False Views, However Long Propagated, Never Become Truth

Question: How can one determine whether a sutra is authentic or spurious? Among Buddhist mantras, which are legitimate and which are illegitimate, and what are the criteria for judgment? The Buddhist Canon includes many scriptures from Tibetan Buddhism; if they are spurious, why would they be included in the Canon? If certain sutras or mantras are problematic, why have they been transmitted for over a thousand years without being extinguished?

Answer: Discernment of the authenticity of sutras and mantras relies entirely on experience and wisdom; it cannot be taught. Without experience and wisdom, one should refrain from making judgments or definitive statements. It is best to exercise utmost caution and keep a distance to avoid unknowingly creating negative karma. The Buddhist Canon was mostly collected, included, edited, and compiled by ordinary beings, but what do ordinary beings truly understand? If the Demon King, seeing the great utility of the Buddhist Canon, were to undertake its compilation and printing, what kind of content might he insert?

The prolonged transmission of heretical teachings does not prove their correctness. The reason they endure for so long is that sentient beings are ignorant and lack the wisdom to distinguish the correct from the deviant. For example, sentient beings have believed for immeasurable kalpas that the five aggregates constitute the self, that the self is real. They have held this view for countless immeasurable kalpas, persisting to the present day. Yet this does not prove that the notion "the five aggregates are the self" is correct and without error. Sentient beings have believed for immeasurable kalpas that they should cling to the worldly dharmas of the five aggregates, thinking that worldly dharmas are good and must not be abandoned even for an instant. However, this is not the case in reality. If the Buddha had not taught us that the five aggregates and the worldly realm are empty and without self, would we not forever cling to the five aggregates and the worldly realm? Even across countless immeasurable kalpas, it would remain so. What can time prove or change for sentient beings who are foolish and deluded?

Similarly, no matter how many people share the same view, a wrong view does not become a right view. Truth is not established by the number of people who believe and accept it; it often resides at the pinnacle of the pyramid, not in the hands of those at the very bottom. Therefore, in an impure land like the Saha World, truth is often held by a minority, an extreme minority. At times, there might not be a single person in the entire world who holds the truth, only foolish and deluded sentient beings.