                                          
                              KALAMA SUTTA
                                          
                  The Buddha's Charter of Free Inquiry
                                          
                                          
                        Translated from the Pali
                                   by
                               Soma Thera
                                          
                                          
                                          
                      The Wheel Publication No. 8
                                          
                      BUDDHIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY
                            KANDY SRI LANKA
                                          
              Copyright 1981 Buddhist Publication Society
                                          
                           SL ISSN 0049-7541
                                          
                         First Impression 1959
                         Second Impression 1963
                         Third Impression 1977
                         Fourth Impression 1981
                                          
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                         DharmaNet Edition 1994
                                          
        This electronic edition is offered for free distribution
            via DharmaNet by arrangement with the publisher.
                                          
                                          
                        DharmaNet International
                 P.O. Box 4951, Berkeley CA 94704-4951
                                          
              Transcribed for DharmaNet by Jut L. Blointh
                                          
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                                CONTENTS
  
      Preface
      Supplementary Texts
      The Instruction to the Kalamas
      Essay: A look at the Kalama Sutta (Bhikkhu Bodhi)
      Changes Made During Transcription
      About the BPS
      Distribution Agreement
       
  
  
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                                PREFACE
                                          
                                          
       The instruction of the Kalamas (Kalama Sutta) is justly famous 
   for its encouragement of free inquiry; the spirit of the sutta 
   signifies a teaching that is exempt from fanaticism, bigotry, 
   dogmatism, and intolerance.
       
       The reasonableness of the Dhamma, the Buddha's teaching, is 
   chiefly evident in its welcoming careful examination at all stages 
   of the path to enlightenment. Indeed the whole course of training 
   for wisdom culminating in the purity of the consummate one (the 
   arhat) is intimately bound up with examination and analysis of 
   things internal: the eye and visible objects, the ear and sounds, 
   the nose and smells, the tongue and tastes, the body and tactile 
   impressions, the mind and ideas.
       
       Thus since all phenomena have to be correctly understood in the 
   field of Dhamma, insight is operative throughout. In this sutta it 
   is active in rejecting the bad and adopting the good way; in the 
   extracts given below in clarifying the basis of knowledge of 
   conditionality and arhatship. Here it may be mentioned that the 
   methods of examination in the Kalama Sutta and in the extracts cited 
   here, have sprung from the knowledge of things as they are and that 
   the tenor of these methods are implied in all straight thinking. 
   Further, as penetration and comprehension, the constituents of 
   wisdom are the result of such thinking, the place of critical 
   examination and analysis in the development of right vision is 
   obvious. Where is the wisdom or vision that can descend, all of a 
   sudden, untouched and uninfluenced by a critical thought?
       
       The Kalama Sutta, which sets forth the principles that should be 
   followed by a seeker of truth, and which contains a standard things 
   are judged by, belongs to a framework of the Dhamma; the four 
   solaces taught in the sutta point out the extent to which the Buddha 
   permits suspense of judgment in matters beyond normal cognition. The 
   solaces show that the reason for a virtuous life does not 
   necessarily depend on belief in rebirth or retribution, but on 
   mental well-being acquired through the overcoming of greed, hate, 
   and delusion.
       
       More than fifty years ago, Moncure D. Conway, the author of "My 
   Pilgrimage to the Wise Men of the East," visited Colombo. He was a 
   friend of Ponnambalam Ramanathan (then Solicitor General of Ceylon), 
   and together with him Conway went to the Vidyodaya Pirivena to learn 
   something of the Buddha's teaching from Hikkaduve Siri Sumangala 
   Nayaka Thera, the founder of the institution. The Nayaka Thera 
   explained to them the principles contained in the Kalama Sutta and 
   at the end of the conversation Ramanathan whispered to Conway: "Is 
   it not strange that you and I, who come from far different religions 
   and regions, should together listen to a sermon from the Buddha in 
   favor of that free thought, that independence of traditional and 
   fashionable doctrines, which is still the vital principle of human 
   development?" -- Conway: "Yes, and we with the (Kalama) princes 
   pronounce his doctrines good."
       
       
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                          SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS
                                          
                                          
       "Friend Savittha, apart from faith, apart from liking, apart from 
   what has been acquired by repeated hearing, apart from specious 
   reasoning, and from a bias towards a notion that has been pondered 
   over, I know this, I see this: 'Decay and death are due to birth.'"
  
                                                Samyuttanikaya, Nidanavagga,
                                                      Mahavagga, Sutta No. 8
       
       
       "Here a bhikkhu, having seen an object with the eye, knows when 
   greed, hate, and delusion are within, 'Greed, hate, and delusion are 
   in me'; he knows when greed, hate, and delusion are not within, 
   'Greed, hate, and delusion are not in me.' Bhikkhus, have these 
   things to be experienced through faith, liking, what has been 
   acquired by repeated hearing, specious reasoning, or a bias towards 
   a notion that has been pondered over?" -- "No, venerable sir." -- 
   "Bhikkhus, this even is the way by which a bhikkhu, apart from 
   faith, liking, what has been acquired by repeated hearing, specious 
   reasoning, or a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over, 
   declares realization of knowledge thus: I know that birth has been 
   exhausted, the celibate life has been lived, what must be done has 
   been done and there is no more of this to come."
       
                                          Samyuttanikaya, Salyatanavagga,
                                             Navapuranavagga, Sutta No. 8
       
                                          
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                     THE INSTRUCTION TO THE KALAMAS
       
       
       
  The Kalamas of Kesaputta go to see the Buddha
                                          
       1. I heard thus. Once the Blessed One, while wandering in the 
   Kosala country with a large community of bhikkhus, entered a town of 
   the Kalama people called Kesaputta. The Kalamas who were inhabitants 
   of Kesaputta: "Reverend Gotama, the monk, the son of the Sakiyans, 
   has, while wandering in the Kosala country, entered Kesaputta. The 
   good repute of the Reverend Gotama has been spread in this way: 
   Indeed, the Blessed One is thus consummate, fully enlightened, 
   endowed with knowledge and practice, sublime, knower of the worlds, 
   peerless, guide of tamable men, teacher of divine and human beings, 
   which he by himself has through direct knowledge understood clearly. 
   He set forth the Dhamma, good in the beginning, good in the middle, 
   good in the end, possessed of meaning and the letter, and complete 
   in everything; and he proclaims the holy life that is perfectly 
   pure. Seeing such consummate ones is good indeed."
       
       2. Then the Kalamas who were inhabitants of Kesaputta went to 
   where the Blessed One was. On arriving there some paid homage to him 
   and sat down on one side; some exchanged greetings with him and 
   after the ending of cordial memorable talk, sat down on one side; 
   some saluted him raising their joined palms and sat down on one 
   side; some announced their name and family and sat down on one side; 
   some without speaking, sat down on one side.
       
       
   The Kalamas of Kesaputta ask for guidance from the Buddha
       
       3. The Kalamas who were inhabitants of Kesaputta sitting on one 
   side said to the Blessed One: "There are some monks and brahmins, 
   venerable sir, who visit Kesaputta. They expound and explain only 
   their own doctrines; the doctrines of others they despise, revile, 
   and pull to pieces. Some other monks and brahmins too, venerable 
   sir, come to Kesaputta. They also expound and explain only their own 
   doctrines; the doctrines of others they despise, revile, and pull to 
   pieces. Venerable sir, there is doubt, there is uncertainty in us 
   concerning them. Which of these reverend monks and brahmins spoke 
   the truth and which falsehood?"
       
       
   The criterion for rejection
       
       4. "It is proper for you, Kalamas, to doubt, to be uncertain;
   uncertainty has arisen in you about what is doubtful. Come, Kalamas. 
   Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon 
   tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon 
   surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a 
   bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon 
   another's seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, 'The monk is 
   our teacher.' Kalamas, when you yourselves know: 'These things are 
   bad; these things are blamable; these things are censured by the 
   wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill,' 
   abandon them.
       
       
   Greed, hate, and delusion
                                          
       5. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does greed appear in a man for 
   his benefit or harm?" -- "For his harm, venerable sir." -- "Kalamas, 
   being given to greed, and being overwhelmed and vanquished mentally 
   by greed, this man takes life, steals, commits adultery, and tells 
   lies; he prompts another too, to do likewise. Will that be long for 
   his harm and ill?" -- "Yes, venerable sir."
       
       6. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does hate appear in a man for his 
   benefit or harm?" -- "For his harm, venerable sir." -- "Kalamas, 
   being given to hate, and being overwhelmed and vanquished mentally 
   by hate, this man takes life, steals, commits adultery, and tells 
   lies; he prompts another too, to do likewise. Will that be long for 
   his harm and ill?" -- "Yes, venerable sir."
       
       7. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does delusion appear in a man for 
   his benefit or harm?" -- "For his harm, venerable sir." -- "Kalamas, 
   being given to delusion, and being overwhelmed and vanquished 
   mentally by delusion, this man takes life, steals, commits adultery, 
   and tells lies; he prompts another too, to do likewise. Will that be 
   long for his harm and ill?" -- "Yes, venerable sir."
       
       8. "What do you think, Kalamas? Are these things good or bad?" -- 
   "Bad, venerable sir" -- "Blamable or not blamable?" -- "Blamable, 
   venerable sir." -- "Censured or praised by the wise?" -- "Censured, 
   venerable sir." -- "Undertaken and observed, do these things lead to 
   harm and ill, or not? Or how does it strike you?" -- "Undertaken and 
   observed, these things lead to harm and ill. Thus it strikes us 
   here."
       
       9. "Therefore, did we say, Kalamas, what was said thus, 'Come 
   Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; 
   nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; 
   nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; 
   nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor 
   upon another's seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, "The 
   monk is our teacher." Kalamas, when you yourselves know: "These 
   things are bad; these things are blamable; these things are censured 
   by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and 
   ill," abandon them.'

      
   The criterion for acceptance
       
       10. "Come, Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by 
   repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what 
   is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon 
   specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been 
   pondered over; nor upon another's seeming ability; nor upon the 
   consideration, 'The monk is our teacher.' Kalamas, when you 
   yourselves know: 'These things are good; these things are not 
   blamable; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and 
   observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness,' enter on and 
   abide in them.
       
       
   Absence of greed, hate, and delusion
                                          
       11, "What do you think, Kalamas? Does absence of greed appear in 
   a man for his benefit or harm?" -- "For his benefit, venerable sir." 
   -- "Kalamas, being not given to greed, and being not overwhelmed and 
   not vanquished mentally by greed, this man does not take life, does 
   not steal, does not commit adultery, and does not tell lies; he 
   prompts another too, to do likewise. Will that be long for his 
   benefit and happiness?" -- "Yes, venerable sir."
       
       12. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does absence of hate appear in a 
   man for his benefit or harm?" -- "For his benefit, venerable sir." 
   -- "Kalamas, being not given to hate, and being not overwhelmed and 
   not vanquished mentally by hate, this man does not take life, does 
   not steal, does not commit adultery, and does not tell lies; he 
   prompts another too, to do likewise. Will that be long for his 
   benefit and happiness?" _ "Yes, venerable sir."
       
       13. "What do you think, Kalamas? Does absence of delusion appear 
   in a man for his benefit or harm?" -- "For his benefit, venerable 
   sir." -- "Kalamas, being not given to delusion, and being not 
   overwhelmed and not vanquished mentally by delusion, this man does 
   not take life, does not steal, does not commit adultery, and does 
   not tell lies; he prompts another too, to do likewise. Will that be 
   long for his benefit and happiness?" _ "Yes, venerable sir."
       
       14. "What do you think, Kalamas? Are these things good or bad?" 
   -- "Good, venerable sir." -- "Blamable or not blamable?" -- "Not 
   blamable, venerable sir." -- "Censured or praised by the wise?" -- 
   "Praised, venerable sir." -- "Undertaken and observed, do these 
   things lead to benefit and happiness, or not? Or how does it strike 
   you?" -- "Undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and 
   happiness. Thus it strikes us here."
       
       15. "Therefore, did we say, Kalamas, what was said thus, 'Come 
   Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; 
   nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; 
   nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; 
   nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor 
   upon another's seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, "The 
   monk is our teacher." Kalamas, when you yourselves know: "These 
   things are bad; these things are blamable; these things are censured 
   by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and 
   ill," abandon them.'
       
       
   The Four Exalted Dwellings
                                          
       16. "The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who in this way is 
   devoid of coveting, devoid of ill will, undeluded, clearly 
   comprehending and mindful, dwells, having pervaded, with the thought 
   of amity, one quarter; likewise the second; likewise the third; 
   likewise the fourth; so above, below, and across; he dwells, having 
   pervaded because of the existence in it of all living beings, 
   everywhere, the entire world, with the great, exalted, boundless 
   thought of amity that is free of hate or malice.
       
       "He lives, having pervaded, with the thought of compassion, one 
   quarter; likewise the second; likewise the third; likewise the 
   fourth; so above, below, and across; he dwells, having pervaded 
   because of the existence in it of all living beings, everywhere, the 
   entire world, with the great, exalted, boundless thought of 
   compassion that is free of hate or malice.
       
       "He lives, having pervaded, with the thought of gladness, one 
   quarter; likewise the second; likewise the third; likewise the 
   fourth; so above, below, and across; he dwells, having pervaded 
   because of the existence in it of all living beings, everywhere, the 
   entire world, with the great, exalted, boundless thought of gladness 
   that is free of hate or malice.
       
       "He lives, having pervaded, with the thought of equanimity, one 
   quarter; likewise the second; likewise the third; likewise the 
   fourth; so above, below, and across; he dwells, having pervaded 
   because of the existence in it of all living beings, everywhere, the 
   entire world, with the great, exalted, boundless thought of 
   equanimity that is free of hate or malice.
       
       
  The Four Solaces
                                          
       17. "The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who has such a 
   hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and 
   such a purified mind, is one by whom four solaces are found here and 
   now.
       
       "'Suppose there is a hereafter and there is a fruit, result, of 
   deeds done well or ill. Then it is possible that at the dissolution 
   of the body after death, I shall arise in the heavenly world, which 
   is possessed of the state of bliss.' This is the first solace found 
   by him.
       
       "'Suppose there is no hereafter and there is no fruit, no result, 
   of deeds done well or ill. Yet in this world, here and now, free 
   from hatred, free from malice, safe and sound, and happy, I keep 
   myself.' This is the second solace found by him.
       
       "'Suppose evil (results) befall an evil-doer. I, however, think 
   of doing evil to no one. Then, how can ill (results) affect me who 
   do no evil deed?' This is the third solace found by him.
       
       "'Suppose evil (results) do not befall an evil-doer. Then I see 
   myself purified in any case.' This is the fourth solace found by 
   him.
       
       "The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who has such a 
   hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and 
   such a purified mind, is one by whom, here and now, these four 
   solaces are found."
       
       "So it is, Blessed One. So it is, Sublime one. The disciple of 
   the Noble Ones, venerable sir, who has such a hate-free mind, such a 
   malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and such a purified mind, 
   is one by whom, here and now, four solaces are found.
       
       "'Suppose there is no hereafter and there is no fruit, no result, 
   of deeds done well or ill. Yet in this world, here and now, free 
   from hatred, free from malice, safe and sound, and happy, I keep 
   myself.' This is the second solace found by him.
       
       "'Suppose evil (results) befall an evil-doer. I, however, think 
   of doing evil to no one. Then, how can ill (results) affect me who 
   do no evil deed?' This is the third solace found by him.
       
       "'Suppose evil (results) do not befall an evil-doer. Then I see 
   myself purified in any case.' This is the fourth solace found by 
   him.
       
       "The disciple of the Noble Ones, venerable sir, who has such a 
   hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and 
   such a purified mind, is one by whom, here and now, these four 
   solaces are found."
       
       "Marvelous, venerable sir! Marvelous, venerable sir! As if, 
   venerable sir, a person were to turn face upwards what is upside 
   down, or to uncover the concealed, or to point the way to one who is 
   lost or to carry a lamp in the darkness, thinking, 'Those who have 
   eyes will see visible objects,' so has the Dhamma been set forth in 
   many ways by the Blessed One. We, venerable sir, go to the Blessed 
   One for refuge, to the Dhamma for refuge, and to the Community of 
   Bhikkhus for refuge. Venerable sir, may the Blessed One regard us as 
   lay followers who have gone for refuge for life, from today."
       
                                        Anguttara Nikaya, Tika Nipata,
                                               Mahavagga, Sutta No. 65
       
  
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     [The following commentary on the Kalama Sutta appeared in the
     Buddhist Publication Society Newsletter (No. 9, 1988). It did not
     appear in the original BPS edition of Wheel No. 8, but is included
     in this DharmaNet edition as an aid to those interested in studying
     this important sutta. The essay may also be found in a collection
     of 25 essays by Bhikkhu Bodhi, also available via DharmaNet in the
     file BBESSAYS.ZIP.       -- John Bullitt, DharmaNet]


                                  
                    A LOOK AT THE KALAMA SUTTA
                                  
                         by Bhikkhu Bodhi
                                  



   In this issue of the newsletter we have combined the feature essay
   with the "Sutta Study" column as we take a fresh look at an often
   quoted discourse of the Buddha, the Kalama Sutta. The discourse --
   found in translation in Wheel No. 8 -- has been described as "the
   Buddha's Charter of Free Inquiry," and though the discourse certainly
   does counter the decrees of dogmatism and blind faith with a vigorous
   call for free investigation, it is problematic whether the sutta can
   support all the positions that have been ascribed to it. On the basis
   of a single passage, quoted out of context, the Buddha has been made
   out to be a pragmatic empiricist who dismisses all doctrine and
   faith, and whose Dhamma is simply a freethinker's kit to truth which
   invites each one to accept and reject whatever he likes.

   But does the Kalama Sutta really justify such views? Or do we meet in
   these claims just another set of variations on that egregious old
   tendency to interpret the Dhamma according to whatever notions are
   congenial to oneself -- or to those to whom one is preaching? Let us
   take as careful a look at the Kalama Sutta as the limited space
   allotted to this essay will allow, remembering that in order to
   understand the Buddha's utterances correctly it is essential to take
   account of his own intentions in making them.

   The passage that has been cited so often runs as follows: "Come,
   Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing,
   nor upon tradition, nor upon rumor, nor upon scripture, nor upon
   surmise, nor upon axiom, nor upon specious reasoning, nor upon bias
   towards a notion pondered over, nor upon another's seeming ability,
   nor upon the consideration 'The monk is our teacher.' When you
   yourselves know: 'These things are bad, blamable, censured by the
   wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill,'
   abandon them... When you yourselves know: 'These things are good,
   blameless, praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things
   lead to benefit and happiness,' enter on and abide in them."

   Now this passage, like everything else spoken by the Buddha, has been
   stated in a specific context -- with a particular audience and
   situation in view -- and thus must be understood in relation to that
   context. The Kalamas, citizens of the town of Kesaputta, had been
   visited by religious teachers of divergent views, each of whom would
   propound his own doctrines and tear down the doctrines of his
   predecessors. This left the Kalamas perplexed, and thus when "the
   recluse Gotama," reputed to be an Awakened One, arrived in their
   township, they approached him in the hope that he might be able to
   dispel their confusion. From the subsequent development of the sutta,
   it is clear that the issues that perplexed them were the reality of
   rebirth and kammic retribution for good and evil deeds.

   The Buddha begins by assuring the Kalamas that under such
   circumstances it is proper for them to doubt, an assurance which
   encourages free inquiry. He next speaks the passage quoted above,
   advising the Kalamas to abandon those things they know for themselves
   to be bad and to undertake those things they know for themselves to
   be good. This advice can be dangerous if given to those whose ethical
   sense is undeveloped, and we can thus assume that the Buddha regarded
   the Kalamas as people of refined moral sensitivity. In any case he
   did not leave them wholly to their own resources, but by questioning
   them led them to see that greed, hate and delusion, being conducive
   to harm and suffering for oneself and others, are to be abandoned,
   and their opposites, being beneficial to all, are to be developed.

   The Buddha next explains that a "noble disciple, devoid of
   covetousness and ill will, undeluded" dwells pervading the world with
   boundless loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy and
   equanimity. Thus purified of hate and malice, he enjoys here and now
   four "solaces": If there is an afterlife and kammic result, then he
   will undergo a pleasant rebirth, while if there is none he still
   lives happily here and now; if evil results befall an evil-doer, then
   no evil will befall him, and if evil results do not befall an
   evil-doer, then he is purified anyway. With this the Kalamas express
   their appreciation of the Buddha's discourse and go for refuge to the
   Triple Gem.

   Now does the Kalama Sutta suggest, as is often held, that a follower
   of the Buddhist path can dispense with all faith and doctrine, that
   he should make his own personal experience the criterion for judging
   the Buddha's utterances and for rejecting what cannot be squared with
   it? It is true the Buddha does not ask the Kalamas to accept anything
   he says out of confidence in himself, but let us note one important
   point: the Kalamas, at the start of the discourse, were not the
   Buddha's disciples. They approached him merely as a counselor who
   might help dispel their doubts, but they did not come to him as the
   Tathagata, the Truth-finder, who might show them the way to spiritual
   progress and to final liberation.

   Thus, because the Kalamas had not yet come to accept the Buddha in
   terms of his unique mission, as the discloser of the liberating
   truth, it would not have been in place for him to expound to them the
   Dhamma unique to his own Dispensation: such teachings as the Four
   Noble Truths, the three characteristics, and the methods of
   contemplation based upon them. These teachings are specifically
   intended for those who have accepted the Buddha as their guide to
   deliverance, and in the suttas he expounds them only to those who
   "have gained faith in the Tathagata" and who possess the perspective
   necessary to grasp them and apply them. The Kalamas, however, at the
   start of the discourse are not yet fertile soil for him to sow the
   seeds of his liberating message. Still confused by the conflicting
   claims to which they have been exposed, they are not yet clear even
   about the groundwork of morality.

   Nevertheless, after advising the Kalamas not to rely upon established
   tradition, abstract reasoning, and charismatic gurus, the Buddha
   proposes to them a teaching that is immediately verifiable and
   capable of laying a firm foundation for a life of moral discipline
   and mental purification . He shows that whether or not there be
   another life after death, a life of moral restraint and of love and
   compassion for all beings brings its own intrinsic rewards here and
   now, a happiness and sense of inward security far superior to the
   fragile pleasures that can be won by violating moral principles and
   indulging the mind's desires. For those who are not concerned to look
   further, who are not prepared to adopt any convictions about a future
   life and worlds beyond the present one, such a teaching will ensure
   their present welfare and their safe passage to a pleasant rebirth --
   provided they do not fall into the wrong view of denying an afterlife
   and kammic causation.

   However, for those whose vision is capable of widening to encompass
   the broader horizons of our existence. this teaching given to the
   Kalamas points beyond its immediate implications to the very core of
   the Dhamma. For the three states brought forth for examination by the
   Buddha -- greed, hate and delusion -- are not merely grounds of wrong
   conduct or moral stains upon the mind. Within his teaching's own
   framework they are the root defilements -- the primary causes of all
   bondage and suffering -- and the entire practice of the Dhamma can be
   viewed as the task of eradicating these evil roots by developing to
   perfection their antidotes -- dispassion, kindness and wisdom.

   Thus the discourse to the Kalamas offers an acid test for gaining
   confidence in the Dhamma as a viable doctrine of deliverance. We
   begin with an immediately verifiable teaching whose validity can be
   attested by anyone with the moral integrity to follow it through to
   its conclusions, namely, that the defilements cause harm and
   suffering both personal and social, that their removal brings peace
   and happiness, and that the practices taught by the Buddha are
   effective means for achieving their removal. By putting this teaching
   to a personal test, with only a provisional trust in the Buddha as
   one's collateral, one eventually arrives at a firmer, experientially
   grounded confidence in the liberating and purifying power of the
   Dhamma. This increased confidence in the teaching brings along a
   deepened faith in the Buddha as teacher, and thus disposes one to
   accept on trust those principles he enunciates that are relevant to
   the quest for awakening, even when they lie beyond one's own capacity
   for verification. This, in fact, marks the acquisition of right view,
   in its preliminary role as the forerunner of the entire Noble
   Eightfold Path.

   Partly in reaction to dogmatic religion, partly in subservience to
   the reigning paradigm of objective scientific knowledge, it has
   become fashionable to hold, by appeal to the Kalama Sutta, that the
   Buddha's teaching dispenses with faith and formulated doctrine and
   asks us to accept only what we can personally verify. This
   interpretation of the sutta, however, forgets that the advice the
   Buddha gave the Kalamas was contingent upon the understanding that
   they were not yet prepared to place faith in him and his doctrine; it
   also forgets that the sutta omits, for that very reason, all mention
   of right view and of the entire perspective that opens up when right
   view is acquired. It offers instead the most reasonable counsel on
   wholesome living possible when the issue of ultimate beliefs has been
   put into brackets.

   What can be justly maintained is that those aspects of the Buddha's
   teaching that come within the purview of our ordinary experience can
   be personally confirmed within experience, and that this confirmation
   provides a sound basis for placing faith in those aspects of the
   teaching that necessarily transcend ordinary experience. Faith in the
   Buddha's teaching is never regarded as an end in itself nor as a
   sufficient guarantee of liberation, but only as the starting point
   for an evolving process of inner transformation that comes to
   fulfillment in personal insight. But in order for this insight to
   exercise a truly liberative function, it must unfold in the context
   of an accurate grasp of the essential truths concerning our situation
   in the world and the domain where deliverance is to be sought. These
   truths have been imparted to us by the Buddha out of his own profound
   comprehension of the human condition. To accept them in trust after
   careful consideration is to set foot on a journey which transforms
   faith into wisdom, confidence into certainty, and culminates in
   liberation from suffering.

                                          
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                       DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 TITLE OF WORK: Kalama Sutta: The Buddha's Charter of Free Inquiry
                (The Wheel Publication No. 8)
 FILENAME: WHEEL008.ZIP
 AUTHOR: Soma Thera, tr.
 AUTHOR'S ADDRESS:   N/A
 PUBLISHER'S ADDRESS: Buddhist Publication Society
                    P.O. Box 61
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