The scientist has brought the external world under his sway and seems to promise that he can turn this world into a paradise. But man cannot yet control his mind, despite all the achievements of science. ...
The Buddha’s discourses as recorded in the Pali Canon contain many references to the value of santi, or peace, at both the personal and social levels. ....
The Buddha's teachings center around two basic principles. One is the Four Noble Truths, in which the Buddha diagnoses the problem of suffering and indicates the treatment necessary to remedy this problem. The other is the Noble Eightfold Path, the practical discipline he prescribes to uproot and eliminate the deep underlying causes of suffering. ...
The Mahanidana Sutta, “The Great Discourse on Causation,” is the longest and most detailed of the Buddha’s discourses dealing with dependent arising (paticca samuppada), a doctrine generally regarded as the key to his entire teaching. The Buddha often described dependent arising as deep, subtle, and difficult to see, the special domain of noble wisdom. So when his close disciple Ananda comes to him and suggests that this doctrine might not be as deep as it seems, the stage is set for a particularly profound and illuminating exposition of the Dhamma. This book contains a translation of the Mahanidana Sutta together with all the doctrinally important passages from its authorized commentary and sub commentary. A long introductory essay discusses the rich philosophical implications of the sutta; an appendix explains the treatment of dependent arising according to the Abhidhamma system of conditional relations.