About
Buddhism
Four Noble Truths
Buddhism is a path of intellectual depth as well as deep heart centered focus. The Buddhist path seeks a logical approach to spiritual understanding. Through mental discipline and guided awareness, one overcomes poisons with specific antidotes.
The Four Noble Truths is integral to the Buddhist system of thought. Simply put the Buddhist world view is summed into these four tenants:
- There is suffering in life
- There is a cause of suffering
- There is also an end of suffering
- Cessation of suffering is through the Eightfold Path
Sometimes we talk about the the Buddhist view that “Life is Suffering.” While some will say Buddhism doesn’t mean to say that, I think it does and I think it’s correct. As my old llama used to day, those pleasurable things in life are fleeting. Things we love become things we hate, or we lose them to death.
Due to the impermanence nature of life, and our grasping nature to impermanent things, suffering persists. Removal of suffering is opening unto enlightenment.
Eightfold Path
Through changes, the causes of suffering can be eliminated. These changes are counted in 8 elements:
- Right View
- Right Intention
- Right Speech
- Right Action
- Right Livelihood
- Right Effort
- Right Mindfulness
- Right Concentration
Many of these can be summed into an idea of non-harming in Body, Speech and Mind.