Siddharta made a difficult judgement and decided to leave his home in search to end all this torment people face. Siddharta meditated for six years searching for the answer with his first disciples. He meditated systematically to reach enlightenment trying to detach his mind from earthly bonds. First, he sat in the lotus position having his spine erect and legs crossed. Then he continued to breathe inhaling through one nostril and exhaling through the next. He focuses his mind to go to a higher stage. Meditation was the vehicle to take him to nirvana, the absolute and eternal. The state we are in is samsara, a world of duality. “Nirvana consists in the psychological stance that makes you indifferent to suffering.” (Campbell, 108)
Siddharta does not receive enlightenment instantly; he sits under a banyan tree and meditates. Buddha, the awakened one, utters his first words after enlightenment: "Thro' many a birth in samsara wandered
Seeking, but not finding, the builder of this house.
Sorrowful is repeated birth.
House builder, thou art seen.
Thou shalt build no house again.
All thy rafters are broken; thy ridgepole is shattered.
The mind attains the unconditioned.
Achieved is the end of craving."
The Buddha said that he was enlightened only after he understood these Four Noble Truths. The Noble Truths are describing human sicknesses. 1) There is no doubt that people have to suffer in their life. 2.) This suffering makes them dissatisfied because they are possessive, greedy, and self centered. 3.) These feelings, possessive, greed and egocentricism can be defeated. 4.) To remove these feelings, a person must follow the Eight Fold Path in behaviour, thought, and deed that will create a beneficial change in the perspective. The rational of the Eightfold Path has a specific design to be simple and effective. “The eight requirements will eliminate suffering by correcting false values and giving true knowledge of life’s meaning.” (Ross, 91)
The path consisted of:
“1. Right understanding means to know and understand the Four Noble Truths,
2. Right attitude means to have three kinds of thoughts or attitudes:
(i) Thoughts of renunciation or an attitude of "letting go".
(ii) Thoughts of goodwill to others, which are opposed to ill will.
(iii) Thoughts of harmlessness, as opposed to cruelty.
3. Right speech deals with refraining from falsehood, such as telling lies or not telling the truth; tale-bearing or saying bad things about other people; harsh words and frivolous talk such as gossiping.
4. Right action deals with refraining from killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct.
5. Right livelihood deals with the five kinds of trade which should be avoided in order to lead a noble life. They are trading in arms (weapons), living beings (breeding animals for slaughter), intoxicating drinks, and poison.
6. Right effort has four parts using meditation:
(i) To try to stop unwholesome thoughts that has arisen
(ii) To prevent unwholesome thoughts from arising.
(iii) To try to develop good thoughts
(iv) To try to maintain good thoughts that have arisen
7. Right mindfulness is also fourfold. It is mindfulness of the body, mindfulness of feelings/sensations, mindfulness of thoughts passing through the mind, and mindfulness of Dharma.
8. Right concentration is one-pointed ness of mind as developed in meditation.
These eight factors can be grouped into three smaller groups, as follows:
Sila (morality) right speech, right action, right livelihood.
Samadhi (concentrated mind in meditation) right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
Panna (wisdom) right attitude, right understanding.
These three—morality, concentration and wisdom—are the three stages on the path to mental purity whose object is nirvana. This beautiful verse summarizes the concept: To cease from evil, to do what is good. To cleanse one's mind: This is the advice of all the Buddhas” (Buddha Net)
To become enlightened, the correct path of meditation must be followed. There are seven Chakras (wheels) in the body that must be in focus. You could imagine a snake slithering from the spine moving slowly upwards toward the top of the head in order to get out from the top. Chakra 1 is the root bases the spine where there is no action. It is in a state of inertia. The second Chakra is the sex organs, which is procreation and sexual excitement. The third Chakra is the stomach which symbolizes power or aggression. Chakra four is the heart with love and compassion. This Chakra transforms the energy from trying to conquer into understanding and merging with. The fifth Chakra is the throat symbolizing purging of aggression from Chakra three. Chakra six is the forehead where the soul and psyche is holding the love for the divine. Chakra seven is the top of the head where the soul becomes one with the beloved and there is unification. The person reaches into the state of Nirvana; there is only calm and peace. The yogi is able to reach the state of nirvana by doing this mediation focusing on breathing and conquering desire and fear. Understanding of the
There are two schools of Buddhism that a person could follow in order to reach the desired state, nirvana. The Theravada and the Mahayana are teachings based on the same historical Buddha although they have cultural differences. The basis of Buddha Dharma (Truth) is the same, although the practices vary. The Theravada teachings focused more on the eightfold path and meditation practices where the Mahayana gained more people and had to accommodate them in their teachings. The Mahayana has 56% of adherents totalling 185,000,000 people. (Buddha Net). The main differences could be shown in the following table:
(Brown)
Buddhism has spread largely across Asia, although, throughout the 20th century, Buddhism has been one of the fastest growing religions. Compared to the other religions Buddhism is ranked as number 4 prior to Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Atheist. There are 350 million Buddhist, which is 6% of the world’s population, as shown on the pie chart below.
(Buddha Net)
Buddhism has left its mark on today’s society. This form of religion is centered on reaching nirvana. The absolute and eternal state where there is no hatred or harm that can be done. By understanding Buddha’s life and the sacrifices he made to end the suffering people can give their total devotion to obtaining nirvana. Even though, Buddhism is not centered on a “God” or “prayer” they reach a salvation similar to Christianity. They meditate and focus onto themselves trying to strike a balance between spiritual life and the world of duality. The spread of Buddhism has been constant through out the centuries. Buddhism has had a great impact on Asian culture, although the west is accepting this new “way of life” as a solution of many social problems.
Bibliography
Brown, J.S. “The Mahayana Tradition”. Online posting. 28 Aug, 2002.
<http://www.religioustolerance.org/budd_mah.htm >
Campbell, Joseph. “Transformation of Myths Through Time” New York: Haper and
Row, Publisher, Inc, 1990
Hesse, Herman. “Siddharta” New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1957
Ross, Nancy Wilson. “Three Ways of Asian Wisdom” New York: Book Stratford Press,
Inc, 1996
Pannyavaro, Ven. “Buddha Net” Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc, 2002
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