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Kalama Sutta, Help Us!

All people in the world, including the Thai people, are now
in the same situation as were the Kalama people of
Kesaputtanigama, India, during the time of the Buddha.
Their village was in a place through which many religious
teachers passed. Each of these teachers taught that his
personal doctrine was the only truth, and that all others
before and after him were wrong. The Kalamas could not
decide which doctrine they should accept and follow. The
Buddha once came to their village and the Kalamas
brought up this problem with him: that they did not know
which teacher to believe. So the Buddha taught them what
is now known as the Kalama Sutta, which will examine
here.
Nowadays, worldly people can study many different
approaches to economic, social, and technological
development. The universities teach just about everything.
Then, regarding spiritual matters, here in Thailand alone
we have so many teachers, so many interpretations of the
Buddha's teachings, and so many meditation centers that
nobody knows which teaching to accept or which practice
to follow. Thus it can be said that we have fallen into the
same position as the Kalamas were in.
The Buddha taught them, and us, not to accept or believe
anything immediately. He gave ten basic conditions to
beware of in order to avoid becoming the intellectual slave
of anyone, even of the Buddha himself. This principle
enables us to know how to choose the teachings, which are
truly capable of quenching suffering (dukkha). The ten
examples, which the Buddha gave in the Kalama Sutta
follow:

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1.] Do not accept and believe just because something has
been passed along and retold through the years. Such
credulity is a characteristic of brainless people, or "sawdust
brains," such as those in Bangkok who once believed that
there would be disasters for the people born in the "ma
years" (those years of the traditional twelve year Thai
calendar whose names begin with "ma," namely, years five
through eight - small snake, big snake, horse, and goat).
2.] Do not believe just because some practice has become
traditional. People tend to imitate what others do and then
pass the habit along, as in the story of the rabbit
frightened by the fallen bael fruit. The other animals saw it
running at full-strength, and then so frightened and excited
each other that they ran after it. Most of them tripped and
fell, broke their necks, or tumbled to death off cliffs. Any
vipassana practice that is done in limitation of others, as a
mere tradition, leads to similar results.
3.] Do not accept and believe merely because of the
reports and news spreading far and wide through one's
village, or even throughout the world. Only fools are
susceptible to such "rumors," for they refuse to exercise
their own intelligence.
4.] Do not accept and believe just because something is
cited in a Pitaka. The word "Pitaka," which is used for the
Buddhist scriptures, means anything written or inscribed
upon any suitable writing material. Memorized teachings,
which are passed on orally should not be confused with
Pitaka. Pitakas are a certain kind of conditioned thing,
which are under humanity's control. They can be created,
improved, and changed by human hands. So we cannot
trust every letter and word in them. We need to use our
powers of discrimination to see how those words can be
applied to the quenching of suffering. The various schools
of Buddhism all have their own cannons, among which
there are discrepancies.
5.] Do not believe just because something fits with the
reasoning of logic (takka). This is merely one branch of
study used to try to figure out the truth. Takka, what we
call "logics," can go wrong if its data or its methods are
incorrect.

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6.] Do not believe just because something is correct on
the grounds of naya (deductive and inductive reasoning)
alone. These days, naya is called "philosophy." In
Thailand, we translate the word "philosophy" as "praja,"
which the Indian people cannot accept because "naya" is
only one point of view. It is not the highest or absolute
wisdom, which they call "pa" or "praja" naya, or
nyaya, is merely a branch of thought which reasons on the
basis of assumption or hypotheses. It can be incorrect if
the reasoning or choice of assumptions is inappropriate.
7.] Do not believe or accept just because something
appeals to one's common sense, which is merely snap
judgments based on one's tendencies of thought. We like
using this approach so much that it becomes habitual.
Boastful philosophers like to use this method a great deal
and consider it to be clever.
8.] Do not believe just because something stands up to or
agrees with one's preconceived opinions and theories.
Personal views can be wrong, or our methods of
experiment and verification might be incorrect, and then
will not lead to the truth. Accepting what fits our theories
may seem to be a scientific approach, but actually can
never be so, since its proofs and experiments are
inadequate.
9.] Do not believe just because the speaker appears
believable. Outside appearances and the actual knowledge
inside a person can never be identical. We often find that
speakers who appear credible on the outside say incorrect
and foolish things. Nowadays, we must be wary of
computers because the programmers who feed them data
and manipulate them may feed in the wrong information or
use them incorrectly. Do not worship computers so much,
for doing so goes against this principle of the Kalama
Sutta.
10.] Do not believe just because the Samana or preacher,
the speaker, is "our teacher." The Buddha's purpose
regarding this important point is that no one should be the
intellectual slave of someone else, not even of the Buddha
himself. The Buddha emphasized this point often, and
there were disciples, such as the venerable Shariputra,
who confirmed this practice. They did not believe the
Buddha's words immediately upon hearing them, but

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believed only after adequately considering the advice and
putting it to the test of practice. See for yourselves
whether there is any other religious teacher in the world
who has given this highest freedom to his disciples and
audiences! Thus in Buddhism there is no dogmatic system,
there is no pressure to believe without the right to examine
and decide for oneself. This is the greatest special quality
of Buddhism, which keeps its practitioners from being the
intellectual slaves of anyone, as explained above. We
Thais should not volunteer to follow the West as slavishly
as we are doing now. Intellectual and spiritual freedom is
best.
The ten examples of the Kalama Sutta are a surefire
defense against intellectual dependence or not being one's
own person: that is, neglecting one's own intelligence and
wisdom in dealing with what one hears and listens to, what
is called in Dhamma language paratoghosa ("sound of
others") When listening to anything, one should give it
careful attention and full scrutiny. If there is reason to
believe what has been heard and it results in the genuine
quenching of suffering, then one finally may believe it onehundred percent.
The principle of the Kalama Sutta is appropriate for
everyone, everywhere, every era, and every world - even
for the world of devas (gods). Nowadays the world has
been shrunk by superb communications. Information can
be exchanged easily and rapidly. People can receive new
knowledge from every direction and corner of the globe. In
the process, they don't know what to believe and,
therefore, are in the same position as the Kalamas once
were. Indeed, it is the Kalama Sutta, which will be their
refuge. Please give it the good attention and study it
deserves. Consider it the greatest good fortune that the
Buddha taught the Kalama Sutta. It is a gift for everyone
in the world. Only people who are overly stupid will be
unable to benefit from this advice of the Buddha.
The Kalama Sutta is to be used by people of all ages. Even
children can apply its principles in order to be children of
awakening (bodhi), rather than children of ignorance
(avijja). Parents should teach and train their children to
know how to understand the words and instructions they
receive, to see how reasonable the words are and what
kind of results will come from them. When parents teach

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or tell their children anything, the children should
understand and see the benefit of practicing what they are
told. For example, when a child it told not to take heroin,
that child should believe not merely because of fear.
Rather, seeing the results of taking heroin, the child fears
them and then willingly refuses the drug on her or his own.
None of the items in the Kalama Sutta state that children
should never believe anyone or should never listen to
anyone, they all state that children, and everyone else,
should listen and believe only after having seen the real
meaning of something and the advantages they will
receive from such belief and its subsequent practice.
When a teacher teaches something, having the children
see the reason behind the teaching won't make the
children obstinate. For the obstinate ones, gently add a bit
of the stick and let them think things over again. Children
will understand the principle of the Kalama Sutta more and
more as they grow up. They will complete all ten items
themselves as they become fully mature adults, if we train
children by this standard.
A scientific world such as todays will be able to accept
gladly all ten tenets of the Kalama Sutta as being in line
with the scientific method and approach. There is not the
least contradiction between the principles of science and
those of the Kalama Sutta. Even the eighth item, which
states that one should not accept something just because
it agrees with one's own preconceived theories, does not
contradict scientific principles. True scientists emphasize
experimental verification, not their own concepts, opinions,
and reasoning, as their main criterion for accepting
something as true. Due to these standards of the Kalama
Sutta, Buddhism will meet the expectations and needs of
true scientists.
If one follows the principle of the Kalama Sutta, one will
have independent knowledge and reason with which to
understand the meaning and truth of ideas and
propositions heard for the first time. For example, when
one hears that greed, hatred, and delusion are dangerous
and evil, one understands thoroughly and instantly,
because one already knows through personal experience
what these things are like. One believes in oneself rather
than in the speaker. The way of practice is the same in
other cases. If a statement is about something one has

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never seen or known before, one should try to understand
or get to know it first. Then one can consider whether or
not to accept the newly received teaching or advice. One
must not accept something just because one believes in
the speaker. One should take one's time, even if it means
dying before finding out. The Kalama Sutta can protect
one from becoming the intellectual slave of others, even on
the highest levels.
There's a problem every time a new kind of medicine
comes out and gets advertised up and down all over the
place. Should we offer ourselves as guinea pigs to test it,
out of belief in the advertisements? Or should we wait
until we have sufficient reason to try just a little of it first,
to see if it truly gives good results, before fully relying on
it? We should respond to new statements and teachings as
we respond to new medicines, by depending on the
principles in the Kalama Sutta as a true refuge.
The Kalama Sutta requires us to have wisdom before
having faith. If one wants to have faith come first, then let
it be the faith which begins with wisdom, not faith which
comes from ignorance. The same bolds true in the principle
of the Noble Eightfold Path: Take wisdom or right
understanding as the starting point, then let faith grow out
of that wisdom or right understanding. That is the only safe
approach. We ought never to believe blindly immediately
upon hearing something, nor should we be forced to
believe out of fear, bribery, and the like.
The world nowadays is so overwhelmed by the power of
advertising that most people have become its slaves. It
can make people pull out their wallets to buy things they
don't need to eat, don't need to have, and don't need to
use. It's so commonplace that we absolutely must offer
the principle of the Kalama Sutta to our human comrades
of this era. Propaganda is much more harmful than
ordinary advertising or what is called paratoghosa in Pali.
Even with ordinary advertising, we must depend on the
principle of the Kalama Sutta, to say nothing of needing
this principle to deal with outright propaganda, which is full
of intentional deceptions. So we can say that the Kalama
Sutta is beneficial even in solving economic problems.
I ask you all to consider, investigate, and test whether
there is found anywhere greater spiritual freedom than is

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found in the Kalama Sutta. If someone says that Buddhism
is a religion of freedom, can there be any reason to dispute
or oppose that statement? Does this world, which is
intoxicated with freedom really know or have freedom in
line with the principle of the Kalama Sutta? Is the lack of
such freedom caused by blind ignorance and indifference
regarding the Kalama Sutta? Some people even claim that
it teaches us not to believe or listen to anything.
Moreover, some actually say that the Buddha preached this
Sutta only for the Kalamas there at that time. Why don't e
open our eyes and take notice that people nowadays have
become intellectual slaves, that they have lost their
freedom much more than those Kalamas in the time of the
Buddha? Human friends, fellow worshippers of freedom, I
ask you to consider carefully the essence and aim of the
Kalama Sutta and the Buddha's intention in teaching it.
Then, your Buddhist quality of awakening will grow fat and
robust, rather than skinny and weak. Don't go foolishly
hating and fearing the Kalama Sutta. The word "Thai"
means 'freedom." What kind of freedom are you going to
bring to our "Thai-ness"? Or what kind of Thai-ness is fitting
and proper for the Thai-ness of Buddhists, the disciples of
the Buddha?
Now let us look further to see the hidden benefits and
advantages in the Kalama Sutta. The Sutta can help us to
avoid the tactless and narrow-minded talk, which leads to
violent clashes and disputes. For example it is foolish to set
up an unalterable rule for all families regarding who,
husband or wife, will be the front legs and who the hind
legs of the elephant. It all depends on the conditions and
circumstances of each specific family. According to the
principles in the Kalama Sutta and the law of conditionality
(idappaccayata), we only can say which roles are
appropriate for whom depending on the circumstances of
each individual family. Do not speak one-sidedly and go
against natural principles.
Regarding abortion, people argue until black and red in the
face about whether or not it should be done, without
investigating to find out in which cases it should and in
which cases it should not. Once we follow the principles of
the Buddhist way of reasoning, each situation itself will tell
us what is proper and what is not. Please stop insisting on
one-sided positions.

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In the case of meat eating versus vegetarianism, people
blindly argue for one extreme or the other. The problem is
that people are attached to regarding food as either meat
or as vegetables. For Buddhists, there is neither meat nor
vegetables; there are only elements in nature. Whether
the eater or the eaten, it's all merely natural elements.
The situations where we should eat meat and the
circumstances in which we shouldn't can be discerned by
using the principle of the Kalama Sutta. For just this
reason, the Buddha never decisively said to eat only meat
or only vegetables, to not eat meat or not eat vegetables.
To speak so carelessly is not the way of Buddhists.
To say that democracy is always and absolutely good is to
speak with one's head in the sand. Those who insist on it
haven't considered that a democracy of selfish people is
worse than a dictatorship under an unselfish person who
rules for the sake of Dhamma and justice. A democracy of
selfish people means freedom to use their selfishness in a
most frightening and awful manner. Consequently,
problems drag on endlessly among those people who have
a democracy of selfishness. Stop saying that democracy is
absolutely good or that dictatorship is absolutely good.
Instead, stick to the principle that both will be good if they
are based in Dhamma. Each population should choose
whichever system suits the particular circumstances, which
it faces.
To say that the Prime Minister exclusively must be an
elected member of parliament, and never someone who
the people haven't chosen directly, is to babble as if deaf
and blind. Really, we must look to see how the situation
ought to be and what the causes and conditions are, then
act correctly according to the law of conditionality. This is
the true Buddhist way, befitting the fact that Buddhism
embodies democracy in the form of Dhammic socialism.
Therefore, the election of members of parliament, the
establishment of a government, the structuring of the
political system, and even the course of social and
economic development should be carried out using the
principle of the Kalama Sutta. Please consider each
example. You soon will discover the fact that we must rely
upon the principle of the Kalama Sutta.
More than ever the modern world needs the Kalama Sutta
as its basic operating principle. The world is spinning fast

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with the defilements of humanity. It is shrinking due to
better transportation and communications. And it is about
to self-destruct because proper awareness, intelligence,
and wisdom are lacking. Under the power of defilement,
the world is worshipping materialism, sex and luxury,
because it lacks standards like that of the Kalama Sutta.
No one knows how to make choices in line with its
principle. Consequently, the world is wholly unfit for
peace, while increasing in crime and other harmful evils
every moment. Let's eliminate all these problems and evils
by relying on the Kalama Sutta as our standard. So let's
yell at the top of our lungs, "Help! Kalama Sutta, help us!"
In conclusion, the Kalama Sutta never forbids us to believe
in anything; it merely implores us to believe with
independent intelligence and wisdom. It never forbids us
to listen to anything; it merely asks us to listen without
letting our intelligence and wisdom become enslaved.
Furthermore, it helps us to be able to think, consider,
investigate, and decide with great subtlety and precision,
so that we can find golden needles in haystacks as huge as
mountains.
Please come, Kalama Sutta! Come invest yourself in the
hearts and minds of all Buddhists, of all human beings, in
this modern world.
Kalama Sutta, help us!