The Four Reliances, or the Four Reliables

Rely on the dharma(the truth), not the teacher.

Rely on the meaning, not the words.
Rely on explicit meanings, not implicit meanings.
Rely on wisdom, not on consciousness.
or
Rely on the message of the teacher, not on his personality;
Rely on the meaning, not just on the words;
Rely on the real meaning, not on the provisional one;
Rely on your wisdom mind, not on your ordinary, judgmental mind.
or
Rely on the message of the teacher, not on his personality
Rely on the meaning, not just on the words
Rely on the real meaning, not on the provisional one
Rely on your wisdom mind, not on your ordinary, judgemental mind
or
Do not rely upon the words, but upon the meaning.
Do not rely upon the interpretative meaning, but upon the definitive meaning.
or
Do not rely on the apparent meaning, rely on the certain meaning.
he !our Reliances
!irst, rely on the spirit and meaning of the teachings,
not on the words;
"econd, rely on the teachings,
not on the personality of the teacher;
hird, rely on real wisdom,
not superficial interpretation;
#nd fourth, rely on the essence of your pure $isdom %ind,
not on judgmental perceptions.
Do not accept any of my words on faith,
Believing them just because I said them.
Be like an analyst buying gold, who cuts, burns,
And critically examines his product for authenticity.
nly accept what passes the test
By proving useful and beneficial in your life.
The Buddha (Jnanasara-samuccaya)
&' teach on suffering and the way to end it&.
&%y teaching is not a philosophy. 't is the result of direct experience...
%y teaching is a means of practice, not something to hold onto or worship.
%y teaching is li(e a raft used to cross the river.
)nly a fool would carry the raft around after he had already reached the other shore of
liberation.&
o his favourite disciple, #nanda, the *uddha once said (from: Old Path, White Clouds
by Thich Nath anh)+
&'f you were to follow the Dharma purely out of love for me or because you respect me, '
would not accept you as disciple. *ut if you follow the Dharma because you have
yourself experienced its truth, because you understand and act accordingly , only under
these conditions have you the right to call yourself a disciple of the -xalted )ne.&
!alama "utra#)
"ummarised, the *uddha said+
&Do not believe a spiritual teaching just because!
.. it is repeatedly recited,
/. it is written in a scripture,
0. it was handed from guru to disciple,
1. everyone around you believes it,
2. it has supernatural 3ualities,
4. it fits my beliefs anyway,
5. it sounds rational to me,
6. it is taught by a respectable person,
7. it was said to be the truth by the teacher,
.8. one must defend it or fight for it.
9owever, only when it agrees with your experience and reason, and when it is conducive
to the good and gain of oneself and all others, then one should accept the teachings, and
live up to them.&
A Wanderer
Neither Muslim, nor Hindu, Buddhist, Christen or Jew.
Now I am just an ordinary Human.
I do not belong to any caste, nor do I have any nationality.
I do not belong to any religion nor do I have any labels.
I am not the product o any culture, yet culture has conditioned me.
I am the one who has been wandering or hundreds and thousands o
years in order to search
the ultimate !ruth, the pathless !ruth, the imperishable, beyond
thought, beyond man made tradition, beyond this mechanical, arti"cial
and violent lie, beyond #ntertainment, beyond $leasure, beyond %e&,
beyond 'ear, beyond Man made (eligions, beyond (ituals, beyond
)uthorities, beyond Belies and *ogmas, Beyond !heories, ideologies
and $hilosophies, beyond wars and beyond violence