Buddhist Philosophy in India and Ceylon c24.s7.10

c24.s7.10

The monk then enters on the first part of his long journey to Buddhahood, during which he is only a beginner (ādikarmika), capable of sin and of suffering in hell, for great as is his undertaking the more heinous his departures from virtue. But his progress is sure; his prayers render it certain. He studies misery, destroying pride and begetting charity and love for the compassionate Buddhas. He practises patience; injuries done to us are either penalties for ancient evil or opportunities for our exercise of virtue. He eradicates the belief in self by meditation and study, largely also by charity, humility, and self-sacrifice. He learns the hard lesson of treating one’s neighbour as oneself,¹ of regarding all beings as if they were Buddhas. It is his aim to serve every creature on earth so long as any of them is not delivered from the round of existence.