Buddhism:- Dharma and Philosophy

In about the sixth century B.C. Siddhartha Gautama was born into a royal family. When he was a young adult his experiences with the outside world drove him to seek out a greater understanding of life and spiritual fulfillment.

The stories of his search presuppose the Jain tradition, as Gautama was for a time a practitioner of intense austerity, at one point almost starving himself to death. He decided, however, that self-torture weakened his mind while failing to advance him to enlightenment and therefore turned to a milder style of renunciation and concentrated on advanced meditation techniques.

Eventually, under a tree in the forests of Gaya (in modern Bihar), he resolved to stir no farther until he had solved the mystery of existence.

Buddhism forms an important part of Indian history and culture. Buddhism is a religion that is based on Dharma and Philosophy.

A Buddha is basically described as a person who “wakes up” from the “sleep of ignorance”. This is done through constant efforts such as meditation and abstaining from materialistic pleasures. The person realizes the true meaning of reality without any help from others and lives the rest of his life preaching knowledge for the benefit of others. A person who wants to attain inner bliss and true happiness should stay away from all worldly pleasures and do meditation in order to tame the mind. Nirvana can be attained by following the Four Noble Truths that lead you to the Eight Fold Path of nirvana.

Four Noble Truths Of Buddhism

Life is suffering;
Suffering is due to attachment;
Attachment can be overcome
There is a path for accomplishing this.

Eightfold Path Of Buddhism

Right view is the true understanding of the four noble truths.
Right aspiration is the true desire to free oneself from attachment, ignorance, and hatefulness.
Right speech involves abstaining from lying, gossiping, or hurtful talk.
Right action involves abstaining from hurtful behaviors, such as killing, stealing, and careless sex.
Right livelihood means making your living in such a way as to avoid dishonesty and hurting others, including animals.
Right effort is a matter of exerting oneself in regards to the content of one’s mind: Bad qualities should be abandoned and prevented from arising again; Good qualities should be enacted and nurtured.
Right mindfulness is the focusing of one’s attention on one’s body, feelings, thoughts, and consciousness in such a way as to overcome craving, hatred, and ignorance.
Right concentration is meditating in such a way as to progressively realize a true understanding of imperfection, impermanence, and non-separateness.

Image Credit: Indian Rides On Flickr

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