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Art & Science of Meditation
Philosophy and Religion BUDDHISM The Spiritual Highway of the Buddha
M. N. Kundu (The speaking Tree, The Times of India) "Driven by an incredible metaphysical quest, Prince Siddhartha became an ascetic, adopting an austere lifestyle, trying every possible way in order to attain Selfrealisation. With sustained effort and willpower, enlightenment did come to him one day with perfect iuminosity. Being the Buddha, the enlightened one, he shared the philosophy of his path with those suffering around him, as a means of overcoming suffering. Gautama Buddha's Middle Path relates more to the middle segment of creation in its present moment than to the so-called theoretical discourse on Creator, genesis and end of creation, He is more suggestive than explicit on the questions that relate to the metaphysical ultimate.
The present life is full of suffering caused by ageing, disease and death, which we know are part of life but yet, we do not strive to rise above them. Even understanding that suffering caused by these calls for a soultion is a noble truth. The root cause of sufferinglies lies in craving or atachment with transitory reality. The remedy lies in extinction of the flame of desire for which we need to follow an eightfold path. These constitute the four noble truths for contemplation and action in an adequate manner.
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