The History of Buddhist Thought c27.45

c27.45

These doctrines became the basis of Buddhist ethics, but the real greatness of the ethical system was due to the actual detailed teaching of a moral genius. Such doctrines as the forgiveness of enemies or compassion for the weak are revelations to which human consciousness may gradually awaken when they are set before it. They do not become realized by deduction from abstract principles. The doctrine of karma was one which lent itself to a mechanical conception of the heaping up of good actions. Buddhism did not entirely escape, but the Founder made the greatest advance in Indian ethics by insisting on motive as the standard of moral judgment.