Recognising
The True Dharma

QUESTION

Those who have awakened can recognise truth from falsehood. Even if demons, philosophers, or false teachers appear before them, they are not deceived. But what about those who have not awakened?

The old masters often seem to contradict one another. Today’s teachers all teach different things. How is a beginner supposed to know what is true?

ANSWER

In this age, false teachings are everywhere. The true Dharma is easily lost among them. In games and contests, there are rules. You can tell who won. In courts and disputes, the truth may not be obvious at first, but eventually a higher authority can make a judgement.

Buddhism is different. There is no final court of appeal. There is no authority standing above all others. Every school thinks its own teaching is best. Every teacher thinks his own understanding is correct.

People quote the Buddha. People quote the ancient masters. But quotations prove nothing, the same words can be interpreted in countless ways. Others rely on the approval of their teachers. But teachers protect their own traditions. That is hardly reliable evidence.

When confused people become attached to a teaching, any teaching, they reject all others. Once they choose a teacher, they refuse to listen to anyone else. They immediately decide: “This is right.” “That is wrong.” Such people are deeply foolish.

Others make the opposite mistake. They see many teachings and many teachers. Everything appears different. Unable to decide, they become paralysed. They neither leave the harbour nor return to shore. They drift. Neither group understands what is meant by “the transmission outside the teachings.”

Even someone who has not awakened can understand this much: The true Dharma cannot be captured by words. Once this is understood, there is no need to cling rigidly to any particular teaching. Nor is there any reason to be troubled when different teachers speak differently.

The Buddha taught according to the needs of those before him. This is why his teachings take so many forms. The medicine changes according to the illness. All teachings are expedient means. They are responses to confusion. They are not the Truth itself.

If you turn directly toward your Original Nature, the nature that exists before Buddha and sentient being are separated, then what difference does it make if you hear ten thousand teachings? Why waste your life arguing about which one is best?

An ancient master said: All the Buddha’s teachings were given to free the mind. If no mind remains, of what use are teachings?