when my mother had her thyroid removed, she was given the wrong medicine. I discovered there were three kinds of thyroid replacement medicine & found the suitable medicine for her
buddha offered humanity many kinds of medicine
harmlessness & safety is medicine dispensed by Buddha
right understanding & skills for relationships is a medicine dispensed by the Buddha
real love & real care is another medicine dispensed by Buddha
even giving the impression there is life after death is a medicine for many
the noble truths and characteristics are another medicine but this medicine may be not suitable for all because they lead to dispassionateness & abandonment
Buddha did not offer them to all but to the relative few
I mentioned them because they are the core teachings & what is regarded as 'ultimate truth', i.e., irrefutably provable
the bulk of the original Buddhist scriptures are devoted to the medicine of non-attachment
for example, clearly discerning the characteristic of impermanence leads to non-attachment
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to say love brings happiness is a general truth rather than ultimate truth because love can also bring unhappiness
to say ethics & non-harming bring happiness is a general truth rather than an ultimate truth because we may be ethical but certain life experiences (such as loss, death, sickness, etc) may bring unhappiness
believing in life after death may bring freedom from suffering but it cannot be proven
but the noble truths are irrefutable ultimate truth because every time there is suffering, it originates from craving & attachment and every time there is no craving & no attachment (egoism) there is freedom from suffering
Buddha was enlightened. however, being so, he did not offer the same medicine to all patients
Buddha can manifest different virtues for different people
