Buddhism : The Four Noble Truths, The Eightfold Path, And The Idea Of The Attainment Of Nirvana

Buddhism was an incredibly intriguing religion to me due to the emphasis placed on the reality that surrounds us, it’s a rational religion based on peace, self-understanding and the ultimate goal of nirvana. Buddhist followers live their life with three main goals; morality, meditation and enlightenment. Ultimately the core teachings of Buddhism are The Noble Eightfold Path and The Four Noble Truths. It is their lives journey to understand, live kindly and find their inner-peace. In a world so full of hate, misunderstanding, war, segregation and close mindedness; it is unimaginable to not find such a peaceful and understanding religion not attractive in one way or another. However with that, how is it possible that in this same world we find ourselves, those Buddhist followers are able to find such inner peace and understanding when the world around them conducts themselves with such insanity?

There is a time in all religious experiences that people look for spiritual growth by reflecting on the basics of life. An estimated 376 million people are considered to believe and follow Buddhist practices, the question of the four elements (sight’s), aging people, the sick, funerals processions and religion. These elements that Siddhartha Gautama saw, that led to him to seek religious enlightenment, and to give up his privileged life. These four elements come up in every religious walk at some point. Reflection on these elements can have astonishing effects in someone’s life. By looking at these elements, and by showing the effect they had on Siddhartha Gautama’s life, will show that anyone could grow in their spiritual belief by reflecting

Buddhism was brought to light about 500 BC by Siddhartha Gautama. Buddhism has not been described as a religion as such but rather as philosophy. The story of Siddhartha Gautama and how he brought Buddhism to limelight is quite moving. In this essay the thoughts of Siddhartha Gautama are explained and how the society reacted to his arguments. Generally this essay will briefly describe the achievements of Siddhartha Gautama in his quest to attain enlightenment and how that impacted the society of his time and to some extent the current society.

Siddharta Gautama was twenty-nine years old when he abandoned his family to search for a means to bring to an end his and other’s suffering after studying meditation for many years. At age thirty-five, Siddharta Gautama sat down under the shade of a fig tree to meditate and he determined to meditate until he reached enlightenment. After seven weeks he received the Great Enlightenment which he referred to as the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-fold Path. Henceforth he became known as the Buddha.

beneath a bodhi tree to meditate. Supposedly by morning, he was said to have attained Nirvana, or enlightenment, which provided answers to suffering and how to end the suffering. The newly enlightened one, excited to share what he had learned, headed home and started teaching those around him compassion for suffering. His most important teachings were the 4 Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.

To begin this young man started off in a rich state of living, he had everything he could ever need, thanks to his wealth family in the year 560 B.C.E. Finally one day Siddhartha left the palace and saw life for how it really was. Siddhartha went through what they call the “four passing sights” the first stage was Decrepit old man, Siddhartha did not know that old age existed. The second was a diseased person, Siddhartha didn’t know that sickness exists. The third was death he also did not know death existed. Finally last but not least Ascetic, Siddhartha didn’t know that people would live an austere life- from due to religion.

The four noble truths of Buddhism are the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path to the end of suffering. These four truths are the basics of Buddha's teaching, and is the most frequently shared belief amongst Buddhists. The first noble truth is suffering, meaning life is Dukkha. This noble truth interpretation is that suffering appears in many shapes. And it is believe that anything short-term is Dukkha, even pleasure. The second truth is the cause of suffering, also known as samudaya. In this truth, Buddhism claims the cause for suffering are cupidity, wants, illiteracy, loathing and devastating desires. The second truth does not mean a person should give up what they love to be happy. But the problem lies within an individual connection to their passion that puts them in trouble. The third truth is the end of suffering, also known as Nirodha. This truth believes that there is a possibility of freedom. The fourth truth is the path to the end of suffering, also known as magga. In the fourth truth, it is believed that in order to end suffering, one must follow the eightfold strategy.

The Buddhist monk sat cross-legged on a mountain top, inhaling and  exhaling while focusing his mind. He was trying to reach the state of enlightenment discovered by the religion's founder Siddhartha Gautama. Siddhartha's early life greatly affected and influenced the beliefs and values found in the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold path, and the Dhammapada. Precisely his early life in the palace affected the second noble truth,  his four journeys impacted the first noble truth, and his experiences influenced the Dhammapada.

Before heading on the path to enlightenment, Siddhartha or the Buddha, came across four sights that changed his thinking. The first sight he road upon was an old, homeless man who signified that flesh is not eternal and age; the second sight ties into the first, because the next day Siddhartha encounters a human body deteriorating from disease, lying on the side of the road. He was quickly discovering that the physical body could not avoid the nature of life and was exposed to the real world. The third sight was a dead body, which showed that Siddhartha knew death. However, Siddhartha came across a monk on his fourth and final path, thus he knew religion; the monk explained to him a path that takes away the physical world and opens up to higher power. All of these became known as The Four Passing Sights and the beginning of the Buddha’s path to enlightenment, because he realized that his life of luxury was pointless.

His father had kept in isolation because he wanted to make sure his son would be fit to become the next king of his family. Around the age of 29, Gautama had escaped isolation by going outside and walking around the streets of India. During his walk, he first came across an old man. This sight exposed him to the consequences of aging and that most people will experience this during their lifetime. Next, he saw a sick person deteriorating due to the effects of disease. This sight revealed that everyone is susceptible to contracting a horrendous disease and which will cause them pain and suffering. The third sight he came across was a corpse. This sight taught him that death is inevitable and something everyone who is born will go through after their death. These three sights combined caused him to become worrisome over human suffering. The fourth and final sight Gautama had come across was an ascetic who had devoted his life to finding a solution to human suffering. Seeing this ascetic had inspired him to create his own faith that would be able to achieve a solution to the issue that had crept into his mind during his liberation from isolation. In this new faith, Siddhartha had integrated a majority of Hinduism’s philosophical terms into Buddhism. For example, reincarnation, karma, and dharma all play an influential role in

Neil Patel Period 2 Oct. 4, 2014 Parallels between Siddhartha and Buddha Most readers often get confused with the book Siddhartha, as most initially presume the book after reading for a little bit, that the main character is Buddha. However, this is not the case; the main character, Siddhartha, shares the same name as the original Buddha, an element Herman Hesse included to help the readers make the initial connection between the two characters in the book, though it may get confusing. Though, the two characters only share a name at this point, there are many more parallelisms between their lives and personalities. Both Siddhartha and Buddha had motivation to leave their homes at an early age. Buddha’s early life was filled with opulence so that he, as a boy, would be distracted and unaware of “the miseries and suffering of the world (A&E Television Networks, Buddha).”

Siddhartha on his quest to seek enlightenment had to first distance himself completely from what was his current life. Leaving his future kingdom, wife and child were essential to fulfil this goal. The world he had been exposed to when outside the palace had estranged him from his life of pleasure. Now confronted with the idea of death he knew he had to find something. Siddhartha then following the lifestyle of the ascetics. The ascetics were dedicated to subjugating their bodies in order to free minds. Siddhartha approached this lifestyle with intensity for seven years until he came to a realisation. That he himself was no closer to enlightenment then he had been before he had started. Still determined to seek his goal, Siddhartha studied all that he could. He no longer fell to the temptations of the outside world. From here one day underneath a Bodhi tree meditating he achieved enlightenment and thus became the Buddha. The knowledge he now gained he kept to himself until he realised must help others to seek this state. His words forming the core of Buddhism, the four noble truths and

In the late 6th century Siddhartha Gautama introduced the religion of Buddhism to the world. Siddhartha was born a prince and knew nothing out side of the palace. For 25 years he lived in happiness and loved his life within the palace walls but he grew curious of what life was like outside the riches and glory of being prince. One day he asked a charioteer to take him on four rides around the country. While on the first trip he came across an aged man, on the second trip a sick man and on the third a corpse. All of the sights sickened

Buddhism’s founder was a man named Siddhartha Gautama, meaning “one who realized his goal.” Buddhists believe that when Siddhartha’s mother, Maha, was conceived she had a dream involving a white elephant carrying a lotus flower. She interpreted the dream to mean that her son would grow up to become a great spiritual leader. Just a week after Siddhartha was born, his mother died. Upon her death, he lived with his wealthy aunt and his father on a large estate. As Siddhartha grew up, his father kept him away from all suffering and anguish of the world. Unlike many of his peers, he was well educated and free from the world’s sorrows.

A very long time ago in Nepal, India, Siddhartha Gautama was born. He was a Hindu prince and was raised in luxury and wealth. He had never been to the outside world and never saw the death and suffering beyond his riches. According to a legend that sprouted a long time ago, his mother once dreamed that a gorgeous white elephant came down to her from heaven. Based on that very dream, a prophet predicted that Siddhartha Gautama would grow up to be a wandering holy man. The thought of Siddhartha becoming a holy man disturbed his father, and he took many actions to avoid it happening. His father wanted Siddhartha Gautama to become a wonderful leader and to show his pride. To keep Siddhartha from becoming a holy man, his father hid him from everything unpleasant or disturbing. The prince never saw the poor, the sick, the dead, and the sad. His father even went to the measure that when Siddhartha wanted to go out, he rode in his chariot and had guards get rid of the beggars in his path. One legend says that when Siddhartha was about 29, he went to take a walk out of the palace alone. During that walk, he saw an old, crippled, skinny man leaning on a stick. On his second ride alone, he saw a small man so skinny, Siddhartha could see many of his bones. The small man got an unpleasant disease, which caused him to be too skinny. On the his third walk, he saw a dead man. After seeing those unpleasant things, he was shocked. He had ever seen the unpleasant and horrific things occuring