འཕགས་པ་ལྷག་པའ་བསམ་པ་བསྐལ་བ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.7

intro.7

An important corollary teaching imparted by the Buddha in this sūtra is how to determine whether a teaching qualifies as authentic Dharma. His rule, also quoted and discussed by Śāntideva, is that everything that is well spoken is the speech of the Buddha, no matter what it is or by whom it is offered.³ Moreover, to qualify as well spoken, an instruction must be meaningful, consistent with the Dharma, and designed to reduce mental defilements, and it must laud the qualities of nirvāṇa as opposed to saṃsāra. This sūtra appears to be the locus classicus for this doctrine in the Mahāyāna tradition.⁴