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The Body of Faith (Part 5)

Because you have to grow in your spiritual life, you cannot just stick to an idea. Suppose you are in danger or trouble, and you don’t know what to do. You kneel down and pray to God, or to Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassionate Listening. Suddenly things turn out fine and you believe in the power of prayer. It may happen that the next time you get into the same kind of trouble and you kneel down and pray, it doesn’t work. Then you might lose your faith in God, or in the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. This is an occasion for you to examine your understanding, and your way of praying. To lose your faith is something unpleasant and you can suffer a great deal. The Buddha warned us several times that we have to be careful about our knowledge.

Thich Nhat Hanh
from Going Home; Jesus and Buddha as Brothers