Dear Karen, Piya and friends,

if by "free-thinking", you mean liberal thinking as opposed to
conservative thinking, then the Kaalaama Sutta is really not into the
discussion of "free-thinking". There is always the tendency for
people, liberal or conservative thinking, to misunderstand and
misrepresent the essence of the sutta. It is really political (and
selfish).

The Kaalaama Sutta, in its essence, is about free inquiry, that
knowledge and wisdom is acquired only if it is properly processed and
filtered. "Free inquiry" is to stop, think and question, even if it
is the Buddha's teachings (or claimed to be so).

Wisdom is the light to disperse the shadow of ignorance and illusion.
Here, the Buddha said wisdom has to be gained through the process of
examination by oneself, and in order to do that, free inquiry is the
determining factor for an honest and thorough examination.

http://www.tipitaka.net/pali/study/pageload.php?book=005&page=01

There is nowhere in the Buddha's teachings that curse or condemn a
non-believer to ill fate. And in many places, the Buddha has invited
people to understand his teachings for themselves, rather than
commanded people to accept his doctrine. This is really the spirit of
free inquiry as taught in the Kaalaama Sutta.


metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, libris wrote:

The oft quoted saying is from the Kesaputtiya Sutta (popularly known
as the Kaalaama Sutta) : A 3.65/1:188-193.

The sutta is not a carte blanche for "free-thinking" but the Buddha
is discussing what does not constitute valid sources of knowledge.
The closing the sutta is especially important, often missed.

A more elaborate teaching is found in the Apannaka Sutta (M 60),
which is a sort of Buddha's answer to Pascal's wager (before the
fact).

> Where the Buddha is saying that we shouldn't beleive his words, but
explore his teaching by ourselves. I heard this statement several
times from meditation teachers, but I didn't find it in the texts.