Dhamma Talks - Rumour :: Buddhapadipa Thai Temple

“Do not believe anything simply because you have heard it”, this is one of the Buddha’s teachings which he taught the Kalama people, who were confused about the teaching of many teachers at that time. He explained to them clearly that they should not believe what they had heard, without investigation and proof. It is true that sometimes we just hear some news, without investigation, and we worry about that. The sages advise that we should investigate, or consider anything heard, before we believe it, as the following story illustrates.

Once upon a time, in a certain city, there was a rumour that, in the mountain there was a monster which beat the gong every day. The news spread very quickly, and many residents were frightened, and moved away from their houses. When the king heard the news, he announced that whoever could get rid of the monster, he would give him gold as a reward. Then, in that city, there was a wise lady who noticed the noise and investigated it. She knew that long ago a thief had stolen the gong from the city, and gone into the mountains. There he was killed by a tiger, and after that, a group of monkeys took the gong away. And because the monkeys were naughty, they beat the gong day and night.

When she knew that, she went to see the king and volunteered to solve the problem. She asked for bananas, and went into the forest. She spread the bananas all over the place. When the monkeys saw that, they left the gong and ate the bananas. While the monkeys were eating the bananas, she took the gong with her and went back to the city. She reported every thing to the king, and the king rewarded her for allaying or removing the fear of the people. After that there was no sound of the gong again, and people went back to live in that city.

This story teaches us that, without investigation and proof, we can be deluded easily as in the story, the monkey playing with the gong, can make people desert the city. In real life, we have encountered news or advertisements everyday since we woke up in the morning. If we don’t consider them, we can be like those in the story told above. To live a life above news or rumour, we have to consider or investigate anything arisen in us, with wisdom. If we do this, life will be stable; not shaken by any rumour.