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56 EASTERN HORIZON | TEACHINGS

Dharma, in the form of inner realizations and degrees geographical differences, and some minor differences
of riddance from the mental afflictions, becomes worth in the contents of the suttas/sūtras in the scriptures
relying on, which it is in the final analysis. currently available (i.e. the Nikāyas/Āgamas), the
fundamental teachings remain remarkably consistent.
I think we can understand the above teaching in the
following way:
But even more remarkable is that the Buddha’s root
teachings related to spiritual cultivation can still
Don’t just be content with meeting a personal teacher
be verified today by millions of practitioners. The
of whatever stature, rather strive to gain teachings from
worldwide mindfulness revolution bears testimony to
him or her;
this wondrous benefit, although just a fragment of the
Don’t just be content with knowing the words of the ultimate truth, that the Buddhavacana points to.
teachings, rather strive to gain understanding of their
meaning; Min Wei: The term of Buddhavacana, from Pāli and
Sanskrit, generally refers to the authentic teaching of
Don’t just be content with understanding the
the historical Buddha. In fact, not all the scriptures were
provisional meaning of the teaching, rather strive to
spoken by the Buddha himself, as many of them were
gain understanding of the definitive meaning of the
taught by his great disciples.
teaching;
In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a teaching is considered
Don’t just be content with an intellectual understanding
Buddhavacana when it is compared side by side with
of the (definitive) meaning, rather strive to gain an
what is found in the authentic sūtras and Vinaya. It is
experiential, embodied understanding of it.
accepted as Buddhavacana when it has the Buddha’s
Understood in this light, it is not so much about whether words. For instance, in the Māhayāna tradition, the
one can rely on the scriptural authority, rather it is words of the Bodhisattvas could also be accepted as
more about what one should do upon encountering a authentic Buddhavacana since they too conformed with
scripture. Let the teachings of others be the guide to the reality that is great enlightenment (Mahābodhi).
show the path, but the actual progress comes only when This is explained in the Adhyāśayasañcodana Sūtra:
we begin to walk the path ourselves. Study, reflect, and “All which is well-spoken, Maitreya, is spoken by the
meditate on the deeper meaning of the scripture and Buddha.” The Sūtra qualifies the meaning of well-spoken
find out its truth through experience. (subhasita), explaining that all inspired speech should
be known as the word of the Buddha if it is meaningful
And yet we say the word of the Buddha (Buddha
and not meaningless, if it brings about the extinction
vacana) is the truth but if the scriptures in the
of afflictions and not the increase of afflictions, and if it
Buddhist Canons, both its Pāli and Sanskrit versions,
sets forth the qualities and benefits of ‎Nirvāṇa, and not
are not the word of the Buddha, where can we find
the qualities and benefits of Saṃsāra.
the truth taught by the Buddha?
Namgyal: The word of the Buddha is the truth and the
Aggacitta: I wouldn’t say that the word of the Buddha is
scriptures in the Buddhist canons are reliable on their
the truth; but rather, that it points to the truth. During
part. However, merely taking their words for it is not
the Buddha’s time, his discourses were remembered
going to make for our progress along the path. One
by the monks and transmitted orally, so they had to
has to find the truth of the words by oneself through
be summarized and stock passages used repeatedly,
investigation and examination, and thereby confirm the
as it was impossible to remember his exact words.
truth of them through one’s own experience. That is
This continued for about 500 years until the teachings
how one is one’s own master and one’s own teacher in
were written down. However, despite diverse dialects/
the real sense. Others can only do so much, but not walk
languages of recording, the passage of time, vast
the path for us.