In this booklet the Ven. Buddhadāsa examines the perennial questions “Why was I born? What am I living for? What is the purpose of life?”

The answer he gives is that man’s task in life is to break free from the bondage of his own mental processes.

The way the mind normally works just won’t do. Each man’s mind is a treadmill to which he is chained; and real freedom is an impossibility unless a man can break out of his old unsatisfactory thought patterns and develop a new consciousness of an entirely new order. In the Buddha’s teaching this mental treadmill is referred to as saṃsāra.

The first step towards breaking free from saṃsāra is to recognize its existence and realize the manner in which it enslaves. Close scrutiny reveals that our bondage in saṃsāra is dependent entirely on ignorance of that very saṃsāra. As soon as we recognize its existence and mode of working, it ceases to operate. We become free by realizing how we are bound.

The booklet is in two sections corresponding to two consecutive lectures given by Ven. Buddhadāsa. The first section presents a picture of life as a struggle to break free from the vicious circle of saṃsāra and move towards nirvāna. The second describes this progress towards nirvāna, this “walking the Path.”

The attainment of enlightenment is presented as not merely a task facing each individual, but as a long-term project for the whole of mankind taken collectively. More than this, it is seen as part of the evolutionary process in general. Enlightenment, full self-knowledge, is presented as the final goal of all life, the climax and end of evolution.

But more importantly, this attainment of enlightenment is presented as a thoroughly practicable undertaking, a feasible project, something that can be done.

(Introduction)

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