Just as the Buddha Dharma avoids the pitfalls of theism and metaphysical speculation, it is also non-dogmatic. All of the Buddha’s teachings are for the sake of realization, and not for the purpose of mere belief. The value of the Dharma lies in its ability to help people liberate themselves. The greatest mistake would be to enshrine a teaching for its own sake, rather than putting it into practice and realizing the meaning of it for oneself. Unfortunately, it seems that many people chose to do exactly that, worshiping and exalting what they should be practicing and internalizing. Even worse, some even use their knowledge as a club that they use to intellectually beat others into submission. The very teachings that could have pointed them in the direction of selflessness are instead used to reinforce the very worst kind of egotism and chauvinism. Cleverness and erudition become the goals, rather than liberation from the bonds of selfishness. In the Alagaddupama Sutta, the Buddha speaks directly to this kind of misappropriation of his teachings:
“Here, monks, some misguided men learn the Dharma – discourses, stanzas, expositions, verses, exclamations, sayings, birth stories, marvels, and answers to questions – but having learned the Dharma, they do not examine the meaning of those teachings with wisdom. Not examining the meaning of those teachings with wisdom, they do not gain a reflective acceptance of them. Instead they learn the Dharma only for the sake of criticizing others and for winning in debates, and they do not experience the good for the sake of which they learned the Dharma. Those teachings, being wrongly grasped by them, conduce to their harm and suffering for a long time.” (Ibid, p. 227)
He compares these people to someone who wrongly grasps a snake by its tail or middle, thereby allowing the snake to turn around and bite him, causing either death or deadly suffering from the snake’s venom.
“Suppose a man needing a snake, seeing a snake, wandering in search of a snake, saw a large snake and grasped its coils or its tail. It would turn back on him and bite his hand or his arm or one of his limbs, and because of that he would come to death or deadly suffering. Why is that? Because of his wrong grasp of the snake. So too, here some misguided men learn the Dharma… Those teachings, being wrongly grasped by them, conduce to their harm and suffering for a long time.” (Ibid, p. 227)
If, however, people were to study the Dharma, wisely examine its meaning, and gain a reflective acceptance of it instead of just using the Dharma to criticize others or win debates, then they can be compared to a snake handler who uses a cleft stick to pin the snake down so he can pick it up safely just behind the head so that it cannot turn around and bite.
“Here, monks, some clansmen learn the Dharma – discourses … answers to questions – and having learned the Dharma, they examine the meaning of those teachings with wisdom. Examining the meaning of those teachings with wisdom, they gain a reflective acceptance of them. They do not learn the Dharma for the sake of criticizing others and for winning in debates, and they experience the good for the sake of which they learned the Dharma. Those teachings, being rightly grasped by them, conduce to their welfare and happiness for a long time.
“Suppose a man needing a snake, seeing a snake, wandering in search of a snake, saw a large snake and caught it rightly with a cleft stick, and having done so, grasped it rightly by the neck. Then although the snake might wrap its coils round his hand or his arm or his limbs, still he would not come to death or deadly suffering because of that. Why? Because of his right grasp of the snake. So too, here some clansmen learn the Dharma… Those teachings, being rightly grasped by them, conduce to their welfare and happiness for a long time.
“Therefore, monks, when you understand the meaning of my statements, remember it accordingly; and when you do not understand the meaning of my statements, then ask either me about it or those monks who are wise.” (Ibid, pp. 227-228)
The point is that it is not enough to learn the Dharma. One must learn it carefully, think it through, understand the true meaning of it, and then put it into practice. One must not study it half-heartedly or use it for self-serving ends. In the same discourse, the Buddha further explains the proper attitude to take to the Buddha Dharma through the famous parable of the raft:
“Monks, I shall show you how the Dharma is similar to a raft, being for the purpose of crossing over, not for the purpose of grasping. Listen and attend closely to what I shall say.” – “Yes, venerable sir,” the monks replied. The Blessed One said this:
“Monks, suppose a man in the course of a journey saw a great expanse of water, whose near shore was dangerous and fearful and whose further shore was safe and free from fear, but there was no ferryboat or bridge going to the far shore. Then he thought: ‘There is this great expanse of water, whose near shore is dangerous and fearful and whose further shore is safe and free from fear, but there is no ferryboat or bridge going to the far shore. Suppose I collect grass, twigs, branches, and leaves and bind them together into a raft, and supported by the raft and making an effort with my hands and feet, I got safely across to the far shore.’ And then the man collected grass, twigs, branches, and leaves and bound them together into a raft, and supported by the raft and making an effort with my hands and feet, he got safely across to the far shore. Then, when he had got across and had arrived at the far shore, he might think thus: ‘This raft has been very helpful to me, since supported by it and making an effort with my hands and feet, I got safely across to the far shore. Suppose I were to hoist it on my head or load it on my shoulder, and then go wherever I want.’ Now, monks, what do you think? By doing so, would that man be doing what should be done with that raft?”
“No, venerable sir.”
“By doing what would that man be doing what should be done with that raft? Here, monks, when that man got across and had arrived at the far shore, he might think thus: ‘This raft has been very helpful to me, since supported by it and making an effort with my hands and feet, I got safely across to the far shore. Suppose I were to haul it onto dry land or set it adrift in the water, and then go wherever I want.’ Now, monks, it is by so doing that that man would be doing what should be done with that raft. So I have shown you how the Dharma is similar to a raft, being for the purpose of crossing over, not for the purpose of grasping.
“Monks, when you know the Dharma to be similar to a raft, you should abandon even good states, how much more so bad states.” (Ibid, pp. 228-229)
This statement that “you should abandon even good states, how much more so bad states” could almost be a summary of the Buddha Dharma itself insofar as our subjective attitude is concerned. If the Buddha’s teachings are to make people realize that clinging is the source of suffering, wouldn’t clinging to these teachings defeat the very purpose of them? This does not mean that we should disregard the teachings or hold them lightly. It does mean, however, that they are useless to us if we don’t put them into practice and that when we have gotten the point we no longer need to make an issue of them.
Another point at issue here is the fact that the realization of the Buddha goes beyond the many metaphors and analogies that the Buddha used to convey it. It is commonly observed that all analogies eventually break down, and yet when it comes to religion, people seem to forget that the Ultimate Truth cannot be fully expressed in terms of conventional ideas and concepts. The Buddha, however, used his analogy of the raft to underline the merely metaphorical nature of his own teachings. He wanted to be sure that his disciples did not fall into the common trap of mistaking the map for the territory or the menu for the meal. The four noble truths, the eightfold path, the twelve-fold chain of dependent origination, even nirvana itself are all very helpful teachings in that they can point the way to the same experience of awakening that Shakyamuni Buddha himself had, but the realization itself is organic and alive and can not be so rigidly contained. In the end, the Dharma is something that one cannot take anyone else’s word for. This is something that Shakyamuni Buddha knew very well, and so he never presumed to replace the individual’s own insight with any kind of fixed revelation, he merely showed the way so that each person could cross the stream, reach the other shore and see the truth for themselves.