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The Four Noble Truths
The first noble truth
is that life is dukkha, usually translated “suffering.” Though far from
its total meaning, suffering is an important part of that meaning should
be brought to focus before proceeding to other notions. Contrary to the
view of the early Western interpreters, the Buddha’s philosophy was not
pessimistic. A report of the human scene can be as grimm as one pleases;
the question of pessimism does not arise until we are told whether it can
be improved. Because the Buddha’s philosophy was certain that it could
be, his out look would fall within Heinrich Zimer’s observations that “everything
in Indian thought supports the basic insight that, fundamentally, all is
well. A supreme optimism prevails everywhere.” But the Buddha saw clearly
that life as typically lived is unfulfilling and filled with insecurity.
He did not doubt that it is possible to have a good tie and that having
a good time is enjoyable, but two questions obtruded. First how much of
life is thus enjoyable? And second, at what level of our being does such
enjoyment proceed. Buddha thought the level was superficial, sufficient
perhaps for animals but leaving deep regions of the human psyche empty
and wanting. The Buddha narrowed down dukkha into 6 skandas.
-The trauma of birth.
-The pathology of
sickness.
-The morbidity of
decrepitude.
-The phobia of death.
-To be tied to what
one dislikes.
-To be separated
from what one loves.
The second noble
truth goes further to discover that the cause of why life is dukkah. Its
answer is that the cause of lifes’ dislocation is tanha. Tanha usually
translated as “desire.” There is some truth in this definition but desire
is no enough. Tanha is a specific kind of desire, the desire for private
fulfillment. Tanha is the force that ruptures us, pulling us back from
freedom of the all, to seek fulfillment in our egos, which ooze like secret
sores.
The third noble
truth flows logically the second if the cause of life’s dislocation is
selfish cravings; its cure lies in overcoming of such cravings. If we could
be released form the narrow limits of self-interest into the vast expanse
of universal life; we would be relieved of our torment.
The fourth noble
truth prescribes how the cure can be accomplished. By overcoming tanha,
the way out of our captivity is through the eightfold path.
Eightfold Path
The Eightfold path
is the way in which one lives to achieve enlightenment, following the example
and teachings of Buddha.
1.Right Views
To read and learn
about Buddhism and life, to completely understand what the four noble truths
mean. This step forces us to make up our minds about what life’s problems
basically are.
2.Right Intent
In the first step
you learn everything you can learn about the four noble truths, and the
laws of Buddha. You have learned what life’s problem is. The second step
is a step to make up ones heart. To become passionate about continuing
in the path.
3.Right Speech
To bring one to
a state through examination of ones speech patterns and lead one to a point
where one will not lie, be unkind in words, gossip, and slander another.
4.Right Conduct
You begin by understanding
ones behavior, and then move on to improving it by following the five precepts,
which are similar to the Ten Commandments.
-Do not Kill
-Do not Steal
-Do not Lie
-Do not be
unchaste
-Do not drink
intoxicants
5.Right Livelihood
To live your complete
life following the practices of the Buddha. You cannot be a Buddhist when
at home and then go to work and do something that is against Buddhists
practices and the beliefs. You must make all the choices in your life to
the goal of releasing your self from the chain of reincarnation.
6.Right Effort
To become
one who marches at a steady pace to reach ones goal. Not to jump-start
and then be too tired to complete a task but to progress slow and steadily
till the given task is complete.
7.Right Mindfulness
Become intensely
aware of all the states in body, feeling, and mind. To think properly because
all thoughts encompass who we are.
8.Right Concentration
Deep meditation to lead to a higher state of consciousness.
Basic Buddhist Concepts
The Buddha’s total
outlook on life is as difficult to be certain of as that of any personage
in history. Part of the problem stems from the fact that, like most ancient
teachers, he wrote nothing. There is a gap of almost a century and a half
between his spoken words and the first written records. Although memory
in those times appears to have been very faithful those lengths of gaps
do tend to raise questions. A second problem arises form the wealth
of material in the texts themselves. Buddha taught for forty-five years,
and a staggering corpus has come down to us in one form or another. While
the net result is doubtless a blessing, the sheer quantity of materials
is bewildering. For his teachings remained remarkably consistent over the
years, it was impossible to say things for many minds and in many ways
without crating problems of interpretation. These interpretations constitute
the third barrier. By the time texts began to appear, partisan schools
had sprung up, some intent on minimizing Buddha’s break with Brahmanic
Hinduism, others intent on sharpening it. This makes scholars wonder how
much in what they reading is the Buddha’s actual thought and how much is
partisan interpolation. The Buddha seemed more into dealing with how to
live not an actual philosophical view. He refused to initiate philosophical
discussions and only occasionally did he let himself be pried from his
“noble silence” to engage in them, but certainly he had views.
Nirvana is the word
the Buddha used to name life’s goal as he saw it. Etymologically it means
“to blow out,” or “to extinguish.” Not transitively, but as a fire ceases
to draw. Deprived of fuel, the fire goes out, and this is nirvana. From
the imagery it has been widely supposed that the extinction to which Buddhism
points is complete, annihilation. It is more then that it is the
extinguishing of the singular self the ego. It is a point where everything
that restricts boundless life dies. There is no longer any thought of being
separate from the universe. It is inconceivable as to what Nirvana is like
we only know through Buddha’s teachings how to achieve it through following
the eightfold path.
In Buddha the question of god depends on the definition of god one is using if one is using a definition of a singular being deliberately creating the universe then no there is no god. If one is using the meaning of god without a personality, and that of just eternal being, there comes another thing. When the Buddha declared "there is, O monks, an Unborn neither become nor created nor formed... Were there not, there would be no deliverance from the formed, the made, the compounded," he seemed to be speaking in this tradition. Impressed by similarities between nirvana and the Godhead.
The most startling
thing about the Buddha’s view of life is that it has no soul this is the
atta (no soul) doctrine and it causes Buddhism to be religiously peculiar.
But this is the trick of words it is more that the Buddha says there is
no infinite self that is infinitely kept separate form all even after reaching
nirvana. He denies a separate substance inside each of us that is permanently
separate. Buddha’s view of the soul simplified would run like this:
1. There is a chain
of sustaining threading each life to those that have led up to it and to
those that will follow. Each life is in its present condition because of
the way the lives that led up to it were lived.
2. Throughout this
casual sequence the will remains free. The lawfulness of things makes the
present state the product of prior acts, but within the present the will
is influenced but not controlled. People remain at the liberty to shape
their destinies.
3. The two preceding
points affirm the casual connectedness of life, but they do not entail
that a substance of some sort is transmitted. Ideas, impressions, feelings,
streams if consciousness, present moments- these are all that we find,
no spiritual substrate.
An analogy suggests
the Buddha’s view of Karma and reincarnation in a supporting way is:
1. The desire and
dislikes that influence the contents of my mind – what I pay attention
to and what I ignore – have not appeared by accident; they have definite
lineges. In addition to attitudes that I have taken over form my culture,
I have formed mental habits. These include cravings of carious sorts, tendencies
to compare myself with others in pride of envy, and dispositions toward
contentment and its opposite aversion.
2. Although habitual
reactions tent to become fixed, I am not bound by my personal history;
I can have new ideas and changes of heard.
3. Neither the continuity
nor the feelings be considered entities- things, or mental substances that
are transported form mind to mind, or from moment to moment. Acquiring
a concern for justice from my parents did not mean that a substance, however
ethereal and ghostlike, leapt from their heads into mine.
This denial of spiritual
substance was only an aspect of Buddha’s wider denial of every sort. The
goal of Buddhism is to go behind substance.
Living as A Buddhist today
Buddhists seem to find much amusement in themselves and their actions here are a few Buddhist jokes.
I'd like to
Offer something
To help you
But in the Zen School
We don't have a
single thing!
-- Zen Master Ikkyu
Disciple: Oh wise
and all knowing one, show me the place of perfect peace.
Master: If I show
it to you, it will know longer be peaceful
A short conversation
between Dan Bammes and Meng:
Dan: A Buddhist
teacher taught that every other living creature is our parent in one of
our past lives.
Meng: Similarly,
every other living creature owes me money in a past life.
From http://www.dharmathecat.com
Buddhists to me seem to live very normal lives, in western standards. As North America is a melted pot, differences in religion do not always signify differences in actions, and every day lives. Although you would not see a Buddhist taking up a job as an executioner, because they value life, most occupations are available; it depends on the Buddhist’s view of Buddha’s teachings. Recreation would be what one enjoys although it would seem a lot of spare time would be spent trying to attain enlightenment, meaning a lot of reading and meditation. A Buddhist would also be very dedicated to his work, taking time in his day to finish the task he sets before himself. A Buddhist lives on only what he needs not excess so you would expect a Buddhist to work a job that meets his basic requirements providing enough money to cloth feed and pay for a place to stay. Although it would seem a Buddhist would choose an occupation at which he is good at using the skills giving especially to him. “One is not good at everything, but everyone is good at something,” this phrase is much applied in a Buddhist’s lifestyle. The Buddhist who is good with math would perhaps become an accountant or something, even though this pays much more then he needs. He would probably give what is excess to charity and/or to his local temple, to support the monks as well as the programs provided by the temple. Some Buddhists one would find will be vegetarians, but again this depends on ones personal view of Buddha’s teachings on the value of all life, applying it to animals, these Buddhists are vegetarians. A Buddhist in modern western society lives just as any other person, although a Buddhist a true Buddhist would take into consideration Buddha’s teachings and his actions in everything he does.
Summarization of
an Article
Living the Dharma-
One Man’s First Baby Step
By Tan Chade Meng
http://www.serve.com/cmtan/buddhism/living.html
This Article Living
the Dharma, is basically a personal essay on how the author Tan Chade Meng
began following the practices of Buddhism, and the actions he took to better
himself in his world. The author begins by talking about what one means
by “Living the Dharma” in his own personal terms, explaining how it is
to him “the entire essence of living the Dharma can be summarized into
one very skillfully coined word, ‘mindfulness.’” He then goes on to state
how through practicing mindfulness he feels that he, himself in his life
has greatly benefited. He explains how he has learned to appreciate things
much more. That in life there are too many things most people take for
granted most of the time, and how he has learned to appreciate the little
things like the fact that he can see. He unlike most people does not wait
until something is gone, to truly appreciate how great a gift it was he
had.
Tan says that the
more important power of Mindfulness is to deal with distress. After practicing
mindfulness for awhile, he made an important discovery, that we tend to
“REACT towards situations, when something happens, or somebody says or
does something, we react with anger or happiness, or hatred etc etc. From
here, I learned the first and most important lesson about happiness, that
I am fully responsible for how I feel. Thus it is not skillful to say,
‘he MAKES ME feel angry.’ If he ‘Makes me’ feel angry then why is it that
then other people in the same situation would react ten different ways?
And not all of them would be angry.” He goes on to talk about how the truth
of the situation is that “I react with anger to the situation. So it is
more skillful to say, ‘I feel angry about what he said,’ instead of ‘HE
makes me…’” The important difference Tan says is here, where one learns
to take responsibility for ones own feelings instead of putting the blame
and responsibility on someone else. Tan says he started to look towards
himself for his own happiness. Through doing this he realized his key to
happiness. “If only we could work with our reactions, we would stop being
angry, or be less angry, in the same situation.” The same also applies
to all to ones feelings. Tan talks about how when he is mindful of
his state and his emotions he begins to notice their patterns and he begins
to get the hang of how they work. He can tell when anger is starting to
rise in him and he can tone it down and control it before it becomes overpowering.
Tan goes on to talk about how the most wonderful thing about mindfulness
is, that he can practice what he already knew. Before he would end up yelling
at his friends, when he was angry with them, although he knew that this
was wrong. Now he has begun to develop some mastery over himself and is
able to not do what he should not do, even when strong emotions are involved.
Tan Meng then moves on to describe how he practices mindfulness. First
explaining how he sits down and meditates observing all his actions and
all parts of his body, observing the things one never really notices while
living a busy hectic life. After he is finished observing his body he begins
to observe his thoughts, how one thought leads to another, as he observes
his thoughts he explains how one moves on to observing the emotions associated
with that thought. After talking about the sitting meditation, Meng moves
on to talk about a walking meditation. One form he discusses is that of
just standing straight ahead and looking five feet ahead of you. Mindfully
lift one foot; observe that you are doing so. Slowly thrust it forward
and be aware of that as you slowly step down observe that as well. Do the
same with the other foot, and so on when you reach the end, remain standing
and observe standing, slowly turn back and observe turning, and continue
walking again.
Tan goes on to talk
about how with practice he has gained some degree of constant awareness
about him, and has found himself more able to experience his feelings,
and more able to come to terms with them.
Many people face
one problem, we try too hard, Tan says. We get very tensed up expecting
fast results. When we do not get the results within a few days, we get
very frustrated. Meng discovered that in meditation, as well as life in
general, learning to love oneself is very important. One very important
part of this is learning to be gentle to oneself. Tan asks us to remind
ourselves that when we fail we are just starting. Much like we react to
a baby just learning to walk if he falls we do not blame the baby and get
angry at it, "it is just learning” we encourage it to try again. We must
also use this gentle encouragement with ourselves. The least helpful thing
for us Tan says is to be ashamed of our failures. We must accept our failures.
The attitude of loving oneself, is important for life in general and this
meditation in particular.
Many believers Tan says have a problem with breathing. He says that this is because we think that the breath should be smooth and steady, but when we try we often run out of air and have to take in deep breaths every now and then, breaking concentration in some people. Tan says there is no wrong way to breath, if we need to take deep breaths then do so and observe that we are doing it. If we run out of breath or take short breaths just fix the problem to where you are comfortable and observe it. In time, our breaths will becomes smooth like an experienced meditator because we stop worrying about what is the right way. If one falls asleep while trying to meditate in the first two or 3 minutes Meng says not to ridicule ourselves just laugh with ourselves and give ourselves some gentle encouragement. Meng goes on to talk about how wonderful the fact that mindful meditation can be practiced by anyone regardless of religion or lack of religion. It asks for one only to become aware of oneself. And that the Dharma is truly an universal teaching. Tan then goes on to talk about the fall of meditation, how some people being to think of it as a sport. That mindful meditation is not designed for hearing celestial sounds or seeing images. It is to make one more mindful of oneself to develop insight of ones self. This is the Buddhist meditation for development of Mindfulness the Vipassana Meditation. Tan closes by describing that he is only learning and telling what he teaches. He ends in hoping that we have happiness.
Christianity and Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
is most like Christianity in the fact that there is a god in conception.
On the other hand the fact that we should give to others and treat others
fairly is found in both Buddhism and Christianity. The Ten Commandments
are paralleled in Buddhism as the five precepts, although there are differences;
| 5 Precepts | 10 Commandments |
| No Kill | No Kill |
| No Steal | No Steal |
| No Lying | No bearing false witness against your neighbor |
| No being Unchaste | No Commiting Adultry |
| No drinking intoxicants | No coveting anything that is your neighbors |
| No carving Graven Images to worship and bow down to | |
| No taking the name of they lord your God in vain | |
| Place No other Gods before me | |
| Remember the sabbth day and keep it holy |
You can tell there is a lot more to do with God in the Ten commandments because both Judaism and later on Christianity rely on God as an actual being which created the universe, and human beings in his image, which is not necessarily a view of all Buddhists. Although some Buddhists do believe in a creator God. They say that when the Tsar of Russia was deciding which religion his people would worship he choose Christianity because of the fact that it is one of the few religions that allows its worshippers to Drink alcohol, and other intoxicants.
Both Jesus and Buddha were great spiritual leaders, and they bothered brought a new faith out of an old one, Jesus brought Christianity into affect out of the religion of the people of Israel the Jews. While Buddha brought out the religion of Buddhism out of the knowledge of Hinduism. They both expanded and clarified an already existent and knowledgeable religion. They lived very different lives as children Jesus the child born in a manger and raised as a carpenter's son, and Buddha the son of a King, a rich spoiled man, although at both their births miracles were reported to have taken place. They both came to the same conclusion, that their societies need to be changed. They took their wisdom gained through the higher powers, (Jesus, son of God, Buddha through meditation) who they visualized as God, or as the universal knowledge, and tried to help the people around them. Both Jesus and Buddha cared about people and cared about making religion and enlightenment/heaven, available to every living human being. They helped each other out gathered their disciples from all ranks in society form the rich and the poor. They taught others to forgive themselves and move on or forgave their sins so they could move on. Buddha and Jesus are very much alike, and will both live on as deities and teachers for Many Millions of years. Both Jesus and Buddha taught a new way of life, instead of a way of believing. They didn’t teach that if you believe this and believe that you will be set free, they taught that through living a life, of peace and understanding and through following their examples that one would reach enlightenment/haven.
Internet
http://buddhism.about.com
http://www.serve.com/cmtan/buddhism/
(see attached essay)
Books
The World’s Religions,
By Huston Smith
This project helped
me further develop my understanding of Community through reading and learning
about life in Buddhist monasteries, Buddhists truly live as a community
giving, taking and sharing, with everyone around them. There are no real
ranks or Buddhist Monks who believe that they are better then others. Buddhist
monks may come to a Guru for teachings but this is because they understand
and respect the fact that the guru is more advanced on the path to enlightenment
then they are and has things they can teach. A guru still has to live the
life of a Monk and still goes out with a begging bowl and walks the streets
accepting offerings. Buddhist monks truly live and thrive off the community
and give back to it as much as they can.
Tibetian Pray Flags are hung up in the wind as
the wind carries the prayers off to the Gods to be fulfilled.