Question:
Do you have suggestions for people like me who are too 'scientific' in outlook to practice wholeheartedly, and is there a way to distinguish between faith and wishful thinking?
Response:
Science incorporates the principle of cause and effect, trying to discern the cause of a known result or a result from a known cause. Doing experiments and finding the cause and effect are consistently connected moves the concept more firmly into the realm of fact. For example, my letting go of an object and observing that it falls to the floor every single time leads me to conclude there’s cause and effect at work: release and falling.
Buddhism follows the same principle of experimentation. The Buddha never told us to blindly believe what he said. We learn his teachings and put them into practice. We then can discern the result he spoke of for ourselves.
I calm my mind, and I discern am less anxious.
I reduce my wants, and I realize that I am more content with what I have.
I think before I speak, and I observe that I say fewer things that hurt others and get me into trouble.
So by learning and doing, through experimentation, I prove for myself that he spoke the truth when he said such things as quiet the mind, let go of desire, and be aware of our thoughts before we act on them.
Through doing what the Buddha advised, our confidence, belief, or faith will grow as we experience the truth in the teachings for ourselves. With this, there will be no need for wishful thinking for we will begin to know the reality.