to function freely and at ease, bringing joy throughout one’s life and culminating in genuine awakening.
From a doctrinal standpoint, to attain the fruition of the First Bhūmi Bodhisattva, one must sever three fetters: the belief in self or independent existence (sakkāya-diṭṭhi, specifically its conceptually imputed aspect), clinging to rites and rituals as supreme, and doubt. The initial awakening spoken of in both Chan and Dzogchen corresponds precisely to the severing of the fetter of doubt, indicating that at this stage the practitioner has clearly recognized the intrinsic nature of mind, rendering further doubt fundamentally impossible.
——Excerpted and adapted from The Sutra of Immeasurable Life, Lecture 32
