Buddhism contains an excellent moral code for
monks and laity, but it is much more than an
ordinary moral teaching. Morality is a means,
not an end in itself. It is only the first stage on
the Path to Purity. Beyond morality is wisdom.
The base of Buddhism is morality, and wisdom
its apex.
In Buddhism, wisdom is paramount; for
purification arises from wisdom and insight. The
Buddha never praised mere intellect.
A genuine Buddhist, besides gaining knowledge,
must practice loving kindness and compassion
towards every living being. Compassion
embraces all sorrowful. Wisdom gained by
development of the qualities of the mind and
heart is wisdom par excellence.
Why Does The Tree Blossom?There are causes for all human sufferingand
there is a way to end them.Everything in the world arises and persists as a
result of a vast concurrence of causes and
conditions. And everything will change and pass
away when the causes and conditions for its
arising andpersistencechange.The seasons come and go. The fruit trees
blossom in spring, bear fruits in summer, shed
their leaves in autumn, and remain bare in
winteruntil the next spring comes.The fruit trees blossom and bear fruits because
of conditions that lead to their blooming and
fruiting. Blossoms do not appear unconditioned,
nor does a fruit appear by itself.Like the meshes of a net whichareconnected
to one another, everything in this world is
connected by a series of causesandconditions.Everything has its arising and passing away
nothing can be permanent without change. This
is an eternal law propounded by the Buddha:
Sabbe Sankhara Anicca. All conditioned things
areimpermanent and subject to change.To believe that things can last forever is a
mistake called the Theory of Permanency to
believethat things completely disappear is a
mistake called the Theory of Non-existence.These are only appearances observed by defiled
human eyes and people become attached to
appearances. The essential nature of things is
free from all discriminations and attachments.Since things are created bya series of causes
andconditionsthere is nopermanencyin them.9