Buddhism Now
If we are constantly following what others say and think, we never live our own lives; we live other people’s lives; our centre of gravity is somewhere else. The Kalama sutta is classic in pointing this out (see below). The Buddha goes along to this town, Kesaputta, and the people there, the Kalamas, seize the opportunity to ask him about something they’ve been grappling with for a long time: ‘Someone comes and tells us how marvellous his teaching is and how second-rate everyone else’s is. And then someone else comes and says the same—“My teaching is great, the best; everyone else just talks rubbish!”’ So the Kalamas are asking the Buddha how to judge who to believe, and he says, ‘Well, you shouldn’t believe anyone. It’s not a question of believing or not believing what anyone says. If you want to know reality, you have to recognise it. You’re ignoring your own experience of what is happening to you. That’s the difficulty.’ (more…)
Filed under: Beginners, Buddhism, Buddhist meditation, Diana St Ruth, Encyclopedia | Tagged: Buddha, Gotama, Kalama sutta, Kesaputta, Kālāmas, Light of Asia, Marcelle Hanselaar, Sir Edwin Arnold | 4 Comments »
