Dharma, or the teachings, is not a series of instructions to be believed and followed out of blind faith. The practice of Dharma should be carried out on the basis of reason and contemplation. -Dalai Lama

Dharma, or the teachings, is not a series of instructions to be believed and followed out of blind faith. The practice of Dharma should be carried out on the basis of reason and contemplation. If one accepts a point or practice or doctrine out of blind faith, one is accepting it for the wrong reasons and in the wrong way. Whenever I myself encounter a contradiction between doctrine and reason, I always give priority to reason. Buddha taught many levels and types of doctrines in

Whenever I myself encounter a contradiction between doctrine and reason, I always give priority to reason. -Dalai Lama

dependence upon the quality of this audiences, and we must discern for ourselves what was meant literally  and what only figuratively.

Excerpts from The Path to Enlightenment (1982) by the Dalai Lama, a commentary on The Essence of Refined Gold by Sonam Gyatso.