Throughout this blog, I will be sharing quotes from others that have had an impact in my spiritual evolution. One principle taught by the Buddha has always served as the overriding foundation of my path: “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”
There are two things that I like about this teaching.
First, it empowers each individual to be their own authority in spiritual matters. Hundreds of years after the Buddha, Martin Luther used this principal as the cornerstone of the Protestant Reformation. You and you alone are the only authority for your spiritual life.
Second, it asserts that reason and common sense should guide us in our spiritual quest. I have a friend who always likes to say about his own spirituality “I don’t believe in anything that requires belief.” I think the Buddha would agree.
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