A physician who knows the illness, its cause, and the optimum condition of the body is able to prescribe a complete course of therapy, including such direct action as surgery, injections, and other medication as well as indirect treatment in the form of proper diet, rest, and exercise. In similar fashion, knowing the nature of suffering, its cause, and the condition free of suffering, the Buddha prescribes the Eightfold Path as a rational way to restore total spiritual health. The path, a system of practical discipline, must be connected by causal relations with the restoration of a sound spiritual condition, just as the physician’s therapy must have a cause-and-effect relation with the most rational way to restore good physical health. The fourth of the truths is the way to bring about perfect spiritual health.
Basic Buddhist Concepts