The people of Kalama asked the Buddha who to believe out of all the ascetics, sages, venerables, and holy ones who, like himself, passed through their town. They complained that they were confused by the many contradictions they discovered in what they heard.
The Kalama Sutta is the Buddha's reply
- Do not believe anything on mere hearsay.
- Do not believe in traditions merely because they are old and have been handed down for many generations and in many places.
- Do not believe anything on account of rumors or because people talk a a great deal about it.
- Do not believe anything because you are shown the written testimony of some ancient sage.
- Do not believe in what you have fancied, thinking that, because it is extraordinary, it must have been inspired by a god or other wonderful being.
- Do not believe anything merely because presumption is in its favor, or because the custom of many years inclines you to take it as true.
- Do not believe anything merely on the authority of your teachers and priests. But, whatever, after thorough investigation and reflection, you find to agree with reason and experience, as conducive to the good and benefit of one and all and of the world at large, accept only that as true, and shape your life in accordance with it.
- Do not accept any doctrine from reverence, but first try it as gold is tried by fire.
You can read a more expansive version by clicking here.
As a rule I usually identify myself as an Atheist in the search for ultimate truth. However when pressed by people who simply insist I must choose a religion, I tend to label myself a Taoist, though I always stress that I am a philosophical Taoist, not a religious one.
However I also have a deep and abiding warmth in my heart for Buddhism. And after reading what is written above, I am sure that you can see why.
Like this Gryph! I personally get a lot of heat from some friends who are Christian because I never discuss my "religion". (just the friends who are very outspoken about "their" religion being the ONLY correct one) I have never been fond of labels.
ReplyDeleteAm I Atheist? Hmm..Agnostic? Hmmm. I suppose if I would have to use a label I really could identify with it would be Humanist.
I appreciate your postings of late concerning religion. I have always looked upon this time of year as a good time to reflect, a time of joy & happiness and being kind to your fellow human being. But it seems as though, in my little world, the most "Christian" of all of my friends have turned it into a season of hate. All they do is bit*h about the "war on Christmas", complain about the "haters" who do not believe in God, blah blah....It's getting tiresome.
For example, my own Facebook page boasts many comments from friends going on and on about non-believers in a very negative tone. Gee...I suppose THAT is what the spirit of the season IS for THEM? Good grief.
I wish for YOU and all of the Immoral Minority "posters" (even the trolls) a wonderful Holiday Season. Be safe & enjoy!!
I live in Thailand with lots of establishment Buddhists around..still you can find some who have some understanding of what he said...Thanks for putting up those wise words
ReplyDeleteIs that Willow? Looks just like her, except I am sure the language is much cleaner. Maybe Scarah was wrong, the Lord was telling Willow she is the chosen one, and Scarah being who she is refused to take a back seat. How many years before Willow's political "career" can start?
ReplyDeleteExcellent treatise on reason, intelligence, experience and self knowledge; subjects most organized religions do not necessarily proffer.
ReplyDeleteOff Topic
ReplyDeleteA tweet on The Obama Diary has Bo, the First Dog, wishing Palin a Merry Pissmas.
This should be nailed to the doors of every church, a la Martin Luther. And it would be ripped off just as fast
ReplyDeleteBut it would be a start...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther
The buddha said that we can only know what we can experience ourselves.
ReplyDeletea little more doubt in the religious would serve the world well
Wonderful, Gryph, and thanks. I actually think this is a wonderful Christmas message, and I will share it with my family. Like you, I am without faith, but I have a deep, abiding respect for the Buddha--as I think all thinking, caring people probably do.
ReplyDeleteI just call myself an atheist with Buddhist leanings. I have a whole shelf of Buddhist books but am too lazy to walk the walk. Buddhism is pretty hard work, unlike most religions.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTaoist?! You're supposed to know "Only dead fish go with the flow!"
ReplyDeleteTaoism has been my guide since the early '60s, however, I do refer to myself as a Christian Atheist.
ReplyDeleteI, too, commonly identify myself as atheist, yet I also sometimes post here as Hoken - my Dharma name. I recommend reading the Kalama Sutta (linked above), though try not to think about politics as you do - it'll be too disquieting.
ReplyDeleteOT - but something to think about: Mexican officials this week took time out of the holiday celebrations to proclaim the coming of the Apocalypse. Officials have started a countdown to the End of Times for December 21, 2012 — based on the Mayan calendar.
You may want to add that to your 2013 Weekly Planner, or download the Mayan End of Days template for Outlook. If you think about it, this will simplify a lot of our decisions in the coming year - what to do with extra sick days, vacation time, and how to manage our retirement savings for example. Note, too, that this happens on
a Friday. I hope it doesn't screw up Happy Hour.
Thank you. A great way to start a morning. Buddhism seems like a great practice for the spiritual atheist as at it's essence it is based on intelligence and thinking rather than belief and submission to a "higher" authority.
ReplyDeleteHow can you be an "Atheist" and still be searching for "ultimate truth?" I think you may be one of the many, many people who confuse Atheism and Agnosticism. Agnostics are open to the idea of some form of higher being, or there not being one, but haven't found anything that convinces them one way or another yet. An Atheist says no, there is absolutely no such thing as God, end of story.
ReplyDeleteThough, most "Atheists" I've ever met are more accurately defined as "Anti-Christians" because when you ask them why they believe there's no God, they specifically refute Christian beliefs, rather than having any specific, general ones of their own. Or, in the attempt to have one, somehow claim science disproves God, though again this usually boils down to evolution and, therefore, specifically refuting Christian dogma.
Even Gandhi was eclectic. I believe there is much to be learned from most religions and that they are not mutually exclusive.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger, the idea that the more you know, the LESS you will feel you know, just didn't gel in my head.
ReplyDeleteMy thirst for knowledge was so keen, that I could not imagine it not resulting in my getting to a place where I was confident about having figured out most of "life."
Of course, the theory about essentially getting nowhere, proved to be the case.
Its why I have to chuckle when I read blog comments written by those who sound SO convinced of having cracked the exact TRUTH of something.
I feel I should remind them that all they are doing, is parroting something they've heard someone else say...in a way that they found convincing.
"Sounding convincing" is not enough to declare anything as the absolute truth...it can become an idea you feel needs further scrutiny, is all.
I must say, however, that hearing most anything uttered by a person on the Fox channel, is a fairly reliable way to identify falsehoods, at least.
Those are the writings of a religion that actually believes in itself, and doesn't rely on ignorance or blind faith to retain it's followers.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing, Gryph.
Thank you for posting this! What I love about Buddhism is its lack of dogma. And the only leap of faith is to believe in the essential goodness of the spirit of life. A religion that's more of a philosophy -- actually, one could rightly say that about all religions. In Buddhism there is no vengeance, just stories and encouragement to nurture compassion for all living things, thereby creating a peaceful world. Elegant simplicity. No arguments required. Happy Holidays & Merry New Year! Peace, Joy, and Happiness to All!
ReplyDeleteWow - interesting discussion!
ReplyDeleteHell bound Catholic here if I believed in their dogma. Not because I molested children, or killed someone - but because I married a divorced man almost 40 yrs ago. According to the church -confess & beg forgiveness to have "my sin" removed. To do that would to dishonor the vows I took with my husband - and deny our life together.
Christianity is a young religion. Perhaps in time, it will adopt more inclusive and global philosophy rather than just "people sins". Respect for each other & the Earth.
Does that make sense?
Buddhism can be difficult for the Western mind, especially Zen.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly recommend "The Tao of Pooh".
If you can find this it is a delightful, insightful approach to The Way.
If more people practiced Christianity like Buddhism, I wouldn't have such a problem with religion. It's a way of living, of being, not asserting you're a certain religion then acting like you're not, and I'm talking to you SARAH PALIN! You can claim to be a Christian all you want Sarah Palin, but until you put into practice the teachings of Jesus Christ, you are no Christian! All those who claim to be Christian but do not have charity, compassion, acceptance in their hearts might as well make up a new religion and call it Capitalism. Because that's the god they bow down to. Namaste Gryphen.
ReplyDeleteThere are, according to Siddhartha, only 2 mistakes on the path to truth, not starting and not going all the the way.
ReplyDeleteLet's go all the way.
What's the difference between being a Tao-ist and finding meaning in the teachings of Lao-Tzu?
Are the sources of ancient wisdom, from Plato's Dialogues, to the Bhagavad Gita, sermons of Jesus, prophets' sayings in Judaism, teachings of Mohammed, and the words of Siddhartha to name a few, in conflict? or are they different perspectives, designed for different audiences all seeking truth, justice and goodness?
One moon shows in every pool, in each pool, the one moon.
For those aspiring Buddhists out there, are you familiar with Mahayana Buddhism? Its degradation reminds me of the syncreted degradation of Christianity especially after Rome co-opted the religion. This, by the way, is insufficient reason, in my view, to toss out the wisdom of the Buddha.
As Plato might say, it ain't the teachings, it's the additions, subtractions and simplifications from the followers thereof.
Remember the warning of St. Augustine, beware the man of one book.
Enjoy reading these comments, especially those which note the commonalities among the great teachers of every faith--especially the emphasis on compassion, which religious historian Karen Armstrong has pointed out. Virtually every major faith established its own version of the "Golden Rule" independently of one another.
ReplyDeleteHave to point out that Buddhists are prone to the same weaknesses as followers of every other religion, including the use of violence. Throughout history, the Asian continent has experienced violence perpetrated by Buddhists. Consider armed and trained warrior monks, the Tamil Tigers, civil wars, the samurai, monks immolating themselves to protest the Vietnam war, etc.
In this country, the first documented instance of bioterrorism took place in Oregon maybe 20-30 years ago, when Shree Rajneesh, called the Bhagwan as I recall, tried to take over a small town. He designated himself an incarnation of the Buddha, and had accumulated wealth and a number of followers. When their efforts to take over the city council and other regulatory bodies failed, they salted local salad bars with salmonella bacteria, sickening scores of people.
Before anyone advances the "no true Scotsman" argument, remember that was Bill O'Reilly's stance about the recent Norwegian terrorist who was a self-described Christian.
Followers of every religion often fall short, because we are human. But as wakeUpAmerica pointed out, we can learn from studying all of them. Pointing out the failings of disciples of any faith tradition is easy. Living by the honorable ideals they all have in common is very hard.
bigthink.com/ideas/17657
Speaking of "Dogma" Willard the Mitt says he "loves" his dogs "deeply." I hope they have all been spayed or neutered or is it "Newtered?"
ReplyDeleteHey Gryphen,
ReplyDeleteJust wonder if you have ever read Autobiography of a Yogi.
I think you may enjoy it.
Happy holidays to you and all!
If there is a God or a Truth, surely it lies in the combined wisdoms of all faiths and all Great Truths.
ReplyDeleteThat is not to say that any one faith is wrong, just that it limits its capacity to reach towards omniscience by disdaining other seekers of the same goal.
And fundamentally, all human knowledge and understanding is limited by our own imperfect minds.
I don't believe in any sort of god or supreme being. I told a Christian friend that atheism is not a religion and she replied "you have to believe in something" and I could only ask why? I really don't worry too much about how humans got here or why we are here. I am just happy to be here for however long I last and I will do what I can to help leave our planet in good shape for those who come after me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this. When I was in college, I had a proffessor who compared/contrasted religions of the world. I think there's much to be gleaned from the eastern religions, especially Buddhism and the Tao. The principles are similar in that they require us to question the world by looking inward. I was surprised to learn that one can practice Buddhism and Christianity at the same time.
ReplyDeleteThanks Again
Happy Holidays and Namaste to you and the IM Community.
Gryphen, you wrote "I usually identify myself as an Atheist in the search for ultimate truth. However when pressed by people who simply insist I must choose a religion, I tend to label myself a Taoist, though I always stress that I am a philosophical Taoist, not a religious one.
ReplyDeleteHowever I also have a deep and abiding warmth in my heart for Buddhism."
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I've read many of your blogs, Gryphen, and woven through your searing witticisms, blunt assertions, and sometimes crude allegories I often find spiritual insights that can come only from someone who has personally touched the essence of great, universal truths.
These truths go beyond the labels of world religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.
And most certainly a religious person is not automatically a spiritual person.
Thank you for sharing the words of widsom of the Buddha.
The Light within me salutes the Light within you.
Namaste.
Have you noticed that academia breaks Taoism and Buddhism into the "religious" and "philosophical" categories but not Christianity? Think about it. "Philosophical" Christianity is every bit as awesome.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lack of distinction in what Hitchens/Dawkins and our friend Gryphen are objecting to. "Religion" in its ascetic form is the patriarchal, often rabid form. In the mystical (or existential or philosophical) mode, it asks each individual to be their own ethical authority, it teaches love, charity, unity.
What Hitchens did was become a non-theistic ascetic. He went from the authority of the church, and being safe by investing his identity there, to investing it into the state and George Bush. His hatred of "religion" was nothing else that the same hatred of the "other" that people like Sarah Palin promote. Take a look at what he wrote about women, and you'll see the same misogynist that shows up in Baptist circles.
Ironic.