The [Buddhist] reformers held that by overemphasizing questions of existence and karma (the results of actions, causality), the Abhidharma Buddhists had taken as their ideal an escapist nirvana without residue (emancipation from existence) divorced from the affairs of the world. This ran counter to the Buddha’s message, reiterated throughout his long ministry, that all beings are interrelated and must therefore strive to save the world by saving one another. The Buddha’s life – as well as his previous lives as a bodhisattva – had been single-mindedly oriented toward the salvation of others. He sought to achieve this goal, which is the bodhisattva ideal, by performing the six practices known as the Perfections (giving, observing the precepts, patience, striving, meditation, and wisdom) no matter what danger or discomfort this entailed.
Basic Buddhist Concepts