Our House Is on Fire

THE BUDDHA IS OFTEN PRAISED as the embodiment of peace, tolerance, good will, and compassion. However, while he certainly exemplifies these qualities, in no way do they exhaust his role or the content of his message. The Buddha was not merely a benevolent sage, but was above all an astute analyst of the human condition, one whose insight is perhaps unrivaled in the history of human thought.

The ancient discourses of the Buddha speak of the causal origins of suffering primarily in the framework of the quest for individual emancipation. They show how the mental afflictions—the twin vices of ignorance and craving and the three stains of greed, hatred, and delusion—ravage our personal lives and lay down