The Mind-Doctrine, or Buddha's teaching on Mind, is the heart of his message. It is the sum of human wisdom. It does not deal with something foreign, far, or antiquated. It deals with that which is common to all humanity, ever young, and nearer to man than hands and feet.

The message of the Buddha comes to the world as an effective way of help in present-day problems. It is a radical cure for the ever-present ills. Some of us may doubt, How could words spoken 2500 years ago have any relevance to our modern world? Time and distance in space cannot alter the Eternal Truths or render them ineffective. Has not the teaching from Nazareth reached many nations far from Nazareth and become an important part of their life and thought? Are not the mathematical laws of Greece relevant today in Britain or elsewhere?

The objectors should consider the numerous basic facts of life that are common to all humanity. It is about them the Buddha prominently speaks. True wisdom is always young and always within the grasp of an open mind.

In the Buddhist doctrine, mind is the starting point, the focal point and also the culminating point in the liberated and purified saint. The Dhammapada, the popular Buddhist scripture, opens with the words: "All that we are is the result of what we have thought: all that we are is founded on our thoughts and formed of our thoughts." These momentous words lead straight home, into man's very heart. Mind is the nearest to us, as through mind alone we become aware of the external world—including our own body. If mind is comprehended, all other things are comprehended. Mind is the source of all good and evil that arises within and befalls us from without. The words of the Buddha in the first two verses of The Dhammapada bring home this fact:

...If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain pursues him, as the wheel of the wagon follows the hoof of the ox that draws it. (Verse 1)

...If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness pursues him like his own shadow that never leaves him. (Verse 2)

Turning into the recesses of one's own mind from disastrous paths will result in saving the world from its present crisis. Only through a change within, will there be a change without. If there is a well-ordered and strong inner centre in our mind, any confusion at the periphery will gradually disappear. Discipline or confusion of the society corresponds to and follows the discipline or confusion of individual minds. But the amelioration of the suffering of humanity will not have to wait for the Dawn of a Golden Age when all men are good. We know from history that a single truly saintly man could form the focal point for "good," around whom will rally those who have not the courage to take the lead but are willing to follow. Better nature always prevails and "good" has a strong infectious power over "evil." One should have the courage to put it to the test.

One should surely appreciate the great curative and theoretical results achieved by modern analytical psychology, particularly of C. G. Jung who has taken a definite turn towards the appreciation of Eastern Wisdom. The modern science of the mind may well supplement the Mind-Doctrine of the Buddha. It may translate it into the conceptual language of the modern age, facilitate its curative and the critical application to a particular individual or to the social problems of the present time. But the decisive fundamentals of the Buddha's Mind-Doctrine have retained their full validity and potency unimpaired by any change of time. This is because the thypical events in human life and our physical and mental make-up remain unaltered—pain and pleasure reacting on the body—the same as happened as of old. The Buddha's Mind-Doctrine is based on an exceptionally clear grasp of these two factors. This bestows on it its timeless character, its undiminished modernity and validity.

The Buddha's message as a time-honoured Doctrine of the Mind, teaches three things: (1) To know the mind—so near to us, yet so unknown. (2) To shape the mind—so unwieldy and obstinate, yet may turn so pliant. (3) To free the mind—in bondage all over, yet may win freedom here and now.

Dhamma-Vandana (as given in Discourse Summaries by S. N. Goenka, p. 101) says:

Clearly expounded is the Teaching of the Exalted One [Buddha]:

To be seen [practised] for oneself.
Giving results here and now
Inviting one to come and see [try and know]
Leading straight to the goal
Capable of being realized for oneself
By any intelligent person.

The Mahayana Buddhist text, The Voice of the Silence, says: "Mind is the great Slayer of the Real. Let the Disciple slay the Slayer." The "Real" is beyond mind. But only the mind of the disciple slays the Real. It becomes the slayer. It is interesting to note that again mind is the instrument to slay the "slayer"—just as a diamond is cut into pieces by another diamond.

Only "mindfulness" can know, shape and free the mind and experience the Real beyond mind. A knife in the hands of a murderer kills life and the same in the hands of a surgeon saves life. Man should know the enormous power of the mind and use it "mindfully" to redeem the sorrow and suffering in the world and "make the earth an Eden, like the Heaven above," and not turn it into a Pandora's box.

The cause of all the blunders committed by man arises from excessive self-love. He who intends to be a great man ought to love neither himself nor his own things, but only what is just, whether it happens to be done by himself or another.

—Plato