What Would Buddha Say?

Today I want to begin sharing flowers of beauty and wisdom from the Buddhist Garden of Faith.

There is a great deal that could be said about the Buddha, his life and times, and the tenor of his teachings. I recommend you read Eknath Easwaran's excellent introduction to and translation of the Dhammapada, which are the core teachings of the Buddha to find out far more than I can say on this blog. As with my blogs on Islam and Hinduism, I want to simply focus with you on readings from Buddhism which have most inspired and helped me, in the hope they will do the same for you.

You will notice that one of the pictures above lists one of the foundational teachings of Buddhism: The Four Noble Truths.

I would like to share an explanation of these Truths as a good way to start our venture into Buddhism's Garden of Faith.

The First Truth is the fact of suffering. Everyone wants to be happy and enjoy a pleasant life. Yet everyone experiences suffering of some kind: frustration, incompleteness, dissatisfaction, pain, sickness, and sorrow.

Even when things are going well, that changes too, because life is change. Nothing is permanent. Loss is the inevitable lot of all.

The Second Truth is that it is not life itself that is the cause of suffering, but what we demand of life.

Self-centerdness seems to be part of human nature, and from this self-centerdness come selfish desires to have one's own way, to keep what one has that is desirable, and to have a life that is free of unpleasantness. But running after the satisfaction of selfish desires leads only to sorrow and unhappiness. Life cannot give permanent pleasure unmixed with anything difficult or painful. To demand that it does is as foolish as to be unhappy because a banana tree will not bear mangoes. There is no fire like selfish desire, for the more you feed it, the more it burns.

The Third Truth is that once this cause of suffering is understood, suffering can be cured. When the fires of selfishness have been extinguished, when the mind is free of selfish desires and demands, what remains is the state of wakefulness, peace, joy, and health which is called nirvana or moksha: blissful freedom from suffering.

The Fourth Truth is that selfish cravings and demands can be extinguished by following an eightfold path: right understanding, right purpose, right speech, right conduct, right occupation, right effort, right attention, and right meditation. These are like eight spokes on the wheel of dharma, or the Way of Life that frees from suffering.

My reflections:

It is significant that the Buddha's great concern is the alleviation of suffering. That lies behind the story of his life and all his teachings. It is no wonder, then, that compassion is the Buddhist virtue par excellence.It is a noble motive indeed, and one I would like to cultivate for myself. It is also a worthy aim in terms of my outlook and actions towards others. As for the way to eliminate my own suffering by extinguishing the selfish desires I, like everyone, experiences, I would like to explore how Buddha's eight fold path can help me. His teaching certainly was rooted in his life and experience, and if following these eight steps could do what it did for him, there is hope for me and you. More about that tomorrow.