From the time we first mastered symbolic communication, humans have been trying to reconcile ourselves to the realities of our world. Life. Death. Compassion. Cruelty. Every artist, scientist, philosopher, and religious seeker throughout history has, in his and her own way, been engaged with this dilemma. And thanks to this eons-old human exploration, there is nearly infinite raw material for the modern adult to engage in a productive "spiritual" journey of sorts, one that can result in making peace with this increasingly-insane world. There are, of course barriers. In America it often feels like our culture is intent on sabotaging any personal development in this area. Having an existential crisis? Don't read Nietche or Jung or Faulkner or Black Elk. Buy a new car. Feeling lost and confused? Don't take a trip to the ocean and turn off your blackberry and walk barefoot in the sand. Buy a new video game system. And for those who do try and undertake a spiritual journey of sorts, there are all of these rules. You can't just read the Bible, or the Torah, or the Koran, but you have to become a Christian or a Jew or a Muslim. And you can't mix Darwin with Jesus. And you can't get involved in too much of that flaky Eastern stuff. And you can't read Marx. Period. All in all, it's just not a very enlightening experience. And, as a result, I think a lot of free-thinking grown-ups either stay away from the bigger questions, or they address them in an ultra-secular way. Well, this blog is my way of giving myself permission to develop my own understanding of the world without anyone else's rules. And a big part of this experience has entailed mapping out my own personal mythology, an amalgamation of a lot of different things that aren't typically allowed to be together. So, as my second post dealing with my personal spirituality, I'd like to present some basic ideas from one of humankind's greatest spiritual traditions. Here's Buddhism, as I've come to see it...
Buddhism is an ancient spiritual response to the "suffering" of life. The Buddhist definition of suffering is quite specific, referring to the general disquiet that we experience throughout our lives. This suffering can take many forms - sadness, anger, fear, frustration, and grief - but these forms are all ultimately related. Buddhists believe that most of this suffering is the result of the greed, avarice, and delusional desires that we acquire throughout our lives. It is important to specify "delusional" desires (i.e. our desires to attach ourselves to objects, alter certain things about the world, and prevent death and loss) as this highlights our unrealistic desires, as opposed to those desires that are intrinsic to a happy life (our desires for food, water, sleep, and enlightenment, for example).
Gautama Buddha (or just The Buddha), is a mythical figure believed to be the first person of the current age to have achieved permanent liberation from suffering. In ancient India, at the age of 35, after having lived a life of spiritual struggle, The Buddha is said to have found enlightenment after meditating beneath a tree for 49 straight days. He subsequently traveled across India sharing what he had learned so that others could also achieve liberation from suffering. Buddhists believe that The Buddha's teachings are comprised of age-old truth that has been periodically lost and then regained throughout time. The Buddha of our age, then, is believed to have actually rediscovered this wisdom through his rigorous engagement with life and deep self-reflection. Here are some of the basic principles.
I. The Buddha's most essential teachings are The Four Noble Truths:
Gautama Buddha (or just The Buddha), is a mythical figure believed to be the first person of the current age to have achieved permanent liberation from suffering. In ancient India, at the age of 35, after having lived a life of spiritual struggle, The Buddha is said to have found enlightenment after meditating beneath a tree for 49 straight days. He subsequently traveled across India sharing what he had learned so that others could also achieve liberation from suffering. Buddhists believe that The Buddha's teachings are comprised of age-old truth that has been periodically lost and then regained throughout time. The Buddha of our age, then, is believed to have actually rediscovered this wisdom through his rigorous engagement with life and deep self-reflection. Here are some of the basic principles.
I. The Buddha's most essential teachings are The Four Noble Truths:
1. The truth of suffering. Over time, we all experience pain, sickness, old age and death. We will also experience sadness, anger, fear, frustration, and disappointment. As these painful experiences mount, we find it hard to experience any sort of sustained peace. We suffer (i.e. develop long-term, chronic discomfort).
2. The truth of the cause of our suffering. Over our lifetimes, in response to the painful experience of living, we develop certain maladies of thought and behavior...1) greed, 2) avarice, and 3) delusional desires (desires to attach ourselves to material objects and people, to avoid pain and death, to have a self that is separate from others, to change certain inevitable things about the world). These are the causes of our suffering.
3. The truth of the end of our suffering. If one can escape greed, avarice, and delusional desire, one can achieve liberation from suffering.
4. The truth of the path that leads to the end of our suffering. The Noble Eightfold Path details the Buddha's path towards escaping greed, avarice, and delusional desire and becoming enlightened.
2. The truth of the cause of our suffering. Over our lifetimes, in response to the painful experience of living, we develop certain maladies of thought and behavior...1) greed, 2) avarice, and 3) delusional desires (desires to attach ourselves to material objects and people, to avoid pain and death, to have a self that is separate from others, to change certain inevitable things about the world). These are the causes of our suffering.
3. The truth of the end of our suffering. If one can escape greed, avarice, and delusional desire, one can achieve liberation from suffering.
4. The truth of the path that leads to the end of our suffering. The Noble Eightfold Path details the Buddha's path towards escaping greed, avarice, and delusional desire and becoming enlightened.
II. The Noble Eightfold Path, then, is the Buddha's detailed account of his path towards enlightenment. The principles are separated into 3 sections: Wisdom, Ethical Conduct, and Discipline. The Eightfold Path is often symbolized by the eight-spoked "dharma wheel" shown at the start of my post:
Wisdom
1. Right Understanding: viewing reality as it is, not as it
appears to be, or the way one wants it to be.
appears to be, or the way one wants it to be.
2. Right Intention: directing one's thoughts away from
desire, ill will, and harmfulness and focusing them on
renunciation, good will, and harmlessness.
desire, ill will, and harmfulness and focusing them on
renunciation, good will, and harmlessness.
Ethical Conduct
3. Right Speech: speaking in a non-harmful way (not lying,
speaking with slander, engaging in idle chat, etc.). Speaking in
a way that promotes friendship and harmony.
3. Right Speech: speaking in a non-harmful way (not lying,
speaking with slander, engaging in idle chat, etc.). Speaking in
a way that promotes friendship and harmony.
4. Right Action: acting in a non-harmful way (not taking
life, stealing, etc.). Showing kindness and compassion for
other living beings.
life, stealing, etc.). Showing kindness and compassion for
other living beings.
5. Right Livelihood: doing work that is non-harmful (not
selling drugs, dealing in weapons, etc.)
selling drugs, dealing in weapons, etc.)
Discipline
6. Right Effort: directing one's "energy" towards
wholesome thoughts, intentions, and actions. Essentially, it
takes a lot of energy to follow the eightfold path
which requires one to 1) prevent new unwholesome states
from arising 2) abandon unwholesome states already in
motion 3) arouse new wholesome states and 4) maintain
wholesome states already achieved. Devoting oneself to this
level of change requires diligence and perseverance.
wholesome thoughts, intentions, and actions. Essentially, it
takes a lot of energy to follow the eightfold path
which requires one to 1) prevent new unwholesome states
from arising 2) abandon unwholesome states already in
motion 3) arouse new wholesome states and 4) maintain
wholesome states already achieved. Devoting oneself to this
level of change requires diligence and perseverance.
7. Right Mindfulness: maintaining complete awareness
of one's body, thoughts, feelings, and the outside world.
of one's body, thoughts, feelings, and the outside world.
8. Right Concentration: focusing one's
faculties completely on wholesome thoughts and actions
without distraction. Only a well-honed mind is able to escape
the greed, avarice, and desire of everyday life.
faculties completely on wholesome thoughts and actions
without distraction. Only a well-honed mind is able to escape
the greed, avarice, and desire of everyday life.
III. Some Other Important Buddhist Terms:
Atman: A term meaning 'self.' I include this because there has been some debate among Buddhists on whether the notion of self is desirable or not. Some say that attachment to a self is a cause of suffering, while others say that the enlightened person is someone with a highly developed self. Perhaps, I'll develop some of my own ideas on this in the future.
Samsara: The cycle of rebirth and suffering that all humans are born into. It is thought that attaining liberation from suffering frees one from this cycle.
Karma: The events that result from a person's actions (of body, speech, and mind). While most Karma will reinforce one's ties to the cycle of rebirth and suffering, following the Eightfold Path is thought to induce Karma that frees one from this cycle.
Dharma: Literally 'truth,' In Buddhism the word usually refers to The Buddha's teachings.
The Middle Way: An essential aspect of The Buddha's perspective, and what really distinguishes Buddhism from some of the other religions of ancient India (i.e. Hinduism and Jainism). The Middle Way refers to the Buddha's realization that both the extreme of indulgence (characterized by a complete surrender to desire) and the extreme of self-mortification (like the abstention from food and drink that many other Indian spiritualists were practicing at the time) perpetuate suffering. Both result in only a temporary escape from suffering. He learned that one can only attain a sustained state of enlightenment by learning to escape greed, avarice, and delusional desire while continuing to live a healthy human life.
Anyway, I hope that some of this made sense. I've tried to make it user friendly both for myself and anyone else interested in learning more about Buddhism. For some more detailed analyses, I found two pretty good web resources here and here, both of which informed much of my own descriptions. I'll be back next time to talk about Siddhartha, the novel by Hermann Hesse that first exposed me to Buddhist thought.
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