In Buddhism, faith is indispensable: without faith, the teachings tell us, nothing positive can develop, just as a green shoot can never grow from a dried-up seed. Shantideva quotes Buddha in his 'Compendium of Trainings':
"They who long to put an end to sorrow and reach sublime happiness must firmly plant the root of faith, and stabilize their minds, in the quest for enlightenment."
What is faith exactly? The Abhidharmakosha tells us:
"Faith is full confidence in the law of karma, cause and effect, in the Four Noble Truths and in the Three Jewels. It is also aspiration for spiritual attainment, and a clear-minded appreciation of the truth."
As we examine the teachings, it inspires in us a trust in the truth of the Dharma, that unfolds through four stages: vivid faith, eager faith, confident faith, and, finally, irreversible faith. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche explains: “When faith has become so much a part of you that, even at the cost of your life, there is no way you would ever renounce it, it is then irreversible faith. When your faith reaches that point, whatever circumstances you may meet, you will always be completely confident.”
As it grows stronger, faith turns into devotion, and a tremendous gratitude to the teacher springs up, which carries us beyond the ordinary dualistic mind. So open is our heart that clinging at self falls away, and there awakens within us the transcendent wisdom of prajñaparamita. And so with that devotion comes the blessing that is the catalyst for realization. It is said:
"Innate, absolute wisdom can only come
As the mark of having accumulated merit and purified obscurations,
And through the blessing of a realized teacher.
Know that to rely on any other means is foolish."
Devotion then is the inspirer, that which moves and stirs us and unveils ‘the natural state’, the innermost nature of mind. To me, devotion is a kind of love, but a love suffused by wisdom, the most profound kind of love that can be known by the human mind and heart.