The present paper deals with the Buddha's teachings for the householders as an ideal expression of humanism.
Establishing a heavenly pure land in this very world is a modern expression of the traditional Buddhist humanism and emphasizes more an ideal life in this world rather than a happy life in an actual heaven. The retention of the name of heaven while ignoring an existence in that heaven betrays the strength of a popular，persistent tradition that speaks of an afterlife in an actual heaven.
The widespread belief among the Buddhists that the heavenly life is covetable had a modest beginning in the saggakatha preached by the Buddha to the householders who were too strongly attached to the prospect of a heavenly life to give it up. To destroy their belief in the desirability of such a life was also to destroy a suitable，available means to improve their spiritual life. So the Buddha availed himself of the current situation and made the future existence in a heaven dependent on the practice of charity and morality (danakatha and sllakatha).
The unregenerate human nature is characterized by desire and fear. They are the motive forces behind all human activities vitiated with violence，selfishness etc. And all these evil mental states are rooted in egoism，in the false sense of "I" and "mine". The Buddha's teachings were directed against all these unwholesome mental states and towards the cultivation of wholesome mental qualities.
Broadly speaking the Buddha preached to three classes of people，each belonging to a particular state of spiritual development. Consequently he preached differently to different classes, and in each case he succeeded in attaining the desired goal. Such was his mastery over the proper means (upaya-kausalya). The common purpose that ran through all these teachings was to show the people a way to attain a higher spiritual state through their own efforts. What determined the contents of these teachings was the recognition of the principle that the attainment of a higher spiritual state was dependent on the cultivation of specific spiritual qualities characterizing that state.
Only in case of the spiritually most developed people he aimed at complete eradication of ego by preaching the truth of anatta. In other cases he merely strove for reducing the ill effects of ego by preaching unselfish actions, practice of compassion etc. The humanism preached by the Buddha was directed towards the spiritual attainments only. It is superfluous to note that in the propagation and formulation of his teachings he never thought of the use of force as a means, but mainly relied upon clear exposition and logical persuasion.
