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The Tree of Enlightenment

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to have taught innumerable living beings. ey included not<br />

only human beings from all walks <strong>of</strong> life, but also animals<br />

and supra human beings such as the gods <strong>of</strong> the various heavens<br />

and the under world. e Buddha is also acknowledged by<br />

all the Buddhist traditions to have performed many extraordinary<br />

and inconceivable miracles <strong>of</strong> various kinds for the sake <strong>of</strong><br />

Enlightening living beings. e Buddha was not a man nor a<br />

god as He himself avowed. But if he was not a god, he was certainly<br />

divine, exalted and supramundane, because he had made<br />

himself so over the course <strong>of</strong> countless existences. Indeed, all<br />

Buddhists believe that the Buddha is far greater than any god,<br />

his qualities and activities more beneficent and immense. e<br />

Buddha Shakyamuni set an example by his own career that people<br />

could emulate. e goal <strong>of</strong> this career was <strong>Enlightenment</strong> and<br />

Buddhahood and the way was the way <strong>of</strong> the Bodhisattva. e<br />

Buddha spoke <strong>of</strong> the goal <strong>of</strong> enlightenment and Buddhahood as<br />

well as <strong>of</strong> the goal <strong>of</strong> Nirvana. He himself had thoroughly taught<br />

the way <strong>of</strong> attaining the goal <strong>of</strong> Buddhahood by means <strong>of</strong> the<br />

practice <strong>of</strong> the perfections <strong>of</strong> the Bodhisattva in the many tales<br />

<strong>of</strong> his former existences.<br />

e Buddha Shakyamuni allowed his followers to accept<br />

and adapt his teaching to their own abilities and aspirations.<br />

While never abandoning the cardinal virtues <strong>of</strong> morality and<br />

wisdom, the Buddha permitted a great deal <strong>of</strong> scope for individual<br />

expression. He encouraged free inquiry among the laity<br />

and democracy within the monastic community. is is evident<br />

in many places throughout his teachings. ere is, for example,<br />

the famous doctrine he articulated in his advice to the Kalamas,<br />

when he said that one should not rely on secondary means <strong>of</strong> ver-<br />

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