Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c7.101

c7.101

Nirvāṇa is to be obtained not by prayer or by sacrifices, but by freeing the mind from all attachment and desire. *Rapid* spiritual progress is only possible to the ascetic; but extreme ascetism and self-torture are condemned as much as sensuous self-indulgence, both hindering progress. But the simple mode of salvation, the ‘middle way’ for those who remain in the world, and in whom the immediate desire for emancipation has not become intense, is self-restraint, and the performance of good actions without regard to reward, and without thought of an I or a My. This means of salvation thus corresponds to the *karma-yoga* of Hinduism, and is that which makes the most general appeal to good men everywhere.