"Ma samano no garu ti: Don't believe something simple because the monk (more broadly, any speaker) is 'my teacher'. The Buddha's purpose regarding this important point is that nobody should be the intellectual slave of anybody else, not even the Buddha himself. The Buddha emphasized this point often, and there were disciples, such as the Venerable Sariputta, who confirmed it in practice. They didn't believe the Buddha's words immediately upon hearing them; they only did so after reasoned reflection and the test of practice...In Buddhism there is no dogmatic system that pressures us to believe without the right to examine and decide for ourselves. This is the greatest uniqueness of Buddhism that keeps its practitioners from being anybody's intellectual slave."

-From "Help! Kalama Sutta, Help!" by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu