: Like Sumedha, a practitioner must recognize their "enslavement to decay" and determine that a "road to release" must exist.

Ages ago, long before he was known as the Buddha, a young hermit named lay in the mud to serve as a living bridge for a passing Buddha. In that moment of profound humility, he did not merely wish for his own peace; he made a mighty resolve . While he could have crossed the "ocean of existence" alone into Nirvana, he chose instead to endure countless lifetimes of trial so he might eventually become a Buddha and redeem all of humanity.

To illustrate the danger of attachment, the Buddha often told stories like that of the . When a fisherman caught a beautiful fish to sell for a high price, the Buddha asked him to release it.

Sumedha's story illustrates , a central pillar of this philosophy: