Buddhism
Beliefs and concepts:
Buddhism is a practice aimed at liberating the human mind from suffering. The main aim of Buddhism is to realise nirvana, liberation from karma and freedom from all ties to this world and its cycle of rebirth.
It is difficult to define what Buddhism is. Is it a religion? a philosophy? a way of life? or a code of ethics? It is not easy to classify Buddhism as any of these things, and it challenges us to rethink these categories, for example, what do we mean by religion? Most people would say religion has something to do with a belief in God. God is understood as a supreme being who created the world. God also takes an interest in humanity by entering covenants and making his will known in various ways. If this is how we understand religion, Buddhism cannot be a religion. Buddhism denies the belief in a creator God. However, Buddhism recognises the existence of supernatural beings such as spirits and gods, meaning it cannot be an atheistic religion. Perhaps our definition of religion only resembles abrahamic religions and we should open up the definition of religion which allows for religions not to necessarily have a creator God.
Buddhist texts report that on the night of the Buddhas enlightenment he gained the ability to recall his previous lives. It is said he could recall the details of what his name was, caste, profession, and much more. He could remember back as far as ninety-one eons. One eon is equal to the lifespan of a solar system. This process of rebirth is known as saṃsāra, or 'endless wandering'. All living creatures are apart of samsara until they attain nirvana. Karma is of fundamental importance to Buddhism, it determines future rebirth by the moral deeds a person performs in this life. The literal meaning of the Sanskrit word karma is 'action'. Karmic actions are moral actions. Moral actions are unlike other actions because they have both transitive and intransitive effects. The transitive effect is seen in the direct impact moral actions have on others; for example, when we steal, someone is deprived from property. The intransitive effect is seen in the way moral actions affect the agent. Not all consequences of what a person does are experienced in the lifetime in which the deeds are performed. Karma that has been accumulated but not yet experienced can be carried forward to the next life, or even many lifetimes ahead. Aspects of a persons rebirth are thought to be karmically determined, these include family which one is born into, physical appearance, caste and social status. Buddhists see good karma as merit; the best way to acquire merit is by showing support to the order of Buddhist monks. When doing good deeds, one obtains merit; however, if someone if only doing good deeds to obtain karma, this is seen as selfish and would not earn much merit.
Within a world system there are six realms of rebirth, this is also called the wheel of life. The first three realms above the centre line are seen as favourable, while the three below are seen as unfortunate. Rebirth, also known as reincarnation could lead to rebirth as an animal or even plant if you are unfortunate. The arrangement can be seen like an expanded version of the tradition christian scheme of hell, purgatory, earth, and heaven, with the difference that someone can transmigrate repeatedly from one realm to another.
The Four Noble Truths contain the essence of the Buddha's teachings. These were the four principles that the Buddha came to understand through his meditation under the bodhi tree.
The First Noble Truth, Suffering (Dukkha): This is seen as the cornerstone of the Buddha's teaching, an intrinsic part of life, and it diagnoses the human condition as one of disease. There are many types of suffering, physical, biological, emotional and psychological, such as birth, sickness, sorrow and despair. While these often involve pain, the deeper problem is the inevitability of repeated birth, sickness, sorrow and despair. Even when we are not suffering from outward causes like illness or bereavement, we are unfulfilled, unsatisfied. This is the truth of suffering.
The three marks of existence:
Buddha taught that there are three conditioned marks of existence. These are also known as the Three Universal Truths or Three Marks of existence, and they are called Anicca, Anatta and Dukkha.
The first mark of existence is Anicca, which means that everything is constantly changing, even the conditions that cause things to come into existence are not fixed. Buddhists believe that impermanence is what life is all about. Human beings find this difficult to understand and so have a false sense of permanence which only leads to ‘unsatisfactoriness’.
Most people want to see the world as an unchanging place, when anything good happens people want it to last for ever, but when something bad happens they want it to end. The Buddha realised that impermanence was the key to a proper understanding of the human condition. If people could understand this, they would have less suffering in their lives. By refusing to see this, people continue to be attached to things which only lead to disappointment and suffering when the things change.
The second mark of existence is Anatta, which means that if everything is subject to constant change there can be no such thing as an individual or separate self. In relation to human beings, the concept of Anicca must be seen in conjunction with Anatta. Since nothing is permanent, there can be no immortal self (soul). Human beings are made up of five skandhas (bundles of impermanent existence), the body, feeling, sensations, mental formations and consciousness. If we take each skandha and examine it carefully the lack of permanence becomes clear. The physical body changes from the moment of conception to the moment of death. The same is true of an individual’s feelings and perceptions, so what you call yourself is not a permanent entity but past ideas with present thoughts and feelings. Buddhists understand that there are two levels of truth when it comes to accepting Anatta. On an everyday level it is convenient to talk about my ‘self’ and your ‘self’, because the human brain needs categories in order to make sense of what is being experienced. However, on an ultimate level, there is no such thing as ‘self’ since everything is interconnected with everything else.
The third mark of existence is Dukkha, which means suffering as discussed earlier. There is a general unsatisfactoriness about life because it changes, and we change also. Because we exist, we suffer. We see suffering in everyday life, and in situations such as war, poverty and famine. We also suffer because everything is subject to change or impermanence; Anicca. Good things cannot last. For example, eating chocolate, the pleasure is short term, but the pleasure is not there an hour later. We also suffer because of our human limitations. We do not have the answer to everything, even though we may try to seek it.
Buddhism teaches that there are three poisons that lead to continued suffering; greed, hatred (tanha) and ignorance (avidya). Buddhists believe that this conditioned existence is endless. It is often depicted as a cycle, the Cycle of Samsara, or the Wheel of Life, which shows the distorted image we have of reality. Buddhists say that we experience life from an ignorance point of view and it is with ignorance that the Wheel of Life continues.
Nirvana: This is the goal of Buddhism, it ends an individuals desires and suffering. It ends the cycle of rebirth. Nirvana is hard to describe because it is an experience beyond the impermanent nature of words. It is not a place but a state of mind. The cessation of suffering is described as complete peace. Nirvana is reaching enlightenment.
It is difficult to define what Buddhism is. Is it a religion? a philosophy? a way of life? or a code of ethics? It is not easy to classify Buddhism as any of these things, and it challenges us to rethink these categories, for example, what do we mean by religion? Most people would say religion has something to do with a belief in God. God is understood as a supreme being who created the world. God also takes an interest in humanity by entering covenants and making his will known in various ways. If this is how we understand religion, Buddhism cannot be a religion. Buddhism denies the belief in a creator God. However, Buddhism recognises the existence of supernatural beings such as spirits and gods, meaning it cannot be an atheistic religion. Perhaps our definition of religion only resembles abrahamic religions and we should open up the definition of religion which allows for religions not to necessarily have a creator God.
Buddhist texts report that on the night of the Buddhas enlightenment he gained the ability to recall his previous lives. It is said he could recall the details of what his name was, caste, profession, and much more. He could remember back as far as ninety-one eons. One eon is equal to the lifespan of a solar system. This process of rebirth is known as saṃsāra, or 'endless wandering'. All living creatures are apart of samsara until they attain nirvana. Karma is of fundamental importance to Buddhism, it determines future rebirth by the moral deeds a person performs in this life. The literal meaning of the Sanskrit word karma is 'action'. Karmic actions are moral actions. Moral actions are unlike other actions because they have both transitive and intransitive effects. The transitive effect is seen in the direct impact moral actions have on others; for example, when we steal, someone is deprived from property. The intransitive effect is seen in the way moral actions affect the agent. Not all consequences of what a person does are experienced in the lifetime in which the deeds are performed. Karma that has been accumulated but not yet experienced can be carried forward to the next life, or even many lifetimes ahead. Aspects of a persons rebirth are thought to be karmically determined, these include family which one is born into, physical appearance, caste and social status. Buddhists see good karma as merit; the best way to acquire merit is by showing support to the order of Buddhist monks. When doing good deeds, one obtains merit; however, if someone if only doing good deeds to obtain karma, this is seen as selfish and would not earn much merit.
Within a world system there are six realms of rebirth, this is also called the wheel of life. The first three realms above the centre line are seen as favourable, while the three below are seen as unfortunate. Rebirth, also known as reincarnation could lead to rebirth as an animal or even plant if you are unfortunate. The arrangement can be seen like an expanded version of the tradition christian scheme of hell, purgatory, earth, and heaven, with the difference that someone can transmigrate repeatedly from one realm to another.
The Four Noble Truths contain the essence of the Buddha's teachings. These were the four principles that the Buddha came to understand through his meditation under the bodhi tree.
- The truth of suffering (Dukkha)
- The truth of the origin of suffering (Samudāya)
- The truth of the cessation of suffering (Nirodha)
- The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (Magga)
The First Noble Truth, Suffering (Dukkha): This is seen as the cornerstone of the Buddha's teaching, an intrinsic part of life, and it diagnoses the human condition as one of disease. There are many types of suffering, physical, biological, emotional and psychological, such as birth, sickness, sorrow and despair. While these often involve pain, the deeper problem is the inevitability of repeated birth, sickness, sorrow and despair. Even when we are not suffering from outward causes like illness or bereavement, we are unfulfilled, unsatisfied. This is the truth of suffering.
The three marks of existence:
Buddha taught that there are three conditioned marks of existence. These are also known as the Three Universal Truths or Three Marks of existence, and they are called Anicca, Anatta and Dukkha.
The first mark of existence is Anicca, which means that everything is constantly changing, even the conditions that cause things to come into existence are not fixed. Buddhists believe that impermanence is what life is all about. Human beings find this difficult to understand and so have a false sense of permanence which only leads to ‘unsatisfactoriness’.
Most people want to see the world as an unchanging place, when anything good happens people want it to last for ever, but when something bad happens they want it to end. The Buddha realised that impermanence was the key to a proper understanding of the human condition. If people could understand this, they would have less suffering in their lives. By refusing to see this, people continue to be attached to things which only lead to disappointment and suffering when the things change.
The second mark of existence is Anatta, which means that if everything is subject to constant change there can be no such thing as an individual or separate self. In relation to human beings, the concept of Anicca must be seen in conjunction with Anatta. Since nothing is permanent, there can be no immortal self (soul). Human beings are made up of five skandhas (bundles of impermanent existence), the body, feeling, sensations, mental formations and consciousness. If we take each skandha and examine it carefully the lack of permanence becomes clear. The physical body changes from the moment of conception to the moment of death. The same is true of an individual’s feelings and perceptions, so what you call yourself is not a permanent entity but past ideas with present thoughts and feelings. Buddhists understand that there are two levels of truth when it comes to accepting Anatta. On an everyday level it is convenient to talk about my ‘self’ and your ‘self’, because the human brain needs categories in order to make sense of what is being experienced. However, on an ultimate level, there is no such thing as ‘self’ since everything is interconnected with everything else.
The third mark of existence is Dukkha, which means suffering as discussed earlier. There is a general unsatisfactoriness about life because it changes, and we change also. Because we exist, we suffer. We see suffering in everyday life, and in situations such as war, poverty and famine. We also suffer because everything is subject to change or impermanence; Anicca. Good things cannot last. For example, eating chocolate, the pleasure is short term, but the pleasure is not there an hour later. We also suffer because of our human limitations. We do not have the answer to everything, even though we may try to seek it.
Buddhism teaches that there are three poisons that lead to continued suffering; greed, hatred (tanha) and ignorance (avidya). Buddhists believe that this conditioned existence is endless. It is often depicted as a cycle, the Cycle of Samsara, or the Wheel of Life, which shows the distorted image we have of reality. Buddhists say that we experience life from an ignorance point of view and it is with ignorance that the Wheel of Life continues.
Nirvana: This is the goal of Buddhism, it ends an individuals desires and suffering. It ends the cycle of rebirth. Nirvana is hard to describe because it is an experience beyond the impermanent nature of words. It is not a place but a state of mind. The cessation of suffering is described as complete peace. Nirvana is reaching enlightenment.