Buddhism who created this religion. Briefly about the history of Buddhism

The message about Buddhism summarized in this article will tell you a lot of useful information about one of the most influential religions in the world.

Report on Buddhism

The main object of worship and the founder of Buddhism is Prince Gautama Siddhartha. He lived in 563 - 483 BC. e. Therefore, this religion is one of the most ancient in the world.

According to legend, when Gautama turned 35, he achieved enlightenment and changed his life, as well as the lives of those people who followed him. They called him Buddha, which from Sanskrit means awakened, enlightened. He spread his sermons for 40 years and Siddhartha died at the age of 80. It is noteworthy that Siddhartha did not leave behind any written work.

How is God interpreted in Buddhism?

Sects that have separated from Buddhism revere Buddha as God. But the majority of followers see Siddhartha as a mentor, founder and educator. They are confident that enlightenment can only be achieved with the help of infinite Universal energy. Therefore, we can draw the following conclusion: the world of Buddhism does not recognize the existence of a creator god, omnipotent and omniscient. According to their beliefs, every person is part of a deity. Buddhists do not have a permanent God, because every enlightened person is capable of achieving the great title of “Buddha”. This understanding of God is what distinguishes Buddhism from other Western religions.

What is the essence of Buddhism?

The main desire of Buddhists is to purify the clouded state of mind that distorts reality. This state includes feelings of fear, anger, selfishness, ignorance, laziness, greed, envy, irritation, and so on.

Religion develops beneficial and pure qualities of consciousness: compassion, generosity, wisdom, kindness, gratitude, hard work. They help you gradually clear and understand your mind. When it becomes bright and strong, irritation and anxiety, leading to depression and adversity, decrease.

In general, Buddhism is a religion of more than a philosophical nature. Its doctrine contains 4 basic truths:

• about the origin and causes of suffering
• about the nature of suffering
• about ways to end suffering
• about ending suffering and eliminating its sources

All of them ultimately lead to the destruction of pain and suffering. The achieved state of the human soul allows one to plunge into transcendental meditation, achieving enlightenment and wisdom.

Ethics and Morality of Buddhism

Buddhist ethics and morality are based on the principles of not committing moderation and harm. In a person, religion educates and develops a sense of concentration, morality and wisdom. Meditation allows you to understand the workings of the mind and the cause-and-effect relationships between spiritual, bodily and psychological processes. Each level of the teachings of Buddhism is aimed at the comprehensive development of the human personality - mind, speech and body.

We hope that the report on Buddhism helped us learn a lot of useful information about this world religion. And you can leave your message about the religion of Buddhism using the comment form below.

The article is about Buddhism - a philosophical teaching that is often mistaken for a religion. This is probably not a coincidence. After reading a short article about Buddhism, you will decide for yourself to what extent Buddhism can be classified as a religious teaching, or rather, it is a philosophical concept.

Buddhism: briefly about religion

First of all, let's state from the outset that while Buddhism is a religion for most people, including its followers, Buddhism has never actually been a religion and never should be. Why? Because one of the first enlightened ones, Buddha Shakyamuni, despite the fact that Brahma himself charged him with the responsibility of transmitting the teaching to others (which Buddhists prefer to remain silent about for obvious reasons), never wanted to make a cult, much less a cult of worship, out of the fact of his enlightenment, which nevertheless subsequently led to the fact that Buddhism began to be understood more and more as one of the religions, and yet Buddhism is not one.

Buddhism is primarily a philosophical teaching, the purpose of which is to direct a person to search for truth, a way out of samsara, awareness and vision of things as they are (one of the key aspects of Buddhism). Also, in Buddhism there is no concept of God, i.e. it is atheism, but in the sense of “non-theism”, therefore, if Buddhism is classified as a religion, then it is a non-theistic religion, just like Jainism.

Another concept that testifies in favor of Buddhism as a philosophical school is the absence of any attempts to “link” man and the Absolute, while the very concept of religion (“linking”) is an attempt to “link” man with God .

As a counter-argument, defenders of the concept of Buddhism as a religion present that in modern societies, people professing Buddhism worship the Buddha and make offerings, as well as recite prayers, etc. To this, it can be said that the trends followed by the majority in no way reflect the essence Buddhism, but only show how modern Buddhism and its understanding have deviated from the original concept of Buddhism.

Thus, having understood for ourselves that Buddhism is not a religion, we can finally begin to describe the main ideas and concepts on which this school of philosophical thought is based.

Briefly about Buddhism

If we talk about Buddhism briefly and clearly, then it could be characterized in two words - “deafening silence” - because the concept of shunyata, or emptiness, is fundamental to all schools and branches of Buddhism.

We know that, firstly, during the entire existence of Buddhism as a philosophical school, many of its branches have been formed, the largest of which are considered to be the Buddhism of the “great vehicle” (Mahayana) and the “small vehicle” (Hinayana), as well as the Buddhism of “diamond paths" (Vajrayana). Zen Buddhism and the teachings of Advaita also gained great importance. Tibetan Buddhism is much more distinct from the main branches than other schools, and is considered by some to be the only true path.

However, in our time it is quite difficult to say which of the many schools is really closest to the original teachings of the Buddha about the dharma, because, for example, in modern Korea even newer approaches to the interpretation of Buddhism have appeared, and, of course, each of them claims to be the right truth.

The Mahayana and Hinayana schools rely mainly on the Pali canon, and in the Mahayana they also add the Mahayana sutras. But we must always remember that Shakyamuni Buddha himself did not write anything down and transmitted his knowledge exclusively orally, and sometimes simply through “noble silence.” Only much later did the Buddha's disciples begin to write down this knowledge, and thus it has come down to us in the form of a canon in the Pali language and Mahayana sutras.

Secondly, due to man’s pathological craving for worship, temples, schools, centers for the study of Buddhism, etc. were built, which naturally deprives Buddhism of its pristine purity, and each time innovations and new formations again and again alienate us from fundamental concepts. People, obviously, much prefer the concept of not cutting off what is unnecessary in order to see “what is”, but, on the contrary, endowing what already is with new qualities, embellishment, which only leads away from the original truth to new interpretations and unjustified hobbies ritualism and, as a result, to the oblivion of the origins under the weight of external decor.

This is not the fate of Buddhism alone, but rather a general tendency that is characteristic of people: instead of understanding simplicity, we burden it with more and more new conclusions, while it was necessary to do the opposite and get rid of them. This is what Buddha spoke about, this is what his teaching is about, and the ultimate goal of Buddhism is precisely for a person to realize himself, his Self, the emptiness and non-duality of existence, in order to ultimately understand that even the “I” is not really exists, and it is nothing more than a construct of the mind.

This is the essence of the concept of shunyata (emptiness). To make it easier for a person to realize the “deafening simplicity” of Buddhist teachings, Shakyamuni Buddha taught how to properly perform meditation. The ordinary mind accesses knowledge through the process of logical discourse, or rather, it reasons and draws conclusions, thereby arriving at new knowledge. But how new they are can be understood from the very prerequisites for their appearance. Such knowledge can never be truly new if a person came to it by a logical path from point A to point B. It is clear that he used starting and passing points in order to come to a “new” conclusion.

Conventional thinking does not see any obstacles in this; in general, this is a generally accepted method of obtaining knowledge. However, it is not the only one, not the most faithful and far from the most effective. Revelations, through which the knowledge of the Vedas was obtained, is a different and fundamentally different way of accessing knowledge, when knowledge itself reveals itself to man.

Features of Buddhism in brief: meditation and 4 types of emptiness

It was not by chance that we drew a parallel between two opposite ways of accessing knowledge, since meditation is the method that allows, over time, to obtain knowledge directly in the form of revelations, direct vision and knowledge, which is fundamentally impossible to do using this method. called scientific methods.

Of course, Buddha would not give meditation so that a person learns to relax. Relaxation is one of the conditions for entering a state of meditation, therefore it would be wrong to say that meditation itself promotes relaxation, but this is how the meditation process is often presented to ignorant people, beginners, which is why they get the wrong first impression, with which people continue live.

Meditation is the key that reveals to a person the greatness of emptiness, that same shunyata that we talked about above. Meditation is a central component of the teachings of Buddhism, because only through it can we experience emptiness. Again, we are talking about philosophical concepts, not physical-spatial characteristics.

Meditation in the broad sense of the word, including meditation-reflection, also bears fruit, because a person already in the process of meditative reflection understands that life and everything that exists is conditioned - this is the first emptiness, Sanskrit shunyata - the emptiness of the conditioned, which means that the conditioned lacks the qualities of the unconditioned: happiness, constancy (regardless of duration) and truth.

The second emptiness, asanskrita shunyata, or the emptiness of the unconditioned, can also be understood through meditation-reflection. The emptiness of the unconditioned is free from everything conditioned. Thanks to Asanskrit shunyata, vision becomes available to us - seeing things as they really are. They cease to be things, and we observe only their dharmas (in this sense, dharma is understood as a kind of flow, not in the generally accepted sense of the word “dharma”). However, the path does not end here either, because Mahayana believes that the dharmas themselves have a certain substance, and therefore emptiness must be found in them.

From here we come to the third type of emptiness - Mahashunyata. In it, as well as in the following form of emptiness, shunyata shunyata, lies the difference between Buddhism of the Mahayana tradition and Hinayana. In the two previous types of emptiness, we still recognize the duality of all things, duality (this is what our civilization is based on, the confrontation of two principles - bad and good, evil and good, small and great, etc.). But this is where the error is rooted, because you need to free yourself from accepting the differences between the conditioned and unconditioned existence, and even more - you need to come to understand that emptiness and non-emptiness are just another creation of the mind.

These are speculative concepts. Of course, they help us better understand the concept of Buddhism, but the longer we cling to the dual nature of existence, the further we are from the truth. In this case, truth again does not mean some idea, because it would also be material and belong, like any other idea, to the world of the conditioned, and therefore could not be true. By truth we should understand the very emptiness of mahashunyata, which brings us closer to true vision. Vision does not judge, does not divide, that is why it is called vision, this is its fundamental difference and advantage over thinking, because vision makes it possible to see what is.

But mahashunyata itself is another concept, and therefore cannot be complete emptiness, therefore the fourth emptiness, or shunyata, is called freedom from any concepts. Freedom from thought, but pure vision. Freedom from theories themselves. Only a mind free of theories can see the truth, the emptiness of emptiness, the great silence.

This is the greatness of Buddhism as a philosophy and its inaccessibility compared to other concepts. Buddhism is great because it does not try to prove or convince anything. There are no authorities in it. If they tell you that there is, don’t believe it. Bodhisattvas do not come to force anything on you. Always remember the Buddha's saying that if you meet Buddha, kill Buddha. You need to open up to the emptiness, hear the silence - this is the truth of Buddhism. His appeal is exclusively to personal experience, the discovery of a vision of the essence of things, and subsequently their emptiness: this briefly contains the concept of Buddhism.

The wisdom of Buddhism and the teaching of the “Four Noble Truths”

Here we deliberately did not mention the “Four Noble Truths,” which talk about dukkha, suffering, one of the cornerstones of the Buddha’s teachings. If you learn to observe yourself and the world, you yourself will come to this conclusion, and also to how you can get rid of suffering - the same way you discovered it: you need to continue to observe, to see things without “slipping.” into judgment. Only then can they be seen as they are. The philosophical concept of Buddhism, incredible in its simplicity, is nevertheless accessible for its practical applicability in life. She doesn't set conditions or make promises.

The doctrine of reincarnation is also not the essence of this philosophy. The explanation of the process of rebirth is perhaps what makes it suitable for use as a religion. By this she explains why a person appears in our world over and over again, and it also acts as a reconciliation of a person with reality, with the life and embodiment that he lives at this moment. But this is only an explanation already given to us.

The pearl of wisdom in the philosophy of Buddhism lies precisely in the ability and possibility of a person to see what is, and to penetrate behind the veil of secrecy, into the void, without any outside intervention, in the absence of an intermediary. This is exactly what makes Buddhism a much more religious philosophical teaching than all other theistic religions, since Buddhism provides a person with the opportunity to find what is, and not what is needed or someone has prescribed to look for. There is no goal in it, and therefore, it gives a chance for a real search, or, more correctly, for a vision, a discovery, because, no matter how paradoxical it may sound, you cannot find what you are striving for, what you are looking for, what you are expecting, i.e. Because what you are looking for becomes just a goal, and it is planned. You can truly find only that which you do not expect and do not look for - only then does it become a real discovery.

If you want to know what Buddhism is and how Buddhism can lead you to liberation from suffering and true happiness, then read the article to the end and you will have an idea about all the basic concepts of this teaching. You can find different information about Buddhism in different sources. Somewhere Buddhism is more similar to Western psychology and explains how with the help of meditation you can become calm, freeing yourself from attachments and desires. But somewhere Buddhism is described as an esoteric teaching that explains all events in a person’s life as a natural consequence of his karma. In this article I will try to look at Buddhism from different angles and convey what I myself heard from one of the followers of Buddhism - a Vietnamese monk who was born in a monastery and practiced Buddhism all his life.

What is Buddhism? Buddhism is the world's most popular religion, followed by more than 300 million people worldwide. The word Buddhism comes from the word budhi, which means to awaken. This spiritual teaching originated about 2,500 years ago when Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, himself awakened or became enlightened.

What is Buddhism? Is Buddhism a religion?

They say that Buddhism is one of the first world religions. But Buddhists themselves consider this teaching not to be a religion, but rather a science of human consciousness, which studies the causes of suffering and ways of liberation from them.

I, too, am closer to the opinion that Buddhism is more of a philosophy or a science in which there are no ready-made answers, and each person himself is a researcher of his own mind, consciousness and, in general, himself. And in the process of studying oneself, a person finds true unshakable happiness and inner freedom.

The Buddhist path can be described as follows:

• Lead a moral life
• Be mindful and aware of your thoughts, feelings and actions
• Develop wisdom, understanding and compassion

How can Buddhism help me?

Buddhism explains the purpose of life, it explains the apparent injustice and inequality throughout the world. Buddhism provides practical instructions and a way of life that leads to true happiness as well as material prosperity.

How does Buddhism explain the injustice of the world? Why can one person have a thousand times more benefits than millions of other people? When I said that Buddhism explains this injustice, I cheated a little, because in this spiritual teaching, there is no such thing as injustice.

Buddhism claims that the external world is something like an illusion, and this illusion is individual for each person. And this illusory reality is created by the human mind itself. That is, what you see in the world around you is a reflection of your mind. What you carry in your mind is what you see reflected, isn't that fair? And most importantly, every person has complete freedom to choose what to fill their mind with.

You probably thought that this knowledge can be used to change your reality, fulfill all your desires and become happy? It’s possible, but that’s not what Buddhism teaches.

Human desires are endless, and achieving what you want will not bring real happiness. The fact is that desire is an internal state of a person, and, I must say, this state causes suffering. When a person gets what he wants, this state does not disappear anywhere. It’s just that a new object of desire appears immediately, and we continue to suffer.

True happiness, according to Buddhism, is achieved not by changing what you carry in your mind, but by freeing your mind from all predispositions.

If you compare the mind to a film, then you can choose which film to watch: a sad one with a bad ending or an easy one with a happy ending. But true happiness is not watching a movie at all, because a movie is a pre-programmed predisposition.

The predispositions of the mind are precisely its content, which, reflected as if in a mirror, creates the reality of a person. It can also be thought of as a mental program that plays back and creates reality.

This program in Buddhism is called karma, and predispositions are also called imprints in the mind or sanskara.

We ourselves create imprints in our minds by reacting to external events. Notice that when you are angry, a kind of imprint of this emotion appears in your body; when you are grateful, it feels like a completely different imprint. These bodily imprints of your reactions will be the cause of events that will happen to you in the future.

And you have already realized that everything that is currently happening around you is the result of your past imprints. And these events try to evoke in you the same emotions that caused them.

This law in Buddhism is called law of cause and effect.

Therefore, any reaction to external events (vedana) becomes a cause that will lead to an event in the future that will again cause the same reaction in you. This is such a vicious circle. This cause-and-effect cycle is called in Buddhism the wheel of samsara.

And this circle can only be broken awareness. If an unpleasant situation happens to you, you automatically react the way you are used to, thereby creating another such situation in the future. This automaticity is the main enemy of awareness. Only when you consciously choose your reactions to everything that happens, you break this circle and get out of it. Therefore, by reacting to any situation with gratitude, no matter how much it contradicts the logic of the mind, you fill your mind with good imprints and form a completely new, better reality in your future.

But I will repeat once again that the goal of Buddhism is not only to create favorable imprints in the mind, but, in principle, to free oneself from any programs and predispositions, both bad and good.

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Selfishness is the cause of all suffering

Buddhism teaches that all suffering comes from the false concept of Self. Yes, the existence of a separate Self is just another concept created in the mind. And it is this I, which in Western psychology is called the Ego, that suffers.

Any suffering can only stem from a person’s attachment to himself, his ego and selfishness.

What a Buddhist Master does is destroy this false Ego, freeing the student from suffering. And this is usually painful and scary. But it's effective.

Probably one of the most famous practices for getting rid of egoism is tonglen. To perform it, you need to imagine a familiar person in front of you and with each breath mentally draw into yourself, into the solar plexus area, all his suffering and pain in the form of a black cloud. And with every exhalation, give all your happiness and all the best that you have or that you would like to have. Imagine your close friend (if you are a woman) and mentally give her everything you want for yourself: a lot of money, a better man, talented children, etc. And take away all her suffering for yourself. It is even more effective to do this practice with your enemies.

Practice tonglen twice a day in the morning and evening for 5-10 minutes for 3 weeks. And you will see the result.

The practice of tonglen is something that will give you positive imprints in your mind, which after some time will come to you in the form of what you gave up and gave to another person.

What are reactions in Buddhism

Imagine that a loved one betrayed you. This makes you angry, resentful, angry. But think about it, are you obligated to experience these feelings? The question is not whether you can feel something else at this moment, such as gratitude. But is this option purely theoretically possible? There is no law that says you have to feel resentment or anger in this situation. You make your own choice.

We react to situations with negative emotions only because we are in the dark. We confuse cause and effect, switching their places, believing that situations evoke feelings in us. In fact, feelings cause situations, and situations only tend to evoke in us the same feelings that caused them. But we are not obliged to react to them the way they want. We ourselves can make our own conscious spiritual choices.

The world completely reflects our feelings.

We don’t see this only because this reflection occurs with a time delay. That is, your current reality is a reflection of past feelings. What's the point of reacting to the past? Isn't this the greatest stupidity of a person who is in ignorance? Let's leave this question open and smoothly move on to the next fundamental principle of Buddhist philosophy.

Open mind

It was not for nothing that I suggested leaving the question from the last part open. In one of the most common forms of Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, it is not customary to create concepts of the mind. Feel the difference between reasoning and thinking.

Reasoning always has a logical conclusion - a ready answer. If you like to reason and have an answer to any question, you are a smart guy who still needs to grow and grow in awareness.

Reflection is a state of open mind. You are pondering the question, but do not deliberately come to a logical complete answer, leaving the question open. It's a kind of meditation. Such meditation develops awareness and promotes the rapid growth of human consciousness.

In Zen Buddhism there are even special tasks-questions for meditative reflection, which are called koans. If someday a Buddhist master asks you such a koan problem, do not rush to answer it with a smart look, otherwise you might get hit on the head with a bamboo stick. A koan is a riddle without a solution, it is created for reflection, not for cleverness.

If you decide to follow Zen Buddhism, you can close this article and discard any other ready-made answers to your eternal questions. After all, I’m also building concepts here. Is it good or bad?

Non-judgmental perception in Buddhism

So is this good or bad? How did you answer the question from the last chapter?

But a Buddhist would not answer at all. Because non-judgmental perception– another cornerstone of Buddhism.

According to Buddhism, such assessments as “good” and “bad”, “good” and “evil” and any duality exist only in the human mind and are an illusion.

If you paint a black dot on a black wall, you won't see it. If you draw a white dot on a white wall, you won't see it either. One can see a white dot on a black wall and vice versa only because there is an opposite. Also, good does not exist without evil and evil does not exist without good. And any opposites are parts of one whole.

When you create any assessment in your mind, for example, “good,” you immediately create its opposite in your own mind, otherwise how would you distinguish this “good” of yours?

How to Practice Buddhism: Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a core practice of Buddhism. You can sit in meditation like Buddha for many years. But for this you need to go to a monastery and renounce secular life. This path is hardly suitable for us ordinary people.

Fortunately, you don't have to sit under a banyan tree to practice mindfulness.

Mindfulness can be practiced in everyday life. To do this, you need to impartially and carefully observe what is happening at the moment.

If you carefully read the article, then you already understand that the present moment that all the Masters talk about is not what is happening around you. The present moment is what is happening inside you. Your reactions. And first of all, your bodily sensations.

After all, it is bodily sensations that are reflected in the mirror of the world - they create imprints in your mind.

So, be aware. Keep your attention in the present moment, here and now.

And carefully observe impartially:

• Bodily sensations and emotions are reactions to what is happening in the outside world.
• Thoughts. Buddhism teaches that thoughts are not you. Thoughts are the same events of the “external world”, but which occur in your mind. That is, thoughts are also predispositions that also leave their imprints. You cannot choose your thoughts, thoughts appear out of nowhere on their own. But you can choose your reactions to them.
• Surrounding area. In addition to the “present” moment, you also need to be very sensitive to the entire space around you, to be attentive to people and nature. But keep all your senses under control, not allowing them to influence your internal state.

Buddhism in Questions and Answers

Why is Buddhism becoming popular?

Buddhism is becoming popular in Western countries for a number of reasons. The first good reason is that Buddhism has solutions to many of the problems of modern materialistic society. It also provides deep insight into the human mind and natural treatments for chronic stress and depression. Mindfulness meditation or mindfulness is already used in official Western medicine to treat depression.

The most effective and advanced psychotherapeutic practices are borrowed from Buddhist psychology.

Buddhism is spreading in the West primarily among educated and wealthy people, because, having covered their primary material needs, people strive for conscious spiritual development, which ordinary religions with outdated dogmas and blind faith cannot provide.

Who was Buddha?

Siddhartha Gautama was born in 563 BC into a royal family in Lumbini in modern-day Nepal.

At the age of 29, he realized that wealth and luxury do not guarantee happiness, so he researched various teachings, religions and philosophies of the time to find the key to human happiness. After six years of study and meditation, he finally found the "middle path" and became enlightened. After his enlightenment, the Buddha spent the rest of his life teaching the principles of Buddhism until his death at the age of 80.

Was Buddha God?

No. Buddha was not God and did not claim to be. He was an ordinary man who taught the path to enlightenment from his own experience.

Do Buddhists worship idols?

Buddhists respect Buddha images, but do not worship or ask for favor. Buddha statues with hands resting on laps and a compassionate smile remind us to strive to cultivate peace and love within ourselves. Worshiping the statue is an expression of gratitude for the teaching.

Why are so many Buddhist countries poor?

One of the Buddhist teachings is that wealth does not guarantee happiness, and wealth is not permanent. In every country, people suffer, whether rich or poor. But those who know themselves find true happiness.

Are there different types of Buddhism?

There are many different types of Buddhism. Accents vary from country to country due to customs and culture. What does not change is the essence of the teaching.

Are other religions true?

Buddhism is a belief system that is tolerant of all other beliefs or religions. Buddhism is consistent with the moral teachings of other religions, but Buddhism goes further by providing long-term purpose to our existence through wisdom and true understanding. True Buddhism is very tolerant and does not concern itself with labels such as "Christian", "Muslim", "Hindu" or "Buddhist". This is why there have never been wars in the name of Buddhism. This is why Buddhists do not preach or proselytize, but explain only when an explanation is required.

Is Buddhism a science?

Science is knowledge that can be developed into a system that depends on observation and verification of facts, and on the establishment of general natural laws. The essence of Buddhism fits into this definition because the Four Noble Truths (see below) can be tested and proven by anyone. In fact, the Buddha himself asked his followers to test the teachings rather than accept his word as true. Buddhism depends more on understanding than on faith.

What did Buddha teach?

The Buddha taught many things, but the basic concepts in Buddhism can be summed up by the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

What is the first noble truth?

The first truth is that life is suffering, that is, life includes pain, aging, disease and ultimately death. We also endure psychological suffering such as loneliness, fear, embarrassment, disappointment and anger. This is an irrefutable fact that cannot be denied. This is realistic rather than pessimistic, because pessimism expects things to be bad. Instead, Buddhism explains how we can avoid suffering and how we can be truly happy.

What is the second noble truth?

The second truth is that suffering is caused by desire and aversion. We will suffer if we expect other people to live up to our expectations, if we want others to like us, if we don't get what we want, etc. In other words, getting what you want is not guarantees happiness. Instead of constantly struggling to get what you want, try changing your desires. Desire robs us of satisfaction and happiness. A life full of desires, and especially the desire to continue to exist, creates a powerful energy that forces a person to be born. Thus desires lead to physical suffering because they force us to be reborn.

What is the third noble truth?

The third truth is that suffering can be overcome and happiness can be achieved. That true happiness and contentment are possible. If we give up the useless craving of desires and learn to live in the present moment (without dwelling in the past or imagined future), then we can become happy and free. Then we will have more time and energy to help others. This is Nirvana.

What is the Fourth Noble Truth?

The fourth truth is that the Noble Eightfold Path is the path that leads to the end of suffering.

What is the Noble Eightfold Path?

The Noble Eightfold Path or middle path consists of eight rules.

- correct view or understanding of the four noble truths from one's own experience

- the right intention or unshakable decision to follow the Buddhist path

- correct speech or refusal of lies and rudeness

- correct behavior or refusal to harm living beings

- living or earning a living in accordance with Buddhist values

- correct effort or development in oneself of qualities conducive to awakening

- right mindfulness or continuous awareness of body sensations, thoughts, mental images

- right concentration or deep concentration and meditation to achieve liberation

What is karma?

Karma is the law that every cause has an effect. Our actions have results. This simple law explains a number of things: inequality in the world, why some are born disabled and some gifted, why some live short lives. Karma emphasizes the importance of each person taking responsibility for their past and present actions. How can we check the karmic effect of our actions? The answer is summarized by considering (1) the intention behind the action, (2) the action's impact on oneself, and (3) the effect on others.

Relig. Philosopher a teaching that arose in ancient India in the 6th-5th centuries. BC e. and transformed in the course of its development into one of the three, along with Christianity and Islam, world religions. Founder of B. ind. Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who received... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

Religion founded by Gautama Buddha (6th century BC). All Buddhists revere Buddha as the founder of the spiritual tradition that bears his name. In almost all areas of Buddhism there are monastic orders, whose members act as teachers and... ... Collier's Encyclopedia

In the second half of the 6th first quarter of the 5th century. BC e. Another religious and philosophical teaching arose, which entered into open confrontation with the Vedic religious and mythological thinking and was so clearly manifested in the Vedas and epics. It is connected... Encyclopedia of Mythology

- (from Buddha). Religious doctrine founded by Buddha; confession of this teaching and worship of Buddha as a deity. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. BUDDHISM [Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Buddhism- – if necessary VI Vғ.ғ. Let's go back and forth between philosophy and philosophy. Negіzіn qalaushy Siddhartha Gautama (Gotama), key ol Buddha dep atalgan (magynasy – kozi ashylgan, oyangan, nurlangan). Ol oz uagyzdarynda brahmanismdі baylyk pen san… … Philosophy terminerdin sozdigi

Buddhism- a, m. bouddhisme m. One of the world religions that arose in the 6th century. BC e. in India and named after its legendary founder Gautami, who later received the name Buddha (enlightened); Buddhism became widespread in China... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

Buddhism is now split into two different Churches: Southern and Northern. The former is said to be a purer form as it more strictly preserves the original teachings of the Lord Buddha. This is the religion of Ceylon, Siam, Burma and other countries, at that time... Religious terms

Cm … Synonym dictionary

One of the three world religions. Originated in Ancient India in the 6th-5th centuries. BC in India and named after its legendary founder Gautama, who later received the name Buddha (enlightened). The founder is considered to be Siddhartha Gautama. Buddhism... ... Encyclopedia of Cultural Studies

BUDDHISM- is now split into two different Churches: Southern and Northern. The former is said to be a purer form as it more strictly preserves the original teachings of the Lord Buddha. It is the religion of Ceylon, Siam, Burma and other countries, while... ... Theosophical Dictionary

BUDDHISM, one of the three world religions along with Christianity and Islam. B. originated in ancient India in the 6th–5th centuries. BC e. and in the course of its development it was divided into a number of religious and philosophical schools. The founder of B. is considered to be the Indian prince Siddhartha... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

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Gilded pagodas, giant statues, soothing music are famous Buddhist symbols. Previously, they were associated exclusively with the culture of the East. But in recent decades, Europeans have become actively interested in Asian teachings. Why is this happening? Let's figure out what the essence of Buddhism is.

The essence of Buddhism.

Brief essence of Buddhism: history and modernity

Almost 300 million people on Earth call themselves Buddhists. The teaching was brought to people by the Indian prince Siddhartha Gautama, who lived 2.5 thousand years ago. The legend says that the future religious teacher spent his childhood and youth in luxury, without worries and worries. At the age of 29, he saw poverty, illness and death of other people for the first time.

The prince realized that wealth does not relieve suffering, and went in search of the key to true happiness. For six years he traveled around the world, getting acquainted with the philosophical theories of different peoples. Spiritual quests led Gautama to “buddhi” (enlightenment). Then Buddha taught the principles of the new teaching until his death.

• live decently and honestly;
• study the thoughts and actions of other people and your own;
• treat others with wise understanding.

Buddhists believe that by following these ideas, one can get rid of suffering and achieve bliss.

Buddhism: the essence of religion, spiritual foundations

Gautama's teachings spread throughout the world. It contains solutions to the problems of modern society, aimed at the pursuit of material wealth. Buddhism teaches that wealth does not guarantee happiness. Buddhist philosophy is of interest to those who want to understand the depth of human thinking and learn natural methods of healing.

Buddhists are tolerant of all other religions. This belief system is based on wisdom and understanding. Therefore, in world history there have never been wars in the name of Buddhism.

The 4 Noble Truths of Buddhism are acceptable to any civilized person.

1. The essence of life is suffering, i.e. illness, aging, death. Mental suffering is also painful - disappointment, loneliness, melancholy, anger, fear. But the teachings of Buddhism do not call for pessimism, but explain how to free yourself from suffering and come to happiness.
2. Suffering is caused by desires. People suffer when their expectations are not met. Instead of living to satisfy your passions, you just need to change your desires.
3. Suffering will stop if you give up meaningless passions and live for today. You shouldn’t get stuck in the past or an imaginary future; it’s better to direct your energy to helping people. Getting rid of desires gives freedom and happiness. In Buddhism this state is called nirvana.
4. The noble eightfold path leads to nirvana. It consists of right views, aspirations, words, actions, livelihood, effort, awareness and concentration.

Following these truths requires courage, patience, psychological flexibility and a developed mind.

Buddhist teachings are attractive because they can be comprehended and tested through personal experience. This religion claims that the solution to all problems lies not outside, but within the person himself. She gives her followers perseverance in the face of any adversity, spiritual harmony and a happy, measured life.