Effective Action in the World

The complete teaching of Buddhism does not advocate escape from the world into some supposed higher, purer realm. The Buddhist effort is to undo our false ideas, and thus liberate our true selves, so that we can experience what is really there in front of us, and reach the level of clarity and equanimity that makes true compassion possible at last. Detachment from the perceptions of the false self opens the way to effective action in the world, which requires true magnanimity, impartiality, and objectivity.

---J. C. Cleary---