Buddha once asked his disciples, that do you believe what I told you after a sermon. the discipled said no, I do not believe you. The Buddha said, well said.
Do you know what is the moral of the story here?
Kalama Sutra - Angutarra Nikaya 3.65
Teaching given by the Buddha given to the Kalama people:
Do not go by revelation;
Do not go by tradition;
Do not go by hearsay;
Do not go on the authority of sacred texts;
Do not go on the grounds of pure logic;
Do not go by a view that seems rational;
Do not go by reflecting on mere appearances;
Do not go along with a considered view because you agree with it;
Do not go along on the grounds that the person is competent;
Do not go along because [thinking] 'the recluse is our teacher'.
Kalamas, when you yourselves know: 'These things are unwholesome, these things are blameworthy; these things are censured by the wise; and when undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill, abandon them...
Kalamas, when you know for yourselves: These are wholesome; these things are not blameworthy; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness, having undertaken them, abide in them.
to what i learn, Kalama are very logical and knowledge based people. hence Buddha have to use this technical method. the last para is still the important point to abide in the dharma after they had reached certain faith in the understanding.
to me, this depending on the type of people. it won't work on Ah Gong and Ah Ma though. :)
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Buddha's implication is - dont follow me, dont make what i have said into a belief.
Is it follow one's heart?
Use the sutras or ... as a medium to free oneself of the conditioning, beliefs and so on so forth. These are devices to your ''soul'', ''heart'', ''spirit'' or .... which drops along the way and if it is not dropped it is still the mind's projections. What may be perceived as the heart's yearning is actually the voices in one's head if one is not alert, not attentive. Silence is the heart and it abides in a state of Being no-mind. One cannot enjoy the silence. Enjoying means thought has come in. Intutive heart resonates of being .... There is no such thing as inner voice ony silence, only stillness