The Beauty of Buddhism

Hannah591

I want to share some information about Buddhism. I've recently decided that Buddhism is something I'm interested in pursuing as their values and beliefs make a lot of sense and can lead to much happiness. They also don't force their beliefs onto others, you turn to Buddhism when/if you want too. Don't think I'm trying to force Buddhism onto you by writing this, I just wanted to share some information as I think it's a lovely philosophy to believe in.



Buddhism is usually referred to as a tradition and a way of life, not a religion, as Buddhism doesn't have a God; it's all about self improvement. I find it to be more of a philosophy. Some people combine Buddhism with their original faith, so you can be a Buddhist Catholic, Buddhist Christian, Buddhist Muslim or even a Buddhist Atheist like me!



beauty of buddha


Buddhism teaches people how to end their suffering by eliminating greed, hatred and delusion. When people do good things, they will get good consequences. When people do bad things, they will get bad consequences. The ultimate goal of a Buddhist is to reach the state of enlightenment (i.e. Nirvana) and liberate oneself from endless reincarnation and suffering. Some see Buddhism as a religion, other people think it is a philosophy and for others, Buddhism is a way of finding reality.



You can be a Buddhist Catholic, Buddhist Christian, Buddhist Muslim or even a Buddhist Atheist like me!




The Buddha's teachings are mainly about suffering and how people can overcome it to gain happiness. The Buddha taught that life is imperfect and that we will suffer at some time or another. He taught that we suffer because of desire, anger and stupidity, and he showed that we could end our suffering by letting go of desires and overcoming anger and stupidity. The complete letting go of these negative influences is called Nirvana, meaning "to extinguish", like putting out the flame of a candle. The end of suffering, when one is fully awake (put an end to one's own ignorance) and has let go of all desire and anger is called Enlightenment or Nirvana.


Beliefs

Four Noble Paths
1. Life often involves suffering.
2. The reason for this suffering is that we want things we can not or do not have. Or, more important, we become "attached" to those things. For example, simply thinking you'd like an ice cream is not a source of suffering. But becoming "attached" to that desire is.
3. The way to cure suffering is to stop the wanting. Of course many could argue that a better way would simply be to go get the thing you want. The Buddhist response is that we can never get everything we want, partly because the more we have, the more we want.
4. The way to stop wanting is to follow the Noble Eightfold Path, which focuses not on changing things around us, but instead it focuses on changing our own mind on how we view things.

Noble Eightfold Path
1. Know and understand the Four Noble Truths
2. Give up all worldly things and don't harm others
3. Tell the truth, don't gossip, and don't talk badly about others
4. Don't commit evil acts, like killing, stealing, or living an unclean life
5. Do rewarding work
6. Work for good and oppose evil
7. Make sure your mind keeps your senses under control
8. Practice meditation as a way of understanding reality

Five Precepts
Buddhists are encouraged to follow five precepts, or rules, that say what not to do. The Buddha taught that killing, stealing, having sex in a harmful way, and lying are not signs of skill. These are the Five precepts:
1. I will not hurt a person or animal that is alive.
2. I will not take something if it was not given to me.
3. I will not engage in sexual misconduct.
4. I will not lie or say things that hurt people.
5. I will not take intoxicants, like alcohol or drugs causing heedlessness.

So those are the basic beliefs and teachings of Buddhism. I hope you found it quite interesting and hopefully you'll look up more about it, including about Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha).

The Beauty of Buddhism
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