Buddhism

• Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development with the aim of gaining insight into the true nature of reality — achieving enlightenment
  • An enlightened being sees the nature of reality absolutely clearly and lives fully and naturally in accordance to the vision
• Buddhists use mediation as means of changing yourself in order to develop awareness, kindness and wisdom
• There are many branches of Buddhism, however all traditions have common themes of non-violence, lack of dogma, tolerance of differences, and practice of mediation
  • Buddhism does not include the idea of worshipping a creator god (like most western religions) which makes it non-theistic

Basic Tenets §

Buddhism centres itself around basic principles, or tenets, which form the foundation of the religion and those include:

• Nothing is ever fixed or permanent
• Actions carry consequences (the idea of karma or causality)
• Change is always possible

Buddha §

Buddhism started with Buddha, born around 2500 years ago, he was a man whom abandoned his rich inheritance and never claimed to be a god or a prophet. He claimed to understand life in the deepest way possible which he achieved through meditation, the name “Buddha” is actually a title which means “The Awakened One”.

Teachings of Buddha §

The Four Noble Truths §

1. All of human existence is suffering
2. The cause of suffering is craving
3. The end of suffering comes with putting an end to craving
4. There is a path we can follow to put an end to suffering (the noble eightfold path)

Noble Eightfold Path §

1. Understanding: Right understanding is understanding the power of the Four Noble Truths
2. Thought: Right thought is engaging in selflessness and loving kindness in your thoughts
3. Speech: Right speech is speaking without verbal abuse, lies, hatred or blame
4. Action: Right action is abstaining from murder, sexual misconduct and theft
5. Livelihood: Right livelihood is engaging in work that fulfils you and helps others
6. Effort: The right effort is practicing the Noble Eightfold Path consistently
7. Mindfulness: Right mindfulness is observing the patterns of your body, mind, and the world around you without judgement
8. Concentration: Right concentration is the regular practice of meditation

The Five Aggregates §

The five aggregates, also known as five skandhas, are groupings which make up human existence. They relate to the way we perceive the world, what we think and how we act. It might be temptin to view ourselves in the aggregates, but it is important to be able to separate yourself from them to understand their fleeting nature.

1. Form: physical matter
2. Sensation: the sensory experience of an object
3. Perception: the mental labelling of sensory experience
4. Mental formation: biases, prejudices, interests, attitudes, and actions
5. Consciousness: awareness of physical and mental processes

Buddhists practitioners meditate on these individual elements to separate themselves from their prejudices and by doing so they come closer to a state beyond suffering.