The Kālāma Sutta

The Kālāma Sutta is a short discourse in the Aṅguttara Nikāya of the Pali Canon, numbered AN 3.65. It is sometimes called the Kesamutti or Kesaputta Sutta, after the town where it was given. It is often quoted as the Buddha's charter of open inquiry, so it helps to know what it actually says.

The question

The Kālāmas were the people of the town of Kesamutta. They told the Buddha that many teachers came through, each praising his own views and disparaging the others. They were left in doubt about who was telling the truth.

The answer

The Buddha said their doubt was reasonable. He then listed ten things not to rely on alone: repeated hearing, tradition, rumour, scripture, logical reasoning, inference, reflection on appearances, agreement with a view one already holds, the seeming ability of a speaker, and the thought that “this teacher is ours”.

Instead, he said, when you know for yourselves that certain qualities are unwholesome, blamable, criticised by the wise and lead to harm and suffering when undertaken, you should abandon them. When you know for yourselves that qualities are wholesome and lead to welfare and happiness, you should take them up.

Testing greed, hatred and delusion

The Buddha then walked the Kālāmas through this test. Does greed, arising in a person, lead to their benefit or to harm? Overcome by greed, a person kills, steals and lies, which leads to long-term harm. The same holds for hatred and delusion. Their absence leads to welfare. The Kālāmas agreed from their own experience.

He went on to describe a person whose mind is filled with loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. Such a person, the text says, has four assurances. If there is rebirth and karma, they will fare well; if there is not, they still live happily here and now. Either way, they are safe.

Reading it carefully

The sutta is not a rejection of all tradition or teachers, nor an invitation to believe whatever one likes. Its test is specific: whether a practice increases or reduces greed, hatred and delusion, judged with the counsel of the wise. It was addressed to people who did not yet have confidence in any teacher, and it offers a starting point that does not require belief. Many readers find it a fair and practical way to approach the teaching.