Healthy Doubt Versus Vacillating Doubt

The first thing that the Buddha told the Kalamas was that it was right for them to be perplexed and doubtful when a matter that arouses perplexity has arisen. Given the frustration of the Kalamas this opening statement of the Buddha is well placed and understandable.

But the Buddha did not mean this as merely a consolation for the Kalamas in order to put them at ease. More than that it also serves as an encouragement to ask questions and seek knowledge when in doubt. For within the Buddha's teaching itself there is a room for healthy doubting which serves as a catalyst for the search after knowledge and truth.

This kind of doubt should be differentiated from the vacillating doubt that constitutes a hindrance to the practice of meditation. Vacillating doubt is an unwholesome state of mind closely allied with delusion, the combination of both which gives rise to a confused and debilitating mental vacillation that leads to mental paralysis.

The mind that is plague by vacillating doubt keeps oscillating and wavering between conflicting ideas, going back and forth until it becomes totally consumed by indecision and paralyzed by irresolution. Overcome by dilemma it is unsure of how to proceed. The mind overcomes weak and confused. Vacillating doubt is therefore described as a hindrance to the process of meditation.

Healthy doubt on the other hand is not accompanied by any delusion, confusion or vacillation. One still maintains about oneself a degree of clarity and sensibility which causes one to approach wise people and ask them sensible questions in order to arrive at a satisfactory answers.

Healthy doubt is accompanied by a strong curiosity and desire to seek knowledge and understanding that can clear away perplexity. Therefore, it is one of the factors that promote wisdom and understanding and is actually encouraged among the Buddha's disciples and followers.

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