Studies in the Origins of Buddhism c19.13

c19.13

The Ch. Upaniṣad (VI. 14) compares the seeker after spiritual truth with a man who has been led away blind-folded and seeks to reach his destination by gradually discovering and following the way back home. This is akin to the idea of Buddha who claimed to be only the Guide that indicated the ancient highway which leads to Nirvāṇa.⁹ Although the Upaniṣads emphasize knowledge as the means to salvation, they point out the need of virtuous action and the restraint of passions for the attainment of spiritual knowledge and freedom.¹⁰ The emphasis on Karma in the sense of ritual is changed into the indispensability of ethical discipline as the first step in spiritual life. This tendency is carried over into Buddhism and accentuated to such a degree that some popular accounts confound Buddhism with simple morality.¹¹