Question Everything!!!

The Buddha’s Kernel of Free Inquiry

(It is said that Siddhartha Gautama, while with the Kalama people, was asked how to discern Truth.  His words are reported as follows.)

“It is essential to doubt, to question all things deeply, to inquire, examine, inspect and experiment.”

“Do not rely on what another says, be they a friend, a monk, a respected teacher or even a sage.”

“Do not rely on what tradition implies, mainstream culture dictates or what scripture may state.”

“Do not rely on comforting beliefs born of favorable ideas or non-reflective reasoning.

“Only when you know directly – through free and active inquiry – based in critical reasoning, and tested in living, dynamic embodiment and experience, and you see: ‘these things are destructive; when engaged in, they lead to harm’.  Seeing this, you abandon them.  Conversely, when you observe that: ‘these actions are wise and liberating; when enacted they lead to freedom’, then this is ‘right action’ and so abide in these actions.

“Come to know directly – through the crucible of your own life experience – the truth that certain thoughts and actions lead to suffering – your own and that of other beings.  Likewise, when you know directly from your own life experience that wise thought and action lead to benefit and well-being – then your vision will become clear.“

“As Awakening Beings, this harmony of thought, word and deed, creates boundless, panoramic, dynamic peace that may be manifest in every event, in every moment and in every place.”

“As Awakening Beings – wholeness is present, with no need for external validation or belief in a ‘hereafter’ – and so, this Awakening precipitates the Awakening of sentient beings everywhere.”