Majjhim Nikaya

Lord Buddha, who pronounced the Four Noble Truths to save humanity from its miseries and sorrowful existence, always hits at the right point...

Lord Buddha, who pronounced the Four Noble Truths to save humanity from its miseries and sorrowful existence, always hits at the right point. He seems to be the true acupuncturist who knows how to treat and awake the millions and millions of people who are just groping in the dark out of sheer ignorance.

Buddha, the enlightened one, is always seen knocking at the door of humanity to awaken it from its deep slumber. Humanity today is psychopathological and on the verge of committing universal suicide. Why? It is just because we have not listened to Buddha, whose every word is an eye-opener and is loaded with million-dollar meaning. His every word is capable of transforming us from within.

Reformation-tinged spiritualism is the mainstay of Buddha8217;s teachings. He has not uttered even a single word which is meaningless. He has uttered each and every word with great consciousness and that8217;s why each one is pregnant with golden meaning. Once it is understood, it will transform humanity.

Awareness is the means and transformation is the end. The one important Sutra the Buddha strongly laid emphasis on is the 8216;Middle Path8217; or 8216;Majjhim Nikaya8217;. Buddha says that once the secret of 8216;Majjhim Nikaya8217; is understood, it will automatically ward off all our problems. It is that alone which can fill mankind with music and save human beings from their miseries and sorrowful existence. By preaching this sutra, what Buddha wants to convey is that one should avoid the extremes because extremes are nothing but an obsession, a sickness.

An obsessed man is always sick. Buddha forbids excesses because they create evil. One should not hanker after something too much 8211; it is an ego trip. But at the same time, one should not become idle either 8211; that is again the same trip, at the other extreme. Buddha tells us to avoid both. One should be in-between these two extremes. To be in the middle is a virtue. Never be an ascetic, but never become too self-indulgent.

Too much austerity and too much indulgence 8212; both extremes create evil. Don8217;t renounce the world and don8217;t be worldly either. Rejoice in the balance as balance creates music. That8217;s why, Buddha gives the example of the strings of the veena 8212; don8217;t stretch it so much that it breaks nor relax it so much that it fails to create music. That8217;s why, Buddha who seems to be the real torch-bearer of enlightenment, says to follow the path of balance 8212; all the mysteries will be automatically revealed.