Editing Linji Yixuan (section)

===Faith===
Linji criticized relying on methods and practices in order to realize this true person. He said that to engage in religious practice was to generate [[Karma in Buddhism|karma]] keeping one bound to the realm of birth and death, while "the real person," "this person who is right now listening to the Dharma," was without any adornments or practices.{{sfnp|Watson|1999|p=43, 44}} Instead of reliance on practices to see our innate nature, Linji taught that we should simply have [[Faith in Buddhism|faith]] ({{zh|labels=no|p=xìn |c=信}}) in it: "Just have faith in this thing that is operating in you right now. Outside of it, nothing else exists."{{sfnp|Watson|1999|p=41}}{{refn|group=note|Compare with [[Foyan Qingyuan|Foyan]]: "I always tell you that what is inherent in you is presently active and presently functioning, and need not be sought after, need not be put in order, need not be practiced or proven. All that is required is to trust it once and for all. This saves a lot of energy."<ref>Instant Zen: Waking Up in the Present, translated by Thomas Cleary, page 8, North Atlantic Books, 1994</ref>}}

According to Buswell, faith for Linji was not blind acceptance, but an inherent faculty emanating constantly from the enlightened nature, and was thus equivalent to the "innate functioning" of the mind-essence.<ref>Robert E. Buswell, Jr., page 342, in Sudden and Gradual Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought, edited by Peter Gregory, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1987, 1991</ref> Buswell also notes the striking difference between Linji's teachings, in which faith plays a prominent role, and the teachings of the later [[Linji school|Linji School]] master, [[Dahui Zonggao|Dahui]], who valued doubt over faith.<ref>Robert E. Buswell, Jr., page 354, in Sudden and Gradual Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought, edited by Peter Gregory, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1987, 1991</ref>{{refn|group=note| Linji speaks of doubt negatively. For example: "A moment when your mind is in doubt is delusion,"<ref>Three Chan Classics, page 21, Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai and Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 1999</ref> and "If you have a moment of doubt, delusion enters your mind."<ref>Three Chan Classics, page 25, Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai and Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 1999</ref> See also the famous ''[[Xinxin Ming]]'' (Faith-Mind Inscription): "Small views of foxy doubts / Are too hasty or too late / Attach to them, the measure will be lost / Certain to enter on a deviant path / Letting go of them, it goes naturally."<ref>Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume 8, Chan Poetry and Inscriptions, translated by Randolph S. Whitfield, page 86, Books on Demand, 2020</ref>}}