What should you do when someone teaches false Dharma?

Since it is a very important topic and need a lot of explaining, Atma has started to prepare a hopefully understandable answer here: How to address wrong view? It will take one day or two and of course a Book could be written and would be not at all of no use. So not finished yet but give it meanwhile the possibility to put further thoughts and questions while being in development into it.. How could it? But here the gist: talk toward a smart

A revised and extended version as well attempt to translate in into German, after blessed approve of firm insider, can be found here: How to address wrong view (preliminary).

Index

• The effect of wrong view?
• What is wrong view?
• What is right view?
• Should one react to wrong view?
• By which means should one approach wrong views of others?
• Conclusion

I think the best way is to raise doubts in your friends, so that they will check it for themselves. For example, you can use the Socratic questioning technique to ask questions. For example, you can ask:

Is this always the case?

When you seed the doubt in them in a subtle way, you won't be perceived as a threat.

If you really care about them, and willing to spend more effort to help them, you may want to use these guidelines:

• How to Critique Something Others Love
• How to Get People to Accept the Advice You Give

Be sure that your knowledge is solid before correcting them.

^{FYI: What is the Buddhist view in Socratic questioning?}

Well this is a general thing happening in spirituality. There are people who are clearly frauds or just have extreme narcissistic personality disorder and have delusions becoming spiritual teachers and gurus that many people become their students and sees them as idol or super enlightened beings and even worship these frauds. These kind of things are very normal in the human world.

There are belief systems in the world that literally glorifies killing. I can not go to more detail because it may be out of BSE rules, but I think many people understands what I mean. This is the truth of humanity. You can not change it because this is actually what the crazy state of ordinary human mind loves.

Buddha was not a Buddhist and "Buddhism" does not belong to a specific group. Let's be happy and grateful that original teachings of Buddha is still alive in different sects of Buddhism and let's give help to the people(who are demanding help from us) with the true teachings of the Buddha. That is more than enough.

Ideally, after metta, ask your spiritual friends if they want to share perspectives on dhamma.

You should see if the interpretations given are in fact:

• In line with the Dhamma as per the Suttas.
• Even if they seem to be from the Suttas, see if the interpretation can be put in practice and not philosophical and abstract. Dhamma is meant to be practised to experience the result here and now. Hence if it is philosophical or abstract then this is not pure Dhamma.

So the best course of action would be:

• Try to bring up Sutta discussions with a view toward reconciliation.
• If it seems to be in line with the Suttas, see if some interpretations are abstract and philosophical rather than simple practice, in which case you can bring up an alternate interpretation to see how this resonates among the practitioners.

Refer to Ani Sutta which describes how Dhamma gets polluted.

Coming from the middle of the United States (OKC, OK) I have encountered the following Buddhist groups: Vietnamese (Mahayana), Korean (Mahayana), Thai (Theravada), Chinese (Mahayana), and Californian (Zen). After spending time at the Kopan monastery in Kathmandu I have also experienced Tibetan and, of course, the Theravadan people here. Every one of these groups have differences. Some rather vast and many rather surprising.

So my first response would be - by whose standard are you evaluating their interpretations to be wrong?

To call themselves Buddhists one asks ... Do they seek refuge in the jewel? Do they follow the 5 precepts?

After that it's a matter of school and lineage. I have noticed much more of a dao influence in the Chinese Mahayana group compared to the Vietnamese (who seem much more pedantic). And the Korean group has prescriptions of an origin I still dont know. The Zen group seemed much more Hindu in nature (even mixing in Yoga ideas of shedding karma) and the Tibetan group from Kathmandu was much more mystical than purely secular.

I mention all this because there is a wide variance in views and all maintain some form of justification based on canon. I wouldnt rule any group out as errant until I had done my own homework beforehand. I studied the Upanishads, the Dhammapada, and the Bhagavad Gita before deciding which path I would follow and my determining factors were:

• my path must swallow all others in its' embrace, and
• my path would align with both the physical world as well as the spiritual.

That first factor requires a little explanation. After such an exhaustive search (50 years) for spiritual guidance I finally figured out that if a set of beliefs excludes any group of people then it is incomplete. Usually incomplete means it suffers from inaccuracies and bias. So any ultimate explanation should encompass everyone. It should be a universal truth to all ... swallowing up all other beliefs.

The second factor comes from my practical education and background. We ARE talking about the very nature of the Universe and I dont believe in magic. I do believe in science and physics and quantum mechanics and biology. I will certainly allow for discoveries we have yet to make (black box principle), but my path will be supported by known science and be furthered by it.

These are, of course, MY factors. You will have your own. Based on your background. Seek refuge first through learning about the Buddha. After you learn then find the path that suits you and a group of people who help you in it. Be up front about your search and the earnest questions you ask will be greeted with a smile by the right-minded. Not conflict.

I hope any single word of this was helpful. I understand this journey and wish you the best of results! Namaste my friend.

From Dogen's Shobogenzo:

Some hear of Anuttara-Samyak-Sam-Bodhi from "good friend", and some hear of it from the sutras. What one hears first is, "Not doing wrong action." If one does not hear “not doing wrong action,” one is not hearing the Buddhas' true Dharma but demonic talk. Know that hearing “not doing wrong action” is hearing the Buddhas' true Dharma.

...

The essence of the Dharma proclaimed by all Buddhas of the three worlds is the same, yet the actual words used depend on the time and circumstances.

My comment:

When I was a little boy back in the dark soviet years, I could not possibly come in contact with True Dharma. My glimpse of light was a song by an alcoholic folk singer who sang: "The Indians have made up a nice religion: when we kick the bucket we don't die forever. If you lived like a pig, you'll be reborn a pig. If you were dumb like a tree, you'll come back a baobab. You could become a parrot or a poisonous snake. Isn't it better to be a decent man?"

In this world there are people who are not confused, people who are mildly confused, and people who are very confused. This includes students of Dharma, teachers of Dharma, and people who have never heard of Dharma. So if your "ultimate goal is to avoid conflict" then don't judge the work of others -- even if they are somewhat confused at least they can help people who are even more confused. For someone deep in the darkness even a little glimpse of light can show the direction out.

As for your literal question, "what should you do when someone teaches false Dharma?" -- my answer is: "why, teach the true Dharma of course!"