Kalama Sutta
To the Kalamas
Translated from the Pali
by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
I have heard that on one
occasion the Blessed One, on a wandering
tour among the Kosalans with a large
community of monks, arrived at Kesaputta,
a town of the Kalamas. The Kalamas of
Kesaputta heard it said, "Gotama the
contemplative — the son of the Sakyans,
having gone forth from the Sakyan clan —
has arrived at Kesaputta. And of that
Master Gotama this fine reputation has
spread: 'He is indeed a Blessed One,
worthy, & rightly self-awakened,
consummate in knowledge & conduct,
well-gone, a knower of the cosmos, an
unexcelled trainer of those persons
ready to be tamed, teacher of human &
divine beings, awakened, blessed. He has
made known — having realized it through
direct knowledge — this world with its
devas, maras, & brahmas, its generations
with their contemplatives & priests,
their rulers & common people; has
explained the Dhamma admirable in the
beginning, admirable in the middle,
admirable in the end; has expounded the
holy life both in its particulars & in
its essence, entirely perfect,
surpassingly pure. It is good to see
such a worthy one.'"
So the Kalamas of
Kesaputta went to the Blessed One. On
arrival, some of them bowed down to him
and sat to one side. Some of them
exchanged courteous greetings with him
and, after an exchange of friendly
greetings & courtesies, sat to one side.
Some of them sat to one side having
saluted him with their hands
palm-to-palm over their hearts. Some of
them sat to one side having announced
their name & clan. Some of them sat to
one side in silence.
As they sat there, the
Kalamas of Kesaputta said to the Blessed
One, "Lord, there are some priests &
contemplatives who come to Kesaputta.
They expound & glorify their own
doctrines, but as for the doctrines of
others, they deprecate them, revile
them, show contempt for them, &
disparage them. And then other priests &
contemplatives come to Kesaputta. They
expound & glorify their own doctrines,
but as for the doctrines of others, they
deprecate them, revile them, show
contempt for them, & disparage them.
They leave us absolutely uncertain & in
doubt: Which of these venerable priests
& contemplatives are speaking the truth,
and which ones are lying?"
"Of course you are
uncertain, Kalamas. Of course you are in
doubt. When there are reasons for doubt,
uncertainty is born. So in this case,
Kalamas, don't go by reports, by
legends, by traditions, by scripture, by
logical conjecture, by inference, by
analogies, by agreement through
pondering views, by probability, or by
the thought, 'This contemplative is our
teacher.' When you know for yourselves
that, 'These qualities are unskillful;
these qualities are blameworthy; these
qualities are criticized by the wise;
these qualities, when adopted & carried
out, lead to harm & to suffering' — then
you should abandon them.
"What do you think,
Kalamas? When greed arises in a person,
does it arise for welfare or for harm?"
"For harm, lord."
"And this greedy person,
overcome by greed, his mind possessed by
greed, kills living beings, takes what
is not given, goes after another
person's wife, tells lies, and induces
others to do likewise, all of which is
for long-term harm & suffering."
"Yes, lord."
"Now, what do you think,
Kalamas? When aversion arises in a
person, does it arise for welfare or for
harm?"
"For harm, lord."
"And this aversive
person, overcome by aversion, his mind
possessed by aversion, kills living
beings, takes what is not given, goes
after another person's wife, tells lies,
and induces others to do likewise, all
of which is for long-term harm &
suffering."
"Yes, lord."
"Now, what do you think,
Kalamas? When delusion arises in a
person, does it arise for welfare or for
harm?"
"For harm, lord."
"And this deluded person,
overcome by delusion, his mind possessed
by delusion, kills living beings, takes
what is not given, goes after another
person's wife, tells lies, and induces
others to do likewise, all of which is
for long-term harm & suffering."
"Yes, lord."
"So what do you think,
Kalamas: Are these qualities skillful or
unskillful?"
"Unskillful, lord."
"Blameworthy or
blameless?"
"Blameworthy, lord."
"Criticized by the wise
or praised by the wise?"
"Criticized by the wise,
lord."
"When adopted & carried
out, do they lead to harm & to
suffering, or not?"
"When adopted & carried
out, they lead to harm & to suffering.
That is how it appears to us."
"So, as I said, Kalamas:
'Don't go by reports, by legends, by
traditions, by scripture, by logical
conjecture, by inference, by analogies,
by agreement through pondering views, by
probability, or by the thought, "This
contemplative is our teacher." When you
know for yourselves that, "These
qualities are unskillful; these
qualities are blameworthy; these
qualities are criticized by the wise;
these qualities, when adopted & carried
out, lead to harm & to suffering" — then
you should abandon them.' Thus was it
said. And in reference to this was it
said.
"Now, Kalamas, don't go
by reports, by legends, by traditions,
by scripture, by logical conjecture, by
inference, by analogies, by agreement
through pondering views, by probability,
or by the thought, 'This contemplative
is our teacher.' When you know for
yourselves that, 'These qualities are
skillful; these qualities are blameless;
these qualities are praised by the wise;
these qualities, when adopted & carried
out, lead to welfare & to happiness' —
then you should enter & remain in them.
"What do you think,
Kalamas? When lack of greed arises in a
person, does it arise for welfare or for
harm?"
"For welfare, lord."
"And this ungreedy
person, not overcome by greed, his mind
not possessed by greed, doesn't kill
living beings, take what is not given,
go after another person's wife, tell
lies, or induce others to do likewise,
all of which is for long-term welfare &
happiness."
"Yes, lord."
"What do you think,
Kalamas? When lack of aversion arises in
a person, does it arise for welfare or
for harm?"
"For welfare, lord."
"And this unaversive
person, not overcome by aversion, his
mind not possessed by aversion, doesn't
kill living beings, take what is not
given, go after another person's wife,
tell lies, or induce others to do
likewise, all of which is for long-term
welfare & happiness."
"Yes, lord."
"What do you think,
Kalamas? When lack of delusion arises in
a person, does it arise for welfare or
for harm?"
"For welfare, lord."
"And this undeluded
person, not overcome by delusion, his
mind not possessed by delusion, doesn't
kill living beings, take what is not
given, go after another person's wife,
tell lies, or induce others to do
likewise, all of which is for long-term
welfare & happiness."
"Yes, lord."
"So what do you think,
Kalamas: Are these qualities skillful or
unskillful?"
"Skillful, lord."
"Blameworthy or
blameless?"
"Blameless, lord."
"Criticized by the wise
or praised by the wise?"
"Praised by the wise,
lord."
"When adopted & carried
out, do they lead to welfare & to
happiness, or not?"
"When adopted & carried
out, they lead to welfare & to
happiness. That is how it appears to
us."
"So, as I said, Kalamas:
'Don't go by reports, by legends, by
traditions, by scripture, by logical
conjecture, by inference, by analogies,
by agreement through pondering views, by
probability, or by the thought, "This
contemplative is our teacher." When you
know for yourselves that, "These
qualities are skillful; these qualities
are blameless; these qualities are
praised by the wise; these qualities,
when adopted & carried out, lead to
welfare & to happiness" — then you
should enter & remain in them.' Thus was
it said. And in reference to this was it
said.
"Now, Kalamas, one who is
a disciple of the noble ones — thus
devoid of greed, devoid of ill will,
undeluded, alert, & resolute — keeps
pervading the first direction [the east]
— as well as the second direction, the
third, & the fourth — with an awareness
imbued with good will. Thus he keeps
pervading above, below, & all around,
everywhere & in every respect the
all-encompassing cosmos with an
awareness imbued with good will:
abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free
from hostility, free from ill will.
"He keeps pervading the
first direction — as well as the second
direction, the third, & the fourth —
with an awareness imbued with
compassion. Thus he keeps pervading
above, below, & all around, everywhere &
in every respect the all-encompassing
cosmos with an awareness imbued with
compassion: abundant, expansive,
immeasurable, free from hostility, free
from ill will.
"He keeps pervading the
first direction — as well as the second
direction, the third, & the fourth —
with an awareness imbued with
appreciation. Thus he keeps pervading
above, below, & all around, everywhere &
in every respect the all-encompassing
cosmos with an awareness imbued with
appreciation: abundant, expansive,
immeasurable, free from hostility, free
from ill will.
"He keeps pervading the
first direction — as well as the second
direction, the third, & the fourth —
with an awareness imbued with
equanimity. Thus he keeps pervading
above, below, & all around, everywhere &
in every respect the all-encompassing
cosmos with an awareness imbued with
equanimity: abundant, expansive,
immeasurable, free from hostility, free
from ill will.
"Now, Kalamas, one who is
a disciple of the noble ones — his mind
thus free from hostility, free from ill
will, undefiled, & pure — acquires four
assurances in the here-&-now:
"'If there is a world
after death, if there is the fruit of
actions rightly & wrongly done, then
this is the basis by which, with the
break-up of the body, after death, I
will reappear in a good destination, the
heavenly world.' This is the first
assurance he acquires.
"'But if there is no
world after death, if there is no fruit
of actions rightly & wrongly done, then
here in the present life I look after
myself with ease — free from hostility,
free from ill will, free from trouble.'
This is the second assurance he
acquires.
"'If evil is done through
acting, still I have willed no evil for
anyone. Having done no evil action, from
where will suffering touch me?' This is
the third assurance he acquires.
"'But if no evil is done
through acting, then I can assume myself
pure in both respects.' This is the
fourth assurance he acquires.
"One who is a disciple of
the noble ones — his mind thus free from
hostility, free from ill will,
undefiled, & pure — acquires these four
assurances in the here-&-now."
"So it is, Blessed One.
So it is, O One Well-gone. One who is a
disciple of the noble ones — his mind
thus free from hostility, free from ill
will, undefiled, & pure — acquires four
assurances in the here-&-now:
"'If there is a world
after death, if there is the fruit of
actions rightly & wrongly done, then
this is the basis by which, with the
break-up of the body, after death, I
will reappear in a good destination, the
heavenly world.' This is the first
assurance he acquires.
"'But if there is no
world after death, if there is no fruit
of actions rightly & wrongly done, then
here in the present life I look after
myself with ease — free from hostility,
free from ill will, free from trouble.'
This is the second assurance he
acquires.
"'If evil is done through
acting, still I have willed no evil for
anyone. Having done no evil action, from
where will suffering touch me?' This is
the third assurance he acquires.
"'But if no evil is done
through acting, then I can assume myself
pure in both ways.' This is the fourth
assurance he acquires.
"One who is a disciple of
the noble ones — his mind thus free from
hostility, free from ill will,
undefiled, & pure — acquires these four
assurances in the here-&-now.
"Magnificent, lord!
Magnificent! Just as if he were to place
upright what was overturned, to reveal
what was hidden, to show the way to one
who was lost, or to carry a lamp into
the dark so that those with eyes could
see forms, in the same way has the
Blessed One — through many lines of
reasoning — made the Dhamma clear. We go
to the Blessed One for refuge, to the
Dhamma, and to the Sangha of monks. May
the Blessed One remember us as lay
followers who have gone to him for
refuge, from this day forward, for
life."
