I didn't say it is "the" premise of Buddhism. I said it is a premise of Buddhism.

It is.

The story of Shakyamuni Buddha achieving enlightenment after 49 days of meditation under the Bodhi tree is pretty well known. There, of course, are a lot more antecedents to contemporary Buddhist thought and ethics than that one incident, but it's fair to say it's a pretty core part of the historical tradition, and precedes essentially everything that came after.

For context in this discussion, I am a practicing Zen Buddhist.

Ethics affect the seeds you plant. If your seeds are bad you will not even have the opportunity to learn meditation.

Meditation is for going beyond all that.

> I am a practicing Zen Buddhist

Who?