What is the goal of the path? As we wisely discern what leads to more happiness and peace and what leads us away, this leads to greater degrees of freedom and the deepening of our wisdom and compassion.
The Kalama sutta fits very nicely into the discussion on freeing awareness completely from any inward or outward authority. In the most radical statement possible the Buddha severs all ties from any dependency, essentially saying that freedom is not possible if one leans in any direction whatsoever.