He wrote nothing, but challenged fundamental Hindu teachings and belief in gods and goddesses. He taught that a person gains enlightenment by following the "Middle Path" between selfindulgence and self-mortification.
Buddha summed up his teachings in the Four Noble Truths:
# Life consists of dukkha, which encompasses suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction, frustration, pain, and misery. All of life is sub-ject to change and decay.
# Dukkha is caused by a desire or craving (tanha) for material possessions or intellectual gratification, which does not last and is ultimately unsatisfactory.
# Escape from tanha (desire or craving) is essential for inner peace and tranquillity. By eliminating tanha, one eliminates dukkha (suffering, etc.)
# The path or way to escape from tanha is the Noble Eight-fold Path. These are not successive stages or steps to be followed in sequence, but should be practiced and realized simultaneously. The Noble Eight-fold Path consists of the following eight points:
The goal of the Noble Eight-fold Path is nirvana, a term that is difficult, if not impossible, to define. The term literally means "extinction," as the flame of a candle is said to be extinguished. However, nirvana is not a state of total annihilation, except as an annihilation of tanha (desire or craving) and dukkha (suffering). Nirvana is not an intellectual concept referring to a place or state of existence.
Nirvana is enlightenment, an awareness beyond that which can be reached with the mind, senses and reason. It is the final, peaceful bliss.
Death does not mark the end of existence because nothing is permanent. Nothing is unchanging, eternal, or immortal, according to Buddhism.
The wheel is a well-known Buddhist symbol. As the wheel turns, so do the cycles of change. If anything is permanent in Buddhist thought, it is change.
A fundamental point of Buddhist thought is the anatman, or "no self." The Buddha rejected the Hindu teaching that the individual self or soul is really identical with Brahman, the impersonal Oversoul out of which all that exists has come. Buddhism rejects the Hindu idea that a soul is trapped in a body, but teaches that a person is made up of a "bundle" of five particles or "waves" which temporarily come together to form a "body." They are: form (the physical body), feelings, perceptions (transmitted by the sense organs), impulses, and consciousness. This bundle causes a person to falsely think of himself or herself as a separate individual self.
Since all of life is change, these waves eventually move apart and the "self" disappears. Buddhists talk of reincarnation, by which they mean these waves will eventually join together to form another "self." One can be reincarnated, if enlightenment is not achieved, in six lokas or places as non-human beings, humans, sub-deities, animals, hungry ghosts, or sent to hell, depending upon one's actions (karma) in this lifetime. The well-known book, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, speaks of events between death and reincarnation for all who do not achieve enlightenment. Still, Buddhists insist no "soul" or "self" is reincarnated into another body as in Hinduism. While rejecting Hinduism, popular Buddhism borrows ideas from Hinduism which causes an outsider to find inconsistencies within Buddhism.
Buddhism does not require an orthodox belief; a systematic theology such as is found in Christianity is absent in Buddhism.
Buddhists reject belief in a personal God, although Buddhists may borrow Hindu deities. In Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha is deified and seen as a savior.
Buddha summed up his teachings in the Four Noble Truths:
# Life consists of dukkha, which encompasses suffering, anxiety, dissatisfaction, frustration, pain, and misery. All of life is sub-ject to change and decay.
# Dukkha is caused by a desire or craving (tanha) for material possessions or intellectual gratification, which does not last and is ultimately unsatisfactory.
# Escape from tanha (desire or craving) is essential for inner peace and tranquillity. By eliminating tanha, one eliminates dukkha (suffering, etc.)
# The path or way to escape from tanha is the Noble Eight-fold Path. These are not successive stages or steps to be followed in sequence, but should be practiced and realized simultaneously. The Noble Eight-fold Path consists of the following eight points:
- Right Understanding: Believing the Four Noble Truths.
- Right Intention: Renouncing worldly life.
- Right Speech: Abstaining from lies, slander, abuse, and idle talk.
- Right Conduct: Abstaining from killing, stealing, lying, committing adultery, and using intoxicants.
- Right Occupation: Avoiding questionable occupations.
- Right Endeavor: Striving for good and avoiding all that is evil or wicked.
- Right Contemplation: Controlling one's mind so that emotions, including joy and sorrow, do not disturb one's calm.
- Right Concentration: Developing the mind to heights beyond reason.
The goal of the Noble Eight-fold Path is nirvana, a term that is difficult, if not impossible, to define. The term literally means "extinction," as the flame of a candle is said to be extinguished. However, nirvana is not a state of total annihilation, except as an annihilation of tanha (desire or craving) and dukkha (suffering). Nirvana is not an intellectual concept referring to a place or state of existence.
Nirvana is enlightenment, an awareness beyond that which can be reached with the mind, senses and reason. It is the final, peaceful bliss.
Death does not mark the end of existence because nothing is permanent. Nothing is unchanging, eternal, or immortal, according to Buddhism.
The wheel is a well-known Buddhist symbol. As the wheel turns, so do the cycles of change. If anything is permanent in Buddhist thought, it is change.
A fundamental point of Buddhist thought is the anatman, or "no self." The Buddha rejected the Hindu teaching that the individual self or soul is really identical with Brahman, the impersonal Oversoul out of which all that exists has come. Buddhism rejects the Hindu idea that a soul is trapped in a body, but teaches that a person is made up of a "bundle" of five particles or "waves" which temporarily come together to form a "body." They are: form (the physical body), feelings, perceptions (transmitted by the sense organs), impulses, and consciousness. This bundle causes a person to falsely think of himself or herself as a separate individual self.
Since all of life is change, these waves eventually move apart and the "self" disappears. Buddhists talk of reincarnation, by which they mean these waves will eventually join together to form another "self." One can be reincarnated, if enlightenment is not achieved, in six lokas or places as non-human beings, humans, sub-deities, animals, hungry ghosts, or sent to hell, depending upon one's actions (karma) in this lifetime. The well-known book, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, speaks of events between death and reincarnation for all who do not achieve enlightenment. Still, Buddhists insist no "soul" or "self" is reincarnated into another body as in Hinduism. While rejecting Hinduism, popular Buddhism borrows ideas from Hinduism which causes an outsider to find inconsistencies within Buddhism.
Buddhism does not require an orthodox belief; a systematic theology such as is found in Christianity is absent in Buddhism.
Buddhists reject belief in a personal God, although Buddhists may borrow Hindu deities. In Mahayana Buddhism, the Buddha is deified and seen as a savior.
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