The Nashville Buddhist Festival, Oct. 4, 2008

"Rely not on the teacher/person, but on the teaching.
















Rely not on the words of the teaching, but on the spirit of the words.
















Rely not on theory, but on experience.
















Do not believe in anything simply because you
have heard it.

















Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
















Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumored by many.

















Do not believe in anything because it is
written in your religious books.

















Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and
elders.















But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."

















Text from the Kalama Sutra. Pictures by Paul Felton, Bob Jarrell, Susan Warner, and Ana King. For more pictures from the 2008 Nashville Buddhist Festival, go here.