DharmAI

Reading the suttas on your own

The suttas carry a warning for their readers: whoever learns the teaching to find fault and win debates is like someone who grabs a snake by the tail and gets bitten, while whoever looks wisely into its meaning is like someone who pins the snake with a forked stick and lifts it by the neck. They also give a method for claims about what the Buddha taught — check them against the discourses and the training — and in the same sutta as the snake, the Buddha tells his hearers to ask when they do not understand. A good deal of apparent contradiction eases when you notice who is being spoken to and why. A study group or a teacher is the plain answer to having no one to ask.

What the suttas say

  1. You should neither approve nor reject that mendicant’s statement. Instead, having carefully memorized those words and phrases, you should make sure they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training.

    The four great references — a teaching claimed to be the Buddha's is checked against the suttas and the training, not against the authority of whoever says it.

    Where this stops: A method for testing claims about what the Buddha taught, not a licence to dismiss a living teacher's practical instruction because it is not quoted in a sutta.

    AN 4.180:2.5–2.6 · The Four Great References

  2. Take a futile person who memorizes the teaching— statements, mixed prose & verse, discussions, verses, inspired exclamations, legends, stories of past lives, amazing stories, and elaborations. But they don’t examine the meaning of those teachings with wisdom, and so don’t come to an acceptance of them after deliberation. They memorize the teaching for the sake of finding fault and winning debates. They don’t realize the goal for which they memorized them. Because they’re wrongly grasped, those teachings lead to their lasting harm and suffering. Why is that? Because of their wrong grasp of the teachings. Suppose there was a person in need of a cobra. And while wandering in search of a cobra they’d see a big cobra, and grasp it by the coil or the tail. But that cobra would twist back and bite them on the hand or the arm or other major or minor limb, resulting in death or deadly pain. Why is that? Because of their wrong grasp of the cobra. In the same way, a futile person memorizes the teaching … and those teachings lead to their lasting harm and suffering. Why is that? Because of their wrong grasp of the teachings. Now, take a gentleman who memorizes the teaching— statements, mixed prose & verse, discussions, verses, inspired exclamations, legends, stories of past lives, amazing stories, and elaborations. And once he’s memorized them, he examines their meaning with wisdom, and comes to an acceptance of them after deliberation. He doesn’t memorize the teaching for the sake of finding fault and winning debates. He realizes the goal for which he memorized them. Because they’re correctly grasped, those teachings lead to his lasting welfare and happiness. Why is that? Because of his correct grasp of the teachings. Suppose there was a person in need of a cobra. And while wandering in search of a cobra they’d see a big cobra, and hold it down carefully with a cleft stick. Only then would they correctly grasp it by the neck. And even though that cobra might wrap its coils around that person’s hand or arm or some other major or minor limb, that wouldn’t result in death or deadly pain. Why is that? Because of their correct grasp of the cobra.

    The simile of the snake — the teaching seized wrongly, to find fault and win arguments, turns on the one who holds it, while the teaching examined with wisdom is held safely, like a snake pinned with a forked stick and taken by the neck.

    Where this stops: It warns about the motive for learning, not about studying the suttas; the right grasp in the same range is to examine the meaning with wisdom.

    MN 22:10.1–11.16 · The Simile of the Cobra

  3. where each takes the other as a fool. Relying on others they state their contention, desiring praise while claiming to be skilled. Addicted to debating in the midst of the assembly, their need for praise makes them nervous. But when they’re repudiated they get embarrassed;

    The anatomy of the argument — praise-seeking, anxiety, embarrassment, fault-finding — as fresh as any comment thread.

    Where this stops: Never a reason to keep quiet about a real harm.

    Snp 4.8:2.2–3.3 · With Pasūra

  4. So, mendicants, when you understand what I’ve said, you should remember it accordingly. But if I’ve said anything that you don’t understand, you should ask me about it, or some competent mendicants.

    The Buddha's own instruction for a teaching that is not understood — ask him, or someone competent.

    Where this stops: Addressed to monks who could ask the Buddha; for a reader today it points to a teacher or a study group, not to settling every question alone.

    MN 22:12.1–12.2 · The Simile of the Cobra

  5. 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:

    The Kālāma discourse — the canon's charter for testing teachings.

    Where this stops: It is not permission to believe whatever one likes; it ends with what the wise praise. Never a reason to stay with a teacher who is doing harm.

    AN 3.65:25.3–25.4 · With the Kālāmas of Kesamutta

Bring your own situation.