A sacred banyan tree at Sravasti.
After morality, the second step on the Buddhist road to wisdom is concentration. But only a person living an ethical life, one not governed by greed, hatred and delusion will have a mind that is calm and settled enought to permit deep concentration. "The evil-doer suffers . . .. He suffers when he thinks of the evil he has done; he suffers more when going on the evil path. The virtuous man is happy in this world . . . . He is happy when he thinks of the good he has done; he is still more happy when going on the good path." A mind distracted by worries, passions, hopes, fears and regrets remains incapable of deep concentration. And it is concentration, specifically meditation, that constitutes the path to acquiring the kind of wisdom that leads to enlightenment and Nirvana.
Size: 4512px × 3008px
Location: Sravasti, India
Photo credit: © Leonid Plotkin / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: asia, banyan, bodhi, buddha, buddhism, buddhist, holy, india, monk, pilgrim, pilgrimage, pilgrims, pradesh, religion, religious, rite, ritual, sacred, savatthi, shravasti, tradition, traditional, tree, uttar
