THE MIDDLE WAY
As an ideal approach to carefree life, Lord Gautama Buddha (563-483 BC) recommended The Middle Way and Eightfold Path. He was a handsome prince, had a wife and a child, yet felt disturbed when he saw people subject to disease, old age and death. As soon as he realized that the world is a place of pain and suffering, he decided to find out a way of total liberation from them including freedom from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. This liberation he called nirvana .
The Middle Way is a choice between self-denial and self-indulgence. Both are wrong. You can’t starve your body and yet remain alive. . You have to consume at least moderate amounts of food to remain fit for not only worldly duties but also to keep your soul in good shape. Self- indulgence , too, is bad and dangerous. It is a form of gluttony that breeds illness and drives you towards death.
A follower of Lord Buddha says : The Tathagata (Perfect One) does not seek salvation in austerities, but neither does he for that reason indulge in worldly pleasures, nor live in abundance. He has found the middle path.
Neither abstinence from fish and flesh, nor going naked, nor shaving the head, nor wearing matted hair, nor dressing in a rough garment, nor covering oneself with dirt, nor sacrificing to Agni, will cleanse a man who is not free from delusions. Anger, drunkenness, obstinacy, bigotry, deception, envy, self-praise, and evil intentions constitute uncleanness, not verily the eating of flesh.
As regards sensuality, it is enervating. The self-indulgent man is a slave to his passions. But to satisfy the necessities of life is not evil. To keep the body in good health is duty, for otherwise we shall not be able to keep our minds strong and clear. Water surrounds the lotus but does not wet its petals. This is the middle path that keeps aloof from both extremes.
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G.R. Kanwal
7th August 2023
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