..续本文上一页ich comprehends Truth in its totality. It is a higher knowledge, one which eliminates mental impurities at their very roots.

　　Metaphorically, defilements are compared to weeds, which are harmful to flowering plants. If the weeds overgrow them, the flowers will be suffocated. Practicing morality (sila) is comparable to keeping the weeds trimmed down and under control. Training in concentration (samadhi) is like keeping the weeds under a big rock, so that they have no chance to grow further. However, if one neglects trimming, or if the rock is removed, the weeds will grow back to their former verdant abundance. The development of wisdom (pañña) is like rooting out the weeds of defilements, chopping them up, and burning them to ashes so that they have no chance to bother the beautiful plant of the mind again.

　　According to Buddhism, Nibbana is the highest goal of the religious life, the most complete security and the ultimate bliss. The Buddha defines this state of summum bonum as "the extinction of desire, the extinction of hatred, and the extinction of delusion." Inpidual worldlings wandering through Samsara may have other objectives or aspirations in life, and may even perceive Nibbana as irrelevant, but ultimately the journey will culminate in Nibbana, even though it may take countless births and deaths and an unimaginable length of time. The Buddha referred to Nibbana as "the complete destruction of that very ”thirst” (tanha), giving it up, renouncing it, being free from it, detaching from it," and as "the calming of all conditioned things, giving up of all defilements, cessation of craving, and detachment."

　　A glimpse at early Buddhism

　　 Buddhism evolved and developed around the teachings of the Buddha. During his lifetime, the religion prospered and spread rapidly through the great personality of the founder himself, and he was assisted by a large and fast-growing community of noble disciples who drew inspiration from his example of renunciation and self-sacrifice. Before the Buddha passed away, the religion had become well established in India, the land of its birth, and the Master had the satisfaction of realizing that his teachings would continue to benefit the world after he was gone. After his death, his disciples took upon themselves the responsibility of carrying his message of love and wisdom to even farther corners of the earth. Through the centuries that followed, Buddhism emerged as the largest world religion and one of the most important civilizing forces in the history of mankind.

　　Originally, the Buddha”s teachings were preserved and handed down through oral tradition from one generation of monks to another, until they were committed into writing in Sri Lanka some five hundred years after the Great Demise. Councils were held from time to time, attended by large numbers of eminent and learned monks, to verify and confirm those teachings in order that their purity be preserved. Earlier councils were held in India, but as Buddhism spread to other countries and flourished, monks in those lands also took the initiative to keep up the tradition. The shift from oral tradition to literary format, which took place for the first time in Sri Lanka, made it possible for monks, as guardians of the religion, to ensure the authenticity of the Buddha”s teachings through the subsequent centuries of its troubled history.

　　The fourth century BC saw India being invaded by a Western power. Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), having conquered part of the subcontinent, established Greek control in the country where Buddhism was flourishing and widespread. The Greek rule, however, was short lived. Chandragupta of the Mauryan dynasty vanquished the Greek power in India and largely expanded the Magadha empire. He was the gr…

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