The Buddha said to them, “My friends, you should trust and understand that the words spoken by the Tathagata are the truth. When I speak, I tell the truth and you must believe and understand my words.” The Sutra notes that the Buddha repeated this admonition three times. Because we do not hear the explanation right away, this scene serves to heighten the suspense. First, we have to trust the Buddha’s teaching. A Tathagata never utters a falsehood, never says anything that is not in accord with the truth. The Buddha’s word and person are in themselves a guarantee of the truth of his teachings, but there are those among the assembly who still feel some doubt, because what the Buddha has taught is not in accord with their own perception of things.

This detail is to show us that reasoning, concepts, and our general way of observing reality through our intellect only is a limited perception and it can be mistaken. So we should not be attached to ideas and concepts, we should not base too much on them. We may feel that what the Buddha teaches is quite unbelievable, but that is because our insight is not yet very deep. If we had deeper insight into the true nature of reality, as the Buddha does, we would be able to perceive things differently. We have to generate a spirit of trust toward the teachings, be willing to let go of our notions, and examine the teachings in the light of our practice of mindfulness.