Hindu Medicine c7.120

c7.120

First of all, the Buddha states that universal suffering is real. Next, he defines suffering as caused by a deep-rooted ignorance concerning the essential laws of the process of life and consciousness, an ignorance which has its roots in the blinding effect of the universal desire to be, to grow and to enjoy, and in the naive clinging to the ego. His Third Noble Truth diagnoses this suffering through ignorance, though it affects even the highest divinities, as curable. The Fourth Truth points out, as the only proper therapy for establishing the state of unlimited well-being, the Buddhist way of ascetic practice which leads toward enlightenment (bodhi) and extinction (nirvāṇa).