The Kesamutti Sutta (Aṅguttara-Nikāya, Book of the Threes, Sutta 66), better known as the Kālāma Sutta, is perhaps the most often quoted among the discourses taught by the Buddha. It is often cited to show that the Buddha promoted a spirit of free inquiry among his disciples and did not insist on blind and dogmatic belief. The Sutta has even been dubbed "The Buddha's Charter of Free Inquiry." The ten ways listed in the Sutta by which one should not accept a teaching (see below) as well as the Buddha's call in it to use one's own personal reflection and consideration to decide for oneself what teaching can be accepted and what teaching can be rejected, appear to hold out a promise of religious and thought freedom that is so enticing that it has endeared the Buddha's teaching to many modern, educated, intellectual, and rational minds.
These days, however, there is an increasing number of those who have taken a liking to Buddhism because of this promising spirit of free inquiry embodied in the message of the Sutta, but who at the same time believe, in part due to the far-reaching influence of the ideals of Secular Humanism on our modern society, and in part based on their personal understanding of the message of the Sutta, that one should be totally free and unrestricted in one's approach to the practise of the Dhamma. This belief includes the idea that in practising the Dhamma one should not be restricted by any structure or system at all, not even that of the Dhamma (which the Buddha himself established), and one should be totally free to mould and reshape the Dhamma in ways that one sees fit in order to make its practise more appealing, congenial and relevant for oneself as well as to modern conditions and needs. Some even believe that one should be free to adopt and incorporate without any restriction, ideas and methods outside the Buddha's teaching into the practise of the Dhamma if one finds it desirable.
There are even those who go so far as to believe that one can totally do away with faith in the Dhamma, that one should begin the practise on the basis of scepticism, doubt and question everything until one arrives at the truth; Or one should base one's practise solely on one's personal experience, or even, one's rational reflection, and understanding (read ideas and opinions). Some even propose to do away with fundamental teaching of the Dhamma such as rebirth which cannot be perceive directly in one's daily experience.
But did the Buddha really mean his message to the Kālāmas to be taken in this light? Or how did he mean it to be taken? Let us examine this Sutta to see if we can shed some light on this question.
