Introduction to Buddhism

The life of Siddhartha:

        Siddhartha was born into a royal family near India and as a child, he was very spoiled because his father wanted to shield him from the harsh realities and pains of life. As he became older, he wanted to leave the palace and see the outside world. When he went into the real world, he was shocked to find terrible things such as sickness, suffering, and death. After coming across these hardships, Siddhartha met a religious man. This inspired him to search for the meaning behind the hardships of life and so he decided to leave everything, including his wife and son, to find his answer. After wandering for years and practicing all sorts of strict meditation, he still had not found the answer to his question. He then sat under a tree and vowed to not move until he had come to an answer, this lasted for 40 days. After being tempted by many gods, he had finally become the Buddha, or “the enlightened” When he touched the earth because then he realized the answer to his question and banished all temptations that tried to persuade him to stray away from his enlightenment.

The Three Jewels:

       The Three Jewels are the Buddha (yellow), the Dharma (blue), and the Sangha (red). The Buddha is important because he serves as an example of how to live one’s life as well as how to achieve enlightenment. Dharma, the teachings of the Buddha, is important because it serves as a story on how to effectively become enlightened. Lastly, the Sangha is the practice of following in the footsteps of other Buddhists who have gone before you. This means you are learning from another Buddhist.

Threefold Way:

       The Threefold Way consists of ethics, meditation, and wisdom. Ethical actions are actions that bring about good, rather than harm, to oneself and others. Meditation is a deep, internal reflection of oneself and one’s life. Wisdom is the culmination or combination of all Buddhist efforts to become enlightened.

 

Four Noble Truths:

       The Four Noble Truths are the basic characteristics of humanity that everyone shares. They include: 1. All existence is suffering; 2. The cause of suffering is craving; 3. The end of suffering comes with the end of craving; and 4. There is a path that leads away from suffering.

Noble Eightfold Path:

       The Nobel Eightfold Path is the practice one must to to end all suffering and reach perfect Dharma. The path consists of the following teachings of Perfect Vision, Perfect Emotion, Perfect Speech, Perfect Action, Perfect Livelihood Perfect Effort, Perfect Awareness, and Perfect Meditation.