Buddhism

Buddhism

What teachings would a convert to Buddhism have to accept? A convert Buddhism would have to take into account many guidelines to help them progress on the spiritual path to enlightenment, but as these teachings are only guidelines a Buddhist does not have to follow them.

One of the most basic Buddhist beliefs is known as the `3 Refuges'. A refuge is a place of shelter and safety from harm. The 3 things or `refuges' that Buddhists find safety or shelter in, when in times of trouble, are chanted in the `Tisinara'. They are: (Pali version) - Buddham saranam gacchami Dhammam saranam gacchami Sangham saranam gacchami This means in English - I take refuge in the Buddha I take refuge in the Dharma I take refuge in the Sangha Buddha is the enlightened being, Dharma is the teaching, and Sangha is the community.

A Buddhist can find refuge in the Buddha, as he is the first to find enlightenment, and he is an inspiration to find enlightenment. As he is a normal human figure A Buddhist can find refuge in the Dharma, as they are the teachings of the Buddha, and can help you to reach enlightenment, as it is there to give a Buddhist advice.

A Buddhist can find refuge in the Sangha, as this is the community of Buddhists. They can help and support you to find the right path to enlightenment. Another teaching a Buddhist may follow is The Three Marks of Conditioned Existence, Anicca, Anatta, and Dukkha. `Conditional Existence' is the idea that everyone depends on something else. For example a fish can't live without water, or a human can't live without air. Everything that exists needs something else to survive.

Anicca is the first mark of existence; it is a Buddhist assertion that `everything changes'. This is the idea that nothing is permanent, things are constantly changing, and nothing is fixed. Everything depends on conditions, which themselves can change. For example even stars and galaxies are gradually changing. Galaxies are formed by conditions that will eventually change. The second mark of conditional existence is `Anatta', which is the concept of no self.

A follower of the Buddha called Nagasena tried to explain the meaning of `Anatta' (no self). He compared `the self' like a chariot, which is made of many different parts.

If you were going to take it apart it would have different parts, wheel, axle, shaft etc. But there is no thing called a chariot among these parts. The chariot didn't exist when the parts were separated, and a chariot is not a `thing' at all. It is just a word for all the parts put together. The chariot is like a person, which is made out of loads of different things, body, feelings, instincts, thoughts, and understanding. These things are called The 5 Skandhas. There is no thing among the parts, which is called a `self'. When the self dies it will disappear because there is no actual thing called the self, like the chariot. It is just a word for parts that are put together in a certain order.

The idea of `no self' leads on to the idea of karma, which is the result of a persons actions. Not every single action effects kamma, just those that reflect on personal attitudes and choices. A persons present actions effects their future lives, in either a positive or negative way.

Buddhists also believe in reincarnation. Samsara is the world of suffering and change, where a Buddhist aims to escape by reaching enlightenment. The idea of reincarnation is where people are being constantly re-formed as the result of kamma. Action we have done, and words we have spoken which will create the results of our future lives. For example the flame of one lamp lighting another. It is not the same flame in the second lamp, but it has come about because of the first. Our kamma from our present lives goes on to our future lives. So although there is no fixed self (Anatta), our energy (kamma) moves on to another life (reincarnation).

The third mark of conditional existence is `Dukkha', that all life is `suffering' or `unsatisfactory'. The word `Dukkha' basically means suffering. It is death, disease, old age, and all kinds of obvious suffering, such as poverty, war, and violence. It also represents that life is unsatisfactory, no person in the world can be entirely happy. For example a person may have everything they desire, and be totally rich, but there is always the thought that it will all come to an end when they die. Or that they will eventually get bored of a life like this.

Dukkha can also be described as toothache of the sole, as it will never go away. A person will always desire something, or know that any happiness they have will eventually end. There is always something nagging at the back of everybody's minds and no matter what they do it won't go away.

The four Noble Truths were the subject of the first teaching, which is called the first sermon. This sermon is called `Setting in Motion the wheel of the Dharma'. Buddha delivered this to the five ascetics in the Deer Park at Sarnath. The four Noble Truths are like a medical formula as to cure it you need to know the problem, the cause of that problem, that the problem can be overcome, the way to achieve it.

The first of the four Noble Truths is Dukkha. Which is suffering, illness old age, and death etc. It is also the frustration with life and nothing is quite right. The Dharma says there are 3 poisons that lead to suffering - ignorance, greed and hatred.

The second is Tanha, which means the origin of suffering is craving. It is the attempt to grasp the things we enjoy, to own them, and to stop them from changing. This shows that people have emptiness that they need to fill, and that's why they crave things more and more.

The fourth Noble Truth is Magga (The Middle Way); this is the way that leads to the sensation of suffering. It is often set out in the form of a path of eight steps. These are not meant to be steps that a person has to take one after another, but eight features of the Buddhist life.

26th Feb 03 Question 2 How would these teachings affect the convert in daily life? Buddhism is like a path or a journey. It is something to be done not just something to be believed. A person becomes a Buddhist by following the Buddha and his teachings in the company of others.

There are many ways in which these teachings affect a Buddhists daily life. There are many different ways of setting out the Buddhist path, of which one of the best known is `The Noble Eightfold Path'. Which is one aspect that will influence a Buddhists everyday life.

There are three aspects to the