The Centrality of Ethics in Buddhism

“The Centrality of Ethics in Buddhism”: Exploratory Essay by Hari Shankar Prasad – The author is well-versed in the original Buddhist sources and has been a hard-core advocate for them. However, they are still alien to the discussion about Buddhist ethics ….. This book’s profundity is due to the author’s reliance upon the original sources and extensive bibliography. I highly recommend it to scholars and lay readers who are interested in Buddhism. — The Tribune, September 2007
Through extensive textual research, this book examines the Buddha’s stance on ethics and Buddhism’s rejection of pernicious dogmas or metaphysical beliefs, and their attempts causally to link moral perfection to an eschatological or soteriological goal. The most remarkable thing about Buddhism is its integration of the vertical development and gradual development of human consciousness. This emphasis was what separated Siddhartha from his teachers Alara Kalama Ramaputta and Uddaka Radaka Ramaputta before he attained Awakened Wisdom (bodhi). It is because of this reason that the Buddha refers to himself and his Dhamma Patisotagami as “Dhamma Patisotagami”. Going against the currents and pernicious beliefs. Buddhism, in short, is about the overcoming of suffering, which is the most terrible evil. It does this by promoting ethicalization of human consciousness and conduct. This also helps to ethicize the society and the entire universe. Some essays in this book also explore other topics such as Buddhist epistemology and the nature of self, time, and interculturality.