A bit on Buddhism

I had a relatively good sleep last night, although for some weird reason I woke up early (around 6 am) this morning and then had a weird half-awake dream. Guess I need to reset my internal clock.

It's Tuesday again, so it's once again time for me to look into another religion. Today's post shall be on Buddhism. To start off, I think we should look into the question of, "What is a Buddha?" In Buddhism, Buddha is not a single person, but a type of person, of which many have existed throughout time.

A Buddha is any being who has become awakened to the ultimate truth of life, one who perceives the true entity of all phenomena, and who leads others to attain the same enlightenment. In India the word buddha was originally a common noun meaning "awakened one," but in Buddhism it is used to mean one who has become awakened to the ultimate truth of life.

The origins of modern Buddhism can be traced back to around the 6th century BC, when a prince was born named Siddhārtha Gautama. He lived a life of luxury and was spared of all of life's hardships. However, the story goes that one day, while he was out on his chariot, he came across what has come to be known as the "Four Passing Sights - an old crippled man, a sick man, a decaying corpse, and finally a wandering holy man." This led him to the realisation that such suffering can occur to anyone, not only once, but "repeated for life after life in succession for uncounted aeons." Hence, he decided to leave his material life and search for the way to enlightenment.

The story goes on to say how his travels led him to the way to attain enlightenment, the principles by which anyone can become a Buddha, called Buddhadharma, or simply the Dharma. It is said that Siddhārtha Gautama attained enlightenment after meditating under a large tree (now called the Bodhi tree) for 6 years and became known as Shakyamuni Buddha. Shakyamuni Buddha then started to teach the Dharma to his followers, which essentially started the Buddhism religion. Although there is no evidence that there was ever a Buddha, there is strong evidence that there was a person like Siddhārtha Gautama, who lived at about the same time and place.

Buddhism is thus a religion and a philosophy based on the teachings of Buddha. Essentially, Buddhists try to perform good and wholesome actions, and try to purify and train the mind, so as to awaken the himself/herself to the realization of true reality and the achievement of Nirvana. One thing different about Buddhism from other religions is that it doesn't have a Creator of sorts.

While Buddhism does not deny the existence of supernatural beings (indeed, many are discussed in Buddhist scripture), it does not ascribe power for creation, salvation or judgement to them. Like humans, they are regarded as having the power to affect worldly events, and so some Buddhist schools associate with them via ritual.

There are many principles behind Buddhism. This includes the Four Noble Truths, which teaches people the reason why life is dissatisfactory, and how to escape it.

1) Dukkha: All worldly life is unsatisfactory, disjointed, containing suffering.
2) Samudaya: There is a cause of suffering, which is attachment or desire (tanha) rooted in ignorance.
3) Nirodha: There is an end of suffering, which is Nirvana.
4) Marga: There is a path that leads out of suffering, known as the Noble Eightfold Path.

And the Five Percepts, which can be considered something like resolutions. The Five Percepts are undertaken by the Buddhist himself/herself to aid in the attainment of enlightenment. These are not given in the form of commands but rather as promises to oneself.

1) I undertake the precept to refrain from harming living creatures (killing).
2) I undertake the precept to refrain from taking that which is not freely given (stealing).
3) I undertake the precept to refrain from sexual misconduct.
4) I undertake the precept to refrain from incorrect speech (lying, harsh language, slander, idle chit-chat).
5) I undertake the precept to refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness.

So, basically, Buddhism teaches self control, but it does not state any prohibitations in essence. This is why in some schools, Buddhism is called the Middle Way, the way of life that follows neither extremes - too much or too little.

Buddhism (and Hinduism) also brought about the concept of Karma (or Kamma), which is a sum of all that an individual has once done and is currently doing. This has an effect on all that is currently occuring and all that is going to happen, thus, in effect eliminating random chance. According to Buddhism, while it is impossible to escape your karma caused by previous thoughts, words and actions, it is possible to escape the suffering that comes from it by becoming enlightened, through practising the Dharma.

Well, I guess this post is long enough, so I'll stop here. Personally, I am sort-of a buddhist, but I honestly, there's a lot of information I didn't know about Buddhism before reading up on this. Just goes to show that it is always possible to learn something new everyday. Come to think of it, maybe I should pick up meditation one day as well, cos at the very least, I think it will help me sleep better.

Click here or here for more information on Buddhism.