The Jātaka is the tenth book of Khuddaka Nikāya of the Sutta Pitaka, and it consists of stories of the former births of the Buddha. The canonical book of the Jātakas contains only the verses, but it is quite certain that these stories were originally handed down in the oral tradition, giving the tales in prose. Every Jātaka story gives a spiritual, moral, religious, philosophical, social, educational or psychological lesson. The following story illustrates a moral lesson.

According to the teachings of the Buddha, thinking about the world is called “loka-cintā,” but humans cannot gain the complete knowledge of the four fields of knowledge, viz:

Science has changed the whole world in all respects. Today we are bewildered by its stupendous changes. Industry, transportation, agriculture, trade, communication, life pattern and the way of thinking were changed by the application of science. In the 19th century, there was much higher level of increase in scientific knowledge. With the rapid increase of this scientific knowledge, man proudly thought that he was the chief controller of nature. He couldn't understand the friendly gifts of the natural world and began to exploit it instead.

The term Ayurveda literally means “the science of life.” Ayurveda is a sacred science and in accordance with Indian mythology, it is supposed to have been perceived by Lord Brahma. From Lord Brahma it was passed on to the Aśvin twins and then to Lord lndra and from him to Bharadvaja and finally to Atreya, who are human beings. Atreya taught medicine at the ancient city of Takkasila (Taxila or Takśasila). His six students spread this holistic system of medicine throughout India.

Some scholars with a little knowledge of Buddhism are of the opinion that there is no socio-economic and political philosophy of Buddhism. A well-known scholar, Max Weber, who is considered “the father of Sociology of Religion,” explaining the socio-political aspect of Buddhism says:

Buddhism had no sort of tie with any sort of social movement, nor did it run in parallel with such and it has established no social and political goal.

The Kālāma Sutta is a discourse on free thinking, and the explanation of the way of having correct knowledge of reality. It is so important for the modern man to understand his mind as well as the outer world. In a way, it helps us to open up our eyes to reality (yathābhuta) and see things as they really are, thereby leading us to a correct path. Following are excerpts from the Kālāma Sutta.

Today, our society is restless and nowhere do we find real peace. There are many people who spend restless nights and they show signs of impatience and agitation in their daily life. The restless waves can be found in their mind and those mind-waves generate restless behavior - seeking some sort of satisfaction from for example, entertainment, shopping snacking, gossiping, driving around or taking alcohol or drugs. They do not find enough time to pay attention to their spirituality. In this restless society we clearly find that many are running after money and material happiness.