In his perennial quest for a better and brighter life, man has consistently evolved new ideas, made new inventions and established new institutions. Thus have cultures grown and civilizations flourished from man’s primitive beginnings several millennia ago. The Sanskrit word for culture is ‘Sanskriti’ or ‘refinement’. Man’s fertile brain and his skillful fingers have been producing new objects all the time and constantly refining them to suit his environment. Through this cycle of creation and refinement, the “homo sapiens” have built newer forms of culture and edifices of civilization. Man is a creature of the past but his mission is to build the future. Both these faculties, looking backward and forward, are essential to his existence and the continuity of the human race. The Buddha described life as a constantly running stream that retains its identity and yet is never the same. If the flow ceases, the river stagnates and dies.
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