"What Buddha Taught" Part IV
by Dr. Rahul
For a person to be "perfect", there are two qualities that should be developed equally:
‑ Compassion (karuna)
‑ Wisdom
Compassion represents love, charity, kindness, tolerance and such noble qualities of the heart. While wisdom stands for the quality of mind.
If one develops only emotionally while neglecting the intellectual, one may become a good hearted fool. While developing intellectually, and neglecting the emotional side may turn one into a hard hearted intellect without feelings for others.
From this brief account of the "PATH", one may see that it is a way of life to be followed, practiced and developed, by each individual.
It is self‑discipline in body, word and mind, self‑development, and self‑purification. It has nothing to do with belief, prayer, worship or ceremony, which may popularly be called "religious".
Performance of Four Functions:
With regard to the four noble Truths, we have four functions to perform.
The first noble truth is Dukkha (sorrow), the nature of life is suffering, its sorrows and joys, its imperfections and
unsatisfactoriness, its impermanence and instability. With regard to this, our function is to understand sorrow as a fact, clearly and completely.
The second noble Truth is the origin of Dukkha, which is desire, thirst, accompanied by all other passions, defilements, and impurities. A mere understanding of this fact is not sufficient. Here our function is to discard, eliminate, destroy, and eradicate desire, thirst, and passions.
The third noble Truth is the cessation of Dukkha. Nirvana is the absolute truth, our function here is to realize it.
The fourth noble Truth is the PATH, leading to the realization of Niravana. A mere knowledge of the PATH, however complete, will not do. In this case our function is to properly follow it.
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