A Discourse on Paticcasamuppada
(The Doctrine of Dependent Origination)

Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw

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The Buddhist view of personal salvation (soteriology) is that the individual may escape the endless cycle of rebirths by attaining enlightenment. Enlightenment is essentially knowledge of how the system works and how the individual is literally identical with the totality of the universe. This knowledge is called enlightenment. It may be attained through:his birth which was accompanied by many good omens and events. After his birth, he grew up as a well educated prince of his kingdom and married a young woman who gave birth to their son. However, he tired of the princely life and, feeling dissatisfied, soon left home to become a wandering ascetic, a beggar. He joined a band of such beggars and wandered about from place to place seeking teaching from great masters. What he sought from these teachers was a special kind of knowledge that would allow him to understand the nature of the universe. For six years the young prince lived a beggar's life. During this time he nearly starved to death through deliberately depriving himself of food.