NEITHER GRACE NOR AID FROM ELSEWHERE

In Buddhism of the Theravâda tradition, guidance or assistance through an external divine mediator in the process of liberation is unhesitatingly and unequivocally denied. Attâ hi attano nâtho ko hi nâtho paro siyâ : Each one is one's own lord and guide. Who else could play that role ? [Dhammapada vv.160 & 380]. Attâno loko anabhissaro : The world is without a protector. It offers no refuge. None presides over it to guide its destiny [M.N.II. 68].

To the Buddhist, there does not exist a transcendence of the mundane world to reach the divine through divine grace. Nor is such transcendence to be sought in a plane beyond this [either as deva or as brahma] which exists elsewhere, in a place which one seeks to attain after one's death. In Budddhism, the position of the human being is elevated above all other living things in the world on account of his vastly developed mind or brain, or by whichever name one would choose to call this faculty [manassa ussannatâya manussâ. VvA.18 and KhA.123].

Thus it is man himself who must perfect his faculties of thought and judgement [citta and paññâ]. That is the real direction of human development in the area of spiritual growth. Humans are declared to be capable of bringing about this by their own well-directed endeavour and striving  [sammâ vâyâma] at a down-to-earth human level. The ability and the capacity to do this is necessarily the outcome of a long and sustained process of moral and ethical development. It is a higher rung [No. 6 = sammâ vâyâmo] in the spiritual ladder of the Noble Eightfold Path or Atthangika Magga in Buddhism.

Nos. 3, 4 and 5 of the said Path, i.e. Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood, as pre-requisites, are required to prepare man for these higher reaches of Right Endeavour, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. This leads to the final liberation in Buddhism which one achieves through one's own realization [sayam abhiññâya] of the reality [yathâ-bhucca] or the true and real nature of life in the world [yathâ-bhûta-pajânana] . This alone fixes man harmoniously in his little slot of existence while he lives in the world. Thus liberation [sammâ vimutti] in Buddhism implies perfect maturity of wisdom within oneself. In other words it is the liberation of the mind [ceto-vimutti] of its cloudy mantles [âsavehi] through the penetrative faculty of wisdom [sammâñâna or paññâ].

Man learns to view correctly the world he lives in, thus eliminating the resultant bonds which bind him more and more to it, in involving entanglements of being either attracted to or repelled by it. This happens through diverse channels of persons and property with which the humans develop numerous relationships. The living process of man in the world is a ceaseless continuance of such involvement and entanglement. Few do ever realize this.

                                     A THOUGHT FROM BUDDHISM
                                               For you to dwell upon

003. In this world, hating never terminates the hatred of one to another. It is the eternal truth that love alone brings about peace and concord. One must be heedful of the fact that all life ends in death. That awareness alone shall bring amity and concord among men. [ Dhammapada vv. 5 & 6 ].