Once you get the measly mind around the simple fact that we humans are limited finite creatures in the extreme, and accept that we can never possibly know anything ultimate or infinite or even inherently true, then belief becomes a matter of expediency – what belief system makes life most meaningful and fulfilling? A teaching is a developed belief system designed to take you beyond yourself and into realms you could never in a thousand years possibly imagine or contemplate or discover for yourself. All spiritual cultures consider great teaching to be the most valuable of treasures, the squandering of which yields maximal karmic discredit.