At all times, a person tried to find the truth and understand the meaning of life and all things. For this, he turned to either many religious movements, or to various philosophical teachings. Maybe that’s why more and more people turned their attention to one of the most ancients, which later became one of the worlds, religions – Buddhism. After all, Buddhism, in fact, is a religious and philosophical teaching of spiritual awakening and has no concept of God, as a person, unlike, for example, Abrahamic religions or more close brahmanism, or zoroastrism.
What are the basic principles of Buddhism
Buddhism can also be called religion also because it has many directions that differ in essence more than different denominations of one religion. What does such a mysterious Buddha offer us as a picture of the world?
In the traditional concept of religion, any deity or its prophet, requires the faith and intention of the student to blindly follow the path that the teacher will indicate. This postulate puts a young Siddhart Gautama, nicknamed Buddha (“Enlightened”). After the trials that have fallen to his share, having gone a difficult way in trying to free his spirit, this teacher told his students so that they would not believe anything until they test themselves, from experience. He never identified himself with God or His messenger, on the contrary, preached that God is inside everyone, and everyone could become enlightened. “Be shines for yourself,” Buddha said.
The task of his life, the prince from the Shakiev clan, considered it to help all the living to get rid of suffering, from the wheel of Samsara and preached the doctrine of harmless harm: “Do not cause another that which could cause your suffering,” he taught.
What are the basic principles of Buddhism
What are the basic principles of his teaching to us this wise man who has chosen his way of liberation from the suffering of eternal existence, suddenly understanding the general connection of invisible worlds?
He preached such a truth that life is Duhkha, one of the properties of the world manifested, which in an approximate translation can be defined as “suffering, dissatisfaction” and it can be of such quality:
Bodily suffering. This category includes Duhkha birth, illness, old age and death.
Suffering of feelings. Here we should attribute suffering from the connection with the unloved and separation from the beloved, the impact of any adverse external factors that can be combined in one word “lack of freedom”.
Suffering as a view. This is suffering from inconstancy (changes) and suffering from the realization that they exist.
The second truth is that suffering has causes. And these reasons are very understandable – a thirst for pleasure, a thirst for power, various passions and affection. The basis of life is an attraction to something, and the law of karma prevails over all this. Moreover, karma is not fate, as they believe in some exercises. Karma is just our action, which originates the future retribution for these actions.
Consider the karm -forming factors. This is murder, theft, violence, lies, rude speech, greed and ignorance. Everything seems to be clear here and echoes the commandments of other religions, except for the concept of “ignorance”. We usually believe that ignorance of us should somehow justify. But the doctrine of karma says that ignorance gives rise to an abnormal state of mind, which imposes a negative effect, and negative effects are negative karma. For example, we were not instilled from childhood of real values, we do not know them and therefore we think that we will be happy by stole a million in the bank. Because of this state of mind, we go to theft, and maybe murder. And such ignorance arises a negative consequence that will be embodied in any round of the wheel of Samsara.
The third truth is the way of liberation from suffering. The method is very effective, but it is very difficult to use it: liberation from all sorts of passions and desires and the achievement of “nirvana” is a state of complete rest, “non -being”, the highest goal of Buddhism, in which the chain of endless degenerations ceases.
What are the basic principles of Buddhism
The fourth truth is the eightric path to achieving “nirvana”. This path affects the thoughts and actions of a person, it consists of their three stages:
Wisdom
Moral
Concentrated contemplation, meditation.
The stages of this path can be described for a very long time and in detail. But you need to start small, every master was once a lover. And everyone who craves knowledge will find his own path to truth.