Hence this presentation from Sri Lanka where Pali Buddhist texts were committed to writing as far back as the first century A.D.  These Pali texts also preserve what is generally known as the Theravada tradition as against the Mahayana of the Sanskrit texts. As source books for Buddhist studies, they have a better claim to historical antiquity and authenticity.

       In this series we plan to present brief studies on the basic concepts of early Buddhism. We begin with man and the wor : in single or ild he lives in. Drawing on the wisdom of  ancient India, the Buddha starts at a relevant point in evolution of man. As the Buddha or the Enlightened One, he is more clear and specific in his analyses, and assessments and in his answers to meaningful questions put to him. Our fortnightly studies center on them. Studies in this series are presently provided by Bhikkhu Dhammavihari.
 

1. Anthropocentricism
   Gotama as Buddha-aspirant was prompted into his spiritual quest through an awareness of the down to earth problem of human unhappiness in decay, disease and death in the world. As he probed into it, he found both its cause and its solution in the very nature of man. The solution lay in the self-discipline, self-adjustment and self-correction of the humans when placed in these different vicissitudes. On the strength of his analysis of the problems and the solutions offered, Gotama has become pre-eminent in the world of  thinkers.

2. Transcendence  -  Passage from human to divine
Life of humans on earth being viewed as unsatisfactory on account of its very nature of incessant change and the invariable frustration these changes bring about, Buddhism offers in Nirvana a plane beyond such disturbances. Having reached that stage in this very life, human vision has changed its direction and found itself a new alignment. Therein lies the much coveted state of composure [santi / nibbuti ] of Nirvana, while still being human and being in this world. This is what Buddhism offers in its passage from human to divine.

3 Neither grace nor aid from elsewhere.
Whatever the state in which humans find themselves in the world today, Buddhism upholds the view that it is the outcome of a long process of evolution which stretches through time and space. Each single individual in the world is the product of his own distinct creation. Buddhism does not concede  power to a supreme divinity, besides man, who either provides succour to helpless worldlings or control and guide their destinies. Salvation out of this world's misery lies in the hands of every single individual, each one bringing it about himself.

4 The universe and man therein.
The Buddhists, together with the Indians, centuries before the beginning of the Christian era, were acquainted with a theory of evolution of the universe  [vivattamâne kappe] seemingly very similar to the Big Bang theory. Humans within it, override the considerations of time and space.

5 Development : moral and psychic.
Nurture and growth of man is viewed in Buddhism, relative to the goal of his choice. With the rejection of an external intermediary, the choice lies with the culture up to a transcendental level     of one's own  human personality  [variously referred to as citta, mano etc.] in the right specified direction.

6 Reality of life : in single or multiple spans.
Life is what we see in action in the world, of humans, animals and to some extent even of plants. Presence of bare sensitivity and sentiency as is sometimes attributed to the plant world, is reckoned in Buddhism as a primary or elementary level of life [Buddhist texts referring to them as mono-sensory or uni-sensory life = ekindriyam pânam]. Animals cognize to a further degree and are said also to react with their built-in reflexes. Humans have the power of reason and judgement [manassa ussannatâya manussâ], and are therefore placed at the highest level of  life in the universe. Humans are said to gather life-generative momentum [upâdâna] in their very process of living, here and now. By multiple spans we mean the repitition of births and deaths of the humans.   

7  What propels this life process of humans..
In Buddhism, life of humans on earth is viewed as a single phase of a long and continuous process of living, stretching through time and space. It is assumed that it has had an incalculable past. For each one of us, it is a process of built-in self-generation.
The past is real as having generated the present. The present existence, with its multiple relations with the world we live in, shall generate enough momentum to push it further to another, until and unless we arrest this generative process by careful handling of our reactions and responses to the sensory stimuli we get from the world we live in.

In our day-to-day living process, we charge our physical bodies with psychical activity which is continually generated through our sensory reaction to external stimuli of the world. This process which includes within it both being attracted to and repelled
by our likes and dislikes is called  'grasping'  or   upâdâna.  Buddhism's goal of  Nirvana being the complete arrest and termination of  this  continuous life process, Buddhism's spiritual culture aims at the correction of this process of grasping.

8 Genesis of Human Unhappiness or Dukkha. 
Dukkha or human unhappiness is explained in Buddhism as primarily resulting from the maladjustment of everyone, men, women and children, to the human predicament. Every-thing in the world being subject to the law of change, the inability of the humans to cope with this  change brings about dissatisfaction, frustration  and bitterness  in the  human  mind. The Buddhist  analysis of this highlights  three basic characteristics of the phenomenal world, viz. 1.constant change and transiency or anicca, 2, dissatisfaction or dukkha resulting from the human inability to cope with this basic characteristic, and 3. the consequent  awareness that must come about that humans have no mastery or command over what happens through nature's own way or anatta.

             Even in the midst of such a world, a person of good judgement takes a balanced view of the changing nature of the world and is reconciled to it. Such restraint in grabbing at things of the world gives one a great deal of peace and calm : upasanto sukham seti.
 

9   Tilakkhana or  The Life's Way

10   Towards Spiritual Growth : From the First Steps.