Within the Mahāyāna vision, śraddhā is not mere credulity but a deep, reasoned confidence that permeates the entire devotional life. It is described as the gateway to the path, the inner assurance that Buddhahood is truly possible, that all beings can attain it, and that the bodhisattva way is a reliable means toward universal liberation. This confidence inspires the arising of bodhicitta—the resolve to attain awakening for the sake of all beings—and sustains that resolve across long and difficult stages of practice. In this sense, faith is both the initial spark and the steady flame that keeps the bodhisattva ideal alive in the practitioner’s heart.

This faith naturally orients itself toward the Three Jewels and, in a distinctively Mahāyāna manner, toward the profound teachings of emptiness, compassion, and universal Buddhahood. It includes trust in the authority of the Mahāyāna sūtras, even when their deepest implications are not yet fully grasped. Such trust is not meant to shut down inquiry but to make room for a more spacious understanding, allowing practice and contemplation to mature. As confidence in the Dharma grows, śraddhā evolves from tentative belief into a more stable, realized assurance.

In devotional practice, śraddhā functions as the living core of relationship with buddhas and bodhisattvas. It is the inner disposition that makes practices such as recollection and visualization, name-recitation and mantra, offerings and prostrations genuinely transformative rather than merely ritualistic. When grounded in pure faith, these acts are said to open the mind to the blessings (adhiṣṭhāna) of enlightened beings and to attune the practitioner to their wisdom and compassion. In this way, faith becomes the bridge between ordinary consciousness and the qualities of awakening that are being invoked.

Pure Land traditions give this dynamic a particularly clear expression. There, śraddhā in Amitābha’s vows is regarded as the decisive factor for rebirth in Sukhāvatī, where progress toward awakening is assured. This is often described as entrusting oneself to “other-power,” complementing the “self-power” of one’s own effort. Such entrusting is not passive dependence, but a profound recognition of the efficacy of great compassion, which in turn encourages ethical conduct, generosity, and patience. Across Mahāyāna as a whole, faith and wisdom are seen as mutually reinforcing: faith opens the way to insight, and insight stabilizes and purifies faith, allowing the bodhisattva path and its promise of universal salvation to be walked with courage and clarity.