Just Because Someone Says It, Doesn’t Make It True
Thanks to technology, people’s ability to communicate rapidly with others grows exponentially with every new platform or app that becomes available. Way back in the day, we used to joke that the party line was the fastest way to spread gossip. Ask your grandmother what a party line (or for that matter, a crank-up phone) was. Fast-forward a generation and if you were advanced enough to use a computer, you eventually came upon an amazing new invention called the internet. This marvel provided instant access to information from limitless global sources and equally beneficially, easy interaction between users everywhere. It didn’t take long before cell phones became common, and now the smartphones that we carry in our pockets can do almost anything but walk the dog—and there’s probably an app for that. Just click on the icon and voila, you have a dog walker on your doorstep.
Unfortunately, along with some great inventions come downsides. While it may be desirable for certain people to share their every thought, word, and photo of their meal with their “followers,” such form of communication has changed the way people relate, not to mention the way they see themselves. But that’s the topic of another dharma message. The point of this message is that we need to be aware of our own thoughts in reaction to information received. They used to say, “Don’t believe everything you hear.” Knowing what to believe is now a minefield, what with photo-shopping (ask your grandchild if you don’t know what that is), selective video-taping, and mass followings of like-minded people, whose sheer number might appear to legitimize claims that have been decisively proven false.
Understanding that we are susceptible to trusting that with which we agree even if it is questionable, what about information that is new to us, and about which we have no prior opinion? It is always good to have an open mind, but we should also know that just because someone says something, doesn’t necessarily make it true. Regardless of whether the person is in a position of authority, or speaks loudly with great conviction, or has many followers, the wise procedure would be to verify and confirm. Of course this may get us only so far, and sometimes we may be looking at the same thing from different perspectives, but as the abuse of social media grows more rampant by theday, this is an admonition worth repeating.
Moreover, notice the way in which social media has sped up the process of influencing language, so that exaggeration and sweeping generalizations have become the norm. Simple words like “many,” “very,” “bad,” and “everybody/nobody” can be loaded and may misrepresent reality. We need to ask ourselves, “Is it really accurate?”and check it out.
Likewise, in following a religious or spiritual tradition, it is imperative that we test it in our lives so that we know that it is true. This is what I find compelling about the Buddha-dharma. Shakyamuni Buddha is said to have told some seekers: “It is proper for you … to doubt, to be uncertain… Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another’s seeming ability; nor because of the station of a person, even a teacher…”
He explained that the only way to know that the dharma was true was to “make of yourself a light,” and experience it firsthand. Then, it would not be a matter of merely believing, but of knowing without a doubt that the teaching was genuine.
It is important to come to the temple to listen to the dharma messages, but the real hearing takes place when we apply it in our everyday lives and are brought to realize how reliable it is. Then we can truly proceed through the journey of life with strength and joy.
As the word “fake” has become so much a part of our daily lexicon, knowing what is authentic and real matters more than ever. May the light of wisdom ever shine upon us.
Namo Amida Butsu.
Gassho,
Rev. Patricia Usuki