Buddha Quote
Wednesday November 21, 2018
EhipassikoEhipassiko is a Pali (a dialect in the Buddha's time) word that
means "Don't just Believe; Come and See." It sums up the Buddhist
spirit of free enquiry. This spirit is the belief that all things
should not be taken upon face value. They should be thoroughly
investigated before accepting them as Truth.
Many Buddhists are
proud that Buddhism has this spirit. But some might get carried
away such that they use it as a weapon against other religious
beliefs, proclaiming all religions without the Ehipassiko spirit
as useless. While to a certain extent they are sometimes right,
they might forget to apply that teaching in their own personal
practice of the Dharma. They might end up the very ones who
accept the Buddhist teachings on face value! Remember that the
Buddha Himself beseeched us to test His teachings for Truth as
one would test whether a metal is pure gold! His encouragement of
us to test His teachings is not meant to leave us impressed with
His open liberal attitude such that we end up not testing His
teachings! A healthy skeptic is a healthy Buddhist.
As Zen
Master Dogen taught,
Great Doubt - Great Realisation
Little
Doubt - Little Realisation
No Doubt - No Realisation
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