Interfaith: Buddhism’s practical approach to fake news
Fake news isn’t a new phenomenon. Most of us recall that some of the ideas circulating by word of mouth in the past are that the Earth is flat, practitioners of witchcraft should be burned at the stake, George Washington cut down a cherry tree and then didn’t lie about it, Elvis is still alive and toads give you warts.
Today news, true and false, circulates faster and wider, especially via electronic media, although word of mouth is still a major factor in its dissemination. Social media, like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and dozens of others, represent a major contributor to speed and circulation.
Even many of television’s news stations and programs are either biased or unintentionally repeat information that isn’t factual or is at best questionable.
For sure, fake news and highly questionable ideas have been making their rounds for a very long time. Fortunately, there have always been and still are those willing to point out what’s fake and offer their proof so that we can determine for ourselves what’s true and what isn’t.
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A couple of thousand years ago a Nepalese man know as Siddhartha Gautama was bothered by what he felt was a plethora of questionable information or fake ideas floating around. It worried him sufficiently enough that he spent a lot of time thinking and meditating about what might be done to counter it.
As the familiar story goes, Siddhartha sat down under a fig tree (later known as the Bodhi tree or tree of enlightenment) and vowed not to get up until he had some answers.
When he finally thought he had the insight he needed, he got up and began a lifetime of passing on the information to anyone who would listen. His first discourse or sermon was to the people in the village of Kalama and today that talk is known as the Kalama Sutra and Siddhartha is known as the Buddha.
In brief, here’s the essence of wisdom he departed nearly 3,000 years ago:
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
"Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
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Most would favor this approach to the acceptance or refusal of information or news as both a wise and a practical one. But sometimes discerning what is factual and what isn’t is difficult.
We want to trust the experts, our leaders and those whose conclusions and opinions have proven correct and beneficial in the past, always remembering that an opinion is not the same as a fact. We want to rely on what has traditionally been culturally acceptable.
Recognized Buddhist and spiritual leader his holiness the Dalai Lama, known for his favorable interest in science, said this about accepting provable information over speculative ideas or fake premises.
“If scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims.”
Today, we are faced with multiple crises and forced to decide how to deal with each skillfully in order to lessen the negative consequences of each. Maybe the Buddha’s and the Dalai Lama’s approach is worth consideration.
The Rev. Glenn Hughes, of Thousand Oaks, is a dharma teacher, ordained Anagarika Vimalakirti in Buddhism’s Mahayana tradition. Reach him at TheBodhiman@aol.com or at his website www.BuddhismTeacher.com. He is a member of the Conejo Valley Interfaith Association, which welcomes representatives of all religious faiths.