All through the ages, there have been people who hope to find in Buddhism a way out of the chronic problems and pressures inherent in the everyday world. The more turbulent the times, the more people want to escape into a peaceful realm of contemplative retreat, where they can finally calm down and get comfortable, or at least comfortably numb. This may be why Buddhist teachers through the ages have warned that this escapist approach can be an illusion and a snare.
In the Lotus Sutra the Buddha tells his listeners that he taught methods of cultivating detachment as a way to help people progress beyond the madness and futility of self-centered living. But the inner peace and quiet to be gained by this approach, the Buddha explains, is only a temporary resting place, where would-be travelers on the path to enlightenment can stop and rest and muster their strength and courage, until they are fit to continue on way to being bodhisattvas. The real goal of the teaching is to enable people to unlock their potential to be bodhisattvas, that is, enlightened beings with the wisdom and fearlessness to work for the enlightenment of others.
---J. C. Cleary---
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