Buddha by Stephen T. Asma

Author:Stephen T. Asma
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781939994349
Publisher: For Beginners LLC

“Be moral and virtuous without being made of morals or virtues” (Majjhima Nikaya, chapter 2). Compassion flows from the realization of human suffering and the impermanence of all things. Even our “enemies,” for example, begin to arouse our compassion when we realize that they too are trapped by suffering. With this notion Buddha sought to rescue morality from the empty formalities of the Brahmins. Without a cultivated heart of compassion, rules and rituals are blind.

Next we must examine the goal of the moral life: nirvana. Nirvana is one of those commonly invoked and commonly misunderstood concepts. The Buddha speaks of nirvana in two different senses: nirvana with the substrate (saupadisesa), and nirvana without the substrate (anupadisesa). We must sort out these two different forms of freedom.

Literally, nirvana means “going out” or “extinguishing” a flame, and we frequently find the Buddha playing with this image in his sermons. But what exactly is “going out” and what is this talk of a “substrate”?

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.