The five rewards of conviction (faith)

The five rewards of conviction (faith) in a lay person.

1. "When the truly good people in the world show compassion, they will first show compassion to people of conviction, and not to people without conviction.

2. When visiting, they first visit people of conviction, and not people without conviction.

3. When accepting gifts, they will first accept those from people with conviction, and not from people without conviction.

4. When teaching the Dhamma, they will first teach those with conviction, and not those without conviction.

5. A person of conviction, on the break-up of the body, after death, will arise in a good destination, the heavenly world.

These are the five rewards of conviction in a lay person.

"Just as a large banyan tree, on level ground where four roads meet, is a haven for the birds all around, even so a lay person of conviction is a haven for many people: monks, nuns, male lay followers, & female lay followers."

Saddha Sutta-Conviction

"A massive tree

whose branches carry fruits & leaves,

with trunks & roots

& an abundance of fruits:

There the birds find rest.

In that delightful sphere

they make their home.

Those seeking shade 

come to the shade,

those seeking fruit 

find fruit to eat.

So with the person consummate

in virtue & conviction,

humble, sensitive, gentle, 

delightful, & mild:

To him come those without effluent -

free from passion,

free from aversion, 

free from delusion —

the field of merit for the world.

They teach him the Dhamma 

that dispels all stress.

And when he understands, 

he is freed from effluents, 

totally unbound."

Who is a stream-winner ?

"Sariputta, when you know of a householder clothed in white, that he is restrained in terms of the five training rules(i) and that he obtains at will, without difficulty, without hardship, four pleasant mental abidings(ii) in the here & now, then if he wants he may state about himself: 'Hell is ended; animal wombs are ended; the state of the hungry shades is ended; states of deprivation, destitution, the bad bourns are ended! I am a stream-winner, steadfast, never again destined for states of woe, headed for self-awakening!'

(i)Five training rules
1. Abstains from taking life
2. Abstains from taking what is not given
3. Abstains from illicit sex
4. Abstains from lying
5. Abstains from distilled & fermented drinks that cause heedlessness

(ii) Four pleasant mental abidings
1. 'Endowed with unwavering faith (conviction) in the Awakened One: '
'Indeed, the Blessed One is worthy & rightly self-awakened, consummate in knowledge & conduct, well-gone, an expert with regard to the world, unexcelled as a trainer for those people fit to be tamed, the Teacher of divine & human beings, awakened, blessed.'

2. 'Endowed with unwavering faith (conviction)  in the Dhamma:'
'The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One, to be seen here & now, timeless, inviting verification, pertinent, to be realized by the wise for themselves.'

3. 'Endowed with unwavering faith (conviction) in the Sangha:

'The Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples who have practiced well... who have practiced straight-forwardly... who have practiced methodically... who have practiced masterfully — in other words, the four pairs, the eight individuals — they are the Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples: worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect, the incomparable field of merit for the world.'

4. 'Endowed with virtues that are appealing to the noble ones: untorn, unbroken, unspotted, unsplattered, liberating, praised by the wise, untarnished, leading to concentration.

Gihi Sutta-The Householder