Studies in the Origins of Buddhism c19.60

c19.60

The Importance of Will.—Vāyāma, Viriya, Padhāna, Parakkama, Uṭṭhāna—all these terms entering into the basic vocabulary of the earliest Buddhism emphasize the importance of “will” in spiritual discipline. This emphasis becomes significant if it is remembered that Buddha repudiated the fatalism of teachers like Makkhali Gosāla, as also the independent intervention of a supreme deity. Spiritual progress is neither the “unfolding (Nibbeṭhana) of a predetermined course as the Ājīvakas held, nor is it the result of “grace” as is proclaimed in the Kaṭh. Up. It is the result of man’s own exertion put along the right way.⁴⁵