The Buddhist Way Of Life

The significance of the Buddhist teachings has impacted the everyday lives of Buddhist adherents as it provides a set of guidance, in which the goal of individuals is to improve themselves through effort and ultimately reach Nirvana, enlightenment. Through the Four Noble truths; The existence of Dukkha (Suffering),

Buddhism teaches people to live honorably and follow the Eightfold Path to reach release from the state of infinite re-incarnation and reach nirvana, which means the end of the life cycle by living a life full of dignity and refuse from all other attachments causing their desires and strifes McKay et al., 2008)

Buddhism has been around for over two thousand years, and continues to do so in many countries around the world. This religion originates in Asia and has a very unique adversity, much of its structure arose from the end of World War II, predominantly Asian nations needed to restructure society (RoAT 167). The word ‘Buddha’ means one who has awakened and will no longer be reborn. Thereafter, one who will enter nirvana, the state of being free from suffering.

Buddhism has no creator god to explain the creation of life and the universe. Buddhism teaches that everything depends on everything else. In other words, present events are caused by past events and become the cause of future events. Buddhists believe that an old world system had been destroyed and its inhabitants are reborn in a new system. In the beginning, they are spirits floating above the earth happily with luminescence and without form, name or sex. At first, the world is without light and land, but is made of water. Eventually the earth appears and the spirits come to taste and enjoy it. Their greed causes their ethereal bodies to become solid, causing separation of the sexes and their bodies to appear beautiful or ugly. When they lose their luminescence, the sun and moon come into being. As the beings fall further into their wicked habits, which causes themselves and the earth to become even more unpleasant. Buddhists believe that everything we do is what molds our lives and the earth into what it is now (The Buddhist universe, 2009).

Buddhism began in the fourth and fifth centuries before Christ by Siddhartha Gautama. The teachings of Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, are the major beliefs of Buddhism. Buddhism is a belief and religion based on an assortment of customs, principles, and practices. The name Buddha means the awakened one. Buddha’s teachings were of the termination of suffering, attaining nirvana, and absconding from the cycle of suffering and rebirth. Buddhism has spread all across Asia and throughout the world, now with between two hundred thirty million and five hundred million followers. Buddhism is largely based around the belief of Karma. Karma is the “action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation” (Dictionary.com) or “the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person’s deeds in the previous incarnation.” (Dictionary.com) In simpler words, how you live your life now determines how you will come back when your current soul expires. Buddhists live their lives in hopes of achieving to be placed in the highest state known as Heaven. The after-life stems from Karma and leads into Rebirth. Rebirth is a course of action where humans proceed within multiple lifetimes in one or more of the six states of after-life. Each lifetime begins with birth and ends with death. Buddhists believe that we should not fear death because

In The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh provides a citation from the Buddha, which gives insight into the cure of our distress. “I teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering” (Thich Nhat

Are you familiar with the buddhist religion? The buddhist religion believes in many methods of ending suffering such as dharma, karma, and reincarnation. These are multiple ways to end suffering because Buddhists believe that if you are good in your first life, eventually, reincarnation will stop and you will live a peaceful

Buddhism and Hinduism share many similarities. One such similarity is Samsara, the perpetual cycle of rebirth, which is often characterized by suffering and sorrow. In both religions, this unending rotation is seen as dangerous, and, although many people attempt to gain good karma in order to achieve wealth or social prosperity in the next life, there are others who try to escape this cycle by reaching enlightenment. Although labelled differently, one of the main goals associated with both Buddhist nirvana and Hindu moksha involves freeing oneself from the cycle reincarnation and moving on to attain salvation. This paper will examine Hindu moksha and Buddhist nirvana by comparing the similarities and contrasting the differences of attaining

The first Noble Truth “Life means suffering” is shown throughout Siddhartha’s journey to reach enlightenment. Siddhartha experiences suffering both physically and mentally. Siddhartha suffers physically when he decides to join the Samanas and must neglect his body in order to eliminate himself. He also experiences suffering when his son does not obey him, and he decides to leave the river and go to the city. For this first Noble Truth, I believe that life is suffering and change, and they are the only constants in life. Both happiness and sadness exist in the world, but you can’t have one and not the other and that’s the reality of human life because it isn’t perfect. Therefore, after reading of Siddhartha’s physical and mental struggles, I felt that I could really relate to them as a college freshman. There are so many temptations surrounding me including drinking and partying, but by partaking in these activities, I won’t feel happy permanently. I may feel happy temporarily and then I will likely suffer after when I have studying or I don’t feel well.

After setting the Wheel of Dharma in motion in a Deer Park near Benares (Varanasi), the Buddha began his sermon by teaching his disciples the universality of dukkha. As the Buddha stated, “birth is dukkha, decay is dukkha, disease is dukkha, death is dukkha…the five aggregates of attachment are dukkha” (Willaims & Tribe, 2010, p. 42). In this sense, ‘dukkha’ which is translated as suffering, pain, dissatisfaction, or unease, permeates reality. It is birth. Giving birth, coming-forth, the appearance of the aggregates (Bodhi, 1980). This is dukkha. Similarly, what is considered ageing, death, sorrow, despair and even happiness are all dukkha. To understand this teaching, it is important to recognise the Buddhist idea of anicca, which is expressed in the maxim: sarvam duhkham, sarvam anityam (all is suffering, all is

Buddhism stands as a philosophy and a religion founding itself on the theory of a possible eternal soul. Until awakening is achieved, this eternal soul is locked in the vicious cycle of rebirth (Samsara). According to the Four Noble Truths preached by the Buddha, life is a perpetual suffering caused by desire and attachment, and freedom from suffering is only possible by practicing the Eightfold Path. The World is suffering in a succession of temptations and negative experiences from birth to death. Therefore Buddhism advises on searching to go beyond suffering, and only aspire to rest, nothingness, and liberation, into a final state called Nirvana. Happiness or Nirvana can eventually be achieved in a hereafter, another life, if man abandons any desire or perspective of action within his present life, in order to go past suffering.

Lastly Suffering or Sorrow. According to the text, this refers to the fact that life, when lived in a typical manner can never be fully satisfying because of its constant change. Even in the midst of pleasure, we are always aware that pleasure is short-lived. The Sanskrit word for this is duhkha. Buddha rejected the notion of a permanent soul but believed in rebirth. Buddhism proposes that certain elements of personality (not necessarily a soul) that make up an individual can recombine and continue from one lifetime to another while karma determines how an individual will be reborn and his/her life’s circumstances. (pages 131-132)

All of human life comes down to one thing, the making and breaking of relationships. These relationships are formed in order to feel emotions; love, happiness, sadness, anger, resentment. It is because of these feelings that people are able to form their own consciousness and find a purpose for themselves. Religions such as Christianity find the meaning of life to be forming a relationship with God and when you die, you are judged by your mortal sins and are forever sentenced to heaven or hell. Buddhism tries to find the meaning of life through enlightenment and the preservation of oneself throughout all existence. The meaning of life is at the same time the most discussed,yet taboo thing to talk about. The nature of having a volatile topic that is interpreted differently between people can be difficult, but it is needed in the preservation of the human race.

In the western world, a dominant belief is that after life, a person’s soul is sent to a place of eternal bliss, heaven, or a place of eternal damnation, hell. To Buddhists, this concept is not the norm. Buddhists believe that a person is reincarnated into another life form, either human or animal. What life form a person is reincarnated as is determined by the person’s karma. The concept of karma not only affects reincarnation, but also what path a person’s life takes. While much of the concept of karma is believable and comprehensible by a person of any denomination, some aspects are dependant upon a belief in reincarnation and that a person will eventually be punished for his sins or rewarded

Dukkha which refers to something that is bad and therefore unsubstantial is the first noble truth. It is the realization that life itself is suffering. Dukkha is death, decay, grief, destruction and despair. It comprises of the imbalances of life, attachments, and the disturbances of life that cause disharmony. It is quite difficult to accept dukkha as truth because the human mind is fragile and isn’t capable of accepting the disturbing or upsetting. The human mind is only capable of simplifying life 's complexities and ignoring what may be traumatizing. Life is only blissful when one dilutes themselves with false pretenses of happiness and lives in ignorance. One only needs to open their eyes to see that dukkha exists and is abundantly all around us. No one in the human race has ever existed only to live a life of blissfulness void of death, grief, sadness, or despair. Even supposing that there was an individual born into a life of of happiness it doesn’t change the fact that they live in this world. A world where social communication is inevitable and consequently causes human to meet others that are less fortunate or live lives of destitute or unhappiness. Therefore the man that lives in the world of human life, is a victim of Dukkha regardless of his own happiness. Even maintenance of the good things in life, such as good health, is a form of agony and attachment- Duhhka. Duhhka can even be the mere change of life.