No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. (Buddha)
Thinking about the musings from DAY 22: The Validity Of Hinduism.…
The next, major belief system that we cover in class is Buddhism.
In the 6th century BCE, on the current Indian/Nepal border, a man named Siddhartha Gautama founded Buddhism. Below is a current map of where Buddhists live today, with the greatest concentration living in Southeast Asia:
Gautama was born a prince into a wealthy family in what is now known as the country of Nepal. According to legend, there was a prophecy relating to all males who were born in the region. The prophecy was two-fold, if the elders determined that the male child was deemed special, then that male child was considered the ‘One’. After being selected as the ‘One’, this male child would be destined for greatness on a historical scale. This greatness would play out in one of two ways:
1) He would remain in the region and become a political leader, the likes of which would not be surpassed, loved by his citizens or;
2) He would leave the region and become a religious leader, withdrawing from this life, and loved by his followers.
Greatness indeed.
After Gautama was born and the elders deemed him the ‘One’, Gautama was destined for greatness.
His father, perhaps realizing the benefits that could come his way if his son was in power politically, provided Gautama with many worldly luxuries in order to keep him occupied close to home, within close proximity of his fathers’ palace.
However, as legend states, Gautama left his palace on several occasions during his lifetime. Once past the palace grounds, this is what he saw:
1) Old age;
2) Illness;
3) A corpse being lead during a funeral procession and;
4) A wondering holy man, who, as it appeared to Gautama, was at peace with himself.
Realizing that the pleasures of this world were temporary and fleeting, Gautama left his home, wife and son, and wondered the countryside, trying to find the meaning of truth…
The meaning of his existence.
According to which documentation you read, Gautama, after renouncing his Earthly pleasures, and from anywhere to the next morning and up to 6 months later, Gautama became the ‘Awakened One’ or ‘Enlightened One’ or…
Buddha.
For Buddhists, the numbers 4 and 8 are quite significant. The Four Noble Truths that lead to the Eight-Fold Path.
The Four Noble Truths:
1) Noble Truth 1 – Life is filled with dissatisfaction, discontent, unhappiness and suffering;
2) Noble Truth 2 – This suffering is caused by a yearning for the pleasures of this world, where this yearning leads to attachment and desire, where some of these attachments/desires can never possibly be obtained;
3) Noble Truth 3 – Despite this, there is in fact an ‘out’ to this pain, to eliminate your suffering, and this realization will lead to;
4) Noble Truth 4 – The Eight-Fold Path, or Middle Way.
The Eight-Fold Path is as follows, (in no particular order):
1) Right Speech leads to truth and understanding;
2) Right Understanding leads to wisdom;
3) Right Livelihood leads to sharing;
4) Right Mindfulness leads to purposeful living;
5) Right Effort leads to Highest Outcome;
6) Right Absorption leads to unity;
7) Right Behavior leads to Goodwill and;
8) Right Aspiration leads to Divine inclination.
At this point, you are on the Middle Way, or a rejection of all extremes of thought, emotion, action, and lifestyle. Once on this Middle Way path, you ultimately will get to Nirvana, the Hindu equivalent to their Moksha.
Nirvana is to be one with the universe.
Nirvana, for the Buddhist, is the release from the selfishness, pain and desires of this world. If you do not achieve Nirvana in this lifetime you, like a Hindu, will experience reincarnation. For the Buddhist, this reincarnation can be experienced in one of six realms:
1) Deva (heavenly);
2) Asura (demigod);
3) Manusya (human);
4) Tiryak (animals);
5) Preta (ghosts);
6) Naraka (resident of hell).
How do you apply Aristotle’s syllogism in order to come to a logical conclusion that the Buddhist belief system makes sense when trying to figure out the universe and your role in it?
That will be covered next time.
Do not feel discouraged if you are having a difficult time understanding the Buddhist belief system. Do not feel discouraged if you are still undecided as whether or not the Buddhist belief system is valid or not. Instead, embrace the idea that you are truly motivated to find out the answers to the questions you have always wondered about. Embrace the idea that to continue researching these early belief systems of humanity is time well spent.
58 For they provoked Him to anger with their high places and moved Him to jealousy with their graven images. (Psalm 78:58 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
Those feelings are totally understandable and it is ok to have one or more of those feelings. Remember that you are reading Day 23: The Basics Of Buddhism.
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began: