Many of those identifying as “spiritual but not religious” shun doubt and uncertainty, equating these qualities to cynicism and close-mindedness. They argue that to fully awaken, we must shed our skepticism, as to be a skeptic is to close ourselves to spiritual truths. Yet, spiritual seekers may be surprised to learn that the Buddha was himself, a skeptic. In fact, he taught skepticism as an essential practice on the spiritual path. In his view, doubt was necessary to awaken from delusion and attain inner peace. Without skepticism, he argued, one cannot truly progress on the spiritual path.
Perhaps the most notable illustration of the Buddha’s skepticism is the Kalama Sutra, a discourse that tells the story of a time when he passed through the village of Kesaputta to be greeted by its inhabitants, the clan of the Kalamas. Upon encountering the Buddha, the Kalamas note that there are spiritual teachers who come to Kesaputta who promote their own teachings while criticizing the teachings of others. This dilemma leads the Kalamas to ask the Buddha which of those teachers speak the truth, and which ones speak falsehood.
The Buddha responds: “It is enough, Kālāmas, for you to be doubting and uncertain. Doubt has come up in you about an uncertain matter.”
Here, the Buddha shows us that doubt and uncertainty are proper to the path of awakening. Indeed, he commends the Kalamas for their doubt, assuring them that they are on the correct path of inquiry.
He goes on to list ten fallacies that he advises the Kalamas to not blindly believe:
“…don’t go by oral transmission, don’t go by lineage, don’t go by testament, don’t go by canonical authority, don’t rely on logic, don’t rely on inference, don’t go by reasoned train of thought, don’t go by the acceptance of a view after deliberation, don’t go by the appearance of competence, and don’t think ‘The ascetic is our respected teacher.’ But when you know for yourselves: ‘These things are unskillful, blameworthy, criticized by sensible people, and when you undertake them, they lead to harm and suffering’, then you should give them up.”
To break this down further, we can list these fallacies as:
- Oral history (argumentum ad populum)
- Tradition (appeal to tradition)
- News sources (anecdotal evidence)
- Religious texts (appeal to tradition and argument from authority)
- Suppositional reasoning (reification)
- Philosophical dogmatism (semmelweis reflex)
- Common sense (argument from incredulity)
- Opinions (mind projection fallacy)
- Experts (appeal to accomplishment)
- Authorities (argument from authority)
Alternative to the above fallacies, the Buddha recommends the following criteria for acceptance:
“But when you know for yourselves: ‘These things are skillful, blameless, praised by sensible people, and when you undertake them, they lead to welfare and happiness’, then you should acquire them and keep them.”
Correspondingly, we can list this criteria as:
- Skillfulness or virtuosity
- Blamelessness
- Praiseworthiness
- Conduciveness to benefit and happiness
Here, we see that the Buddha is advising us to investigate and experience for ourselves whether something is true and efficacious. Yet, the fallacies listed by the Buddha beg the question: isn’t the Kalama Sutra itself a religious text? Isn’t basing our beliefs off of it an appeal to tradition and an argument from authority?
Indeed yes, the Kalama Sutra is a religious text, and we are right to question it. In fact, we cannot know for certain if the events in the discourse actually happened. Yet, the story serves as a compelling narrative that exposes us to ten (technically nine) fallacies and four criteria that can sharpen our critical thinking skills, allowing us to awaken into a truly authentic spiritual life where we aren’t being deceived.
As the founder of the Spiritual Naturalist Society (SNS), Daniel Strain has noted, the teachings in the Kalama Sutra “may be one of the reasons for the flexibility, longevity, and relevance of Buddhism.” He also adds that these teachings can help us avoid being distracted by egotistical teachers:
“An egotistical teacher or professor of spiritual wisdom can distract others from the path by allowing their personality to become an object of attention rather than the teachings and practices. As the Kalama Sutra teaches, let us not accept anything simply because a teacher, leader, or authority claims it. Investigate for yourself whether these things are helpful and effective.”
Strain also points out that the Kalama Sutra overlaps with the scientific method, as both systems of inquiry place experience and experiment at the center of acceptance of claims. He reminds us however, that this is different from external experiments such as those measuring the brain activity of meditators:
“Because we are talking about cultivating individual subjective experience, each practitioner must conduct experimentation from inside their own private mental laboratory to confirm efficacy. Because all persons and brains vary, we should expect to see some variability in which kinds of practices have superior results – and because we share many traits we should expect to see many commonalities as well.”
Strain further adds that subjective experience isn’t at all foreign to science. For instance, he points out that research on pain medication includes subjective reports, which get correlated to physical locations.
Yet, the Kalama Sutra isn’t the only discourse where the Buddha displays a skeptical approach to inquiry. Veritably, we find further expression of his doubt in the parable of the poisoned arrow:
It goes that the monk, Malunkyaputta is troubled by the Buddha’s silence on the ten unanswerable questions. These consist of the following metaphysical questions that the Buddha refused to answer:
- Is the cosmos eternal?
- Is the cosmos not eternal?
- Is the cosmos finite?
- Is the cosmos infinite?
- Is the self identical with the body?
- Is the self different from the body?
- Does a Buddha exist after death?
- Does a Buddha not exist after death?
- Does a Buddha both still exist and not exist after death?
- Does a Buddha neither exist nor not exist after death?
Dissatisfied with the Buddha’s silence, Malukyaputta demands answers to these questions, threatening to renounce his teachings if they continue to remain ignored. The Buddha responds that he never claimed to reveal ultimate metaphysical truths, sharing the following parable to illustrate his reasoning:
“Suppose a man was struck by an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends and colleagues, relatives and kin would get a surgeon to treat him. But the man would say: ‘I won’t extract this arrow as long as I don’t know whether the man who wounded me was an aristocrat, a brahmin, a peasant, or a menial.’ He’d say: ‘I won’t extract this arrow as long as I don’t know the following things about the man who wounded me: his name and clan; whether he’s tall, short, or medium; whether his skin is black, brown, or tawny; and what village, town, or city he comes from. I won’t extract this arrow as long as I don’t know whether the bow that wounded me was straight or recurved; whether the bow-string is made of swallow-wort fibre, sunn hemp fibre, sinew, sanseveria fibre, or spurge fibre; whether the shaft is made from a bush or a plantation tree; whether the shaft was fitted with feathers from a vulture, a heron, a hawk, a peacock, or a stork; whether the shaft was bound with sinews of a cow, a buffalo, a black lion, or an ape; and whether the arrowhead was spiked, razor-tipped, barbed, made of iron or a calf’s tooth, or lancet-shaped.’ That man would still not have learned these things, and meanwhile they’d die.
In the same way, suppose someone was to say: ‘I will not lead the spiritual life under the Buddha until the Buddha declares to me that the cosmos is eternal, or that the cosmos is not eternal … or that after death a realized one neither still exists nor no longer exists.’ That would still remain undeclared by the Realized One, and meanwhile that person would die.”
Strain provides commentary on this passage as well, citing it as an example why metaphysical cosmology (views on the ultimate secrets of existence) can also be a distraction to spiritual practice. He notes that cosmology can inspire and provide us with insight on how to best live, pointing to former SNS Education Director B.T. Newberg’s articles on Big History. Though he adds that cosmology has little to do with spiritual practice, and that distraction by cosmology is in essence, egotism:
“In truth, none of us primates hopping about on this tiny ball of stardust in an obscure corner of the cosmos has access to the ultimate truths of existence. The Buddha, Socrates, the Pope, Richard Dawkins, a caveman, you, and I have precisely the same real knowledge of ultimate Reality: which is zilch. When we become engrossed in mental gymnastics and claim-making about these issues, we fool ourselves into thinking we are making spiritual progress when, in fact, we are not even engaged in the endeavor at all.”
To close, here are several exercises for applying the wisdom of Buddhist inquiry to your own life:
Exercise #1: Buddhist Fallacies
- Are any of my beliefs based on what other people think?
- Are any of my beliefs based on what tradition has taught me?
- Which news sources do I get my information from? Do any of them appeal to anecdotal evidence?
- Are any of my beliefs based in religious texts?
- Are any of my beliefs based in things I’ve supposed to be true, even without evidence?
- Are any of my beliefs based in established norms, beliefs, or paradigms?
- Is there anything I have decided did not happen or does not exist because I don’t understand how it works?
- Do I think that the way I see the world reflects how the world really is?
- Are any of my beliefs based on the opinions of successful people?
- Are any of my beliefs based in authoritative sources?
Exercise #2: Buddhist Criteria of Acceptance
- Which things are skillful/virtuous?
- Which things are blameless?
- Which things are praiseworthy?
- Which things are conducive to benefit and happiness?
Exercise #3: Renouncing Unanswerable Questions
- Am I caught up in whether the cosmos is eternal?
- Am I caught up in whether the cosmos is not eternal?
- Am I caught up in whether the cosmos is finite?
- Am I caught up in whether the cosmos is infinite?
- Am I caught up in whether the self is identical with the body?
- Am I caught up in whether the self is different from the body?
- Am I caught up in whether I can exist after death?
- Am I caught up in whether I cannot exist after death?
- Am I caught up in whether I could still exist or not exist after death?
- Am I caught up in whether I could neither exist nor not exist after death?
__________
Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.
SNS strives to include diverse voices within the spectrum of naturalistic spirituality. Authors will vary in their opinions, terms, and outlook. The views of no single author therefore necessarily reflect those of all Spiritual Naturalists or of SNS.
__________
References:
Newberg, B. T. (2013, February 26). Big History: The Heart of Spiritual Naturalism. The Spiritual Naturalist Society. https://www.snsociety.org/big-history-the-heart-of-spiritual-naturalism/
Strain, D. (2012, September 17). 6 Reasons you will see more of Spiritual Naturalism in the future. The Spiritual Naturalist Society. https://www.snsociety.org/6-reasons-you-will-see-more-of-spiritual-naturalism-in-the-future/
Strain, D. (2015, October 1). What is Spiritual Transformation? (Pt 2 of 2). The Spiritual Naturalist Society. https://www.snsociety.org/what-is-spiritual-transformation-pt-2-of-2/
Strain, D. (2016a, June 15). A Naturalistic Approach to Buddhist Karma & Rebirth. The Spiritual Naturalist Society. https://www.snsociety.org/a-naturalistic-approach-to-buddhist-karma-rebirth/
Strain, D. (2016b, June 15). Distractions to Spiritual Practice. The Spiritual Naturalist Society. https://www.snsociety.org/distractions-to-spiritual-practice/
Strain, D. (2016c, June 16). Epoché. The Spiritual Naturalist Society. https://www.snsociety.org/epoche/
Strain, D. (2016d, August 4). A New (old) Skepticism. The Spiritual Naturalist Society. https://www.snsociety.org/a-new-old-skepticism/
Strain, D. (2016e, August 7). The Humanist Contemplative. The Spiritual Naturalist Society. https://www.snsociety.org/sn-academy/philosophy-wisdom/traditions-introductory/the-humanist-contemplative/
Sujato, B. (n.d.-a). The Shorter Discourse With Māluṅkyaputta. SuttaCentral. https://suttacentral.net/mn63/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none¬es=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin
Sujato, B. (Trans.). (n.d.-b). With the Kālāmas of Kesamutta. SuttaCentral. https://suttacentral.net/an3.65/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none¬es=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin
Note: discussion is moderated and comments require approval; this may take some time.