BUDDHISM FROM TEARS TO ENLIGHTENMENT

“Like stars fading and vanishing at dawn, Like bubbles on a fast moving stream, Like morning dewdrops
evaporating on blades of grass, like candle flickering in a stormy wind, echoes, mirages, and phantoms
hallucinations and like a dream.” – The Buddha

DHARMA (LAW OF SALVATION)

ADDITIONAL NOTE: dharma is the doctrine, the universal truth common to all individuals at all times,
proclaimed by the Buddha.

 A simple presentation of the gospel of inner cultivation of right spiritual attitudes, coupled with a
self-imposed discipline whereby bodily desires would be channeled in the right directions.
 He omitted any appeal to the gods as currently conceived; definitely rejected philosophical
speculations ; and spurned all recourse to ancient scriptures, outmoded rituals, or priestly
incantations
 Convinced that the way of escape from pain and misery lay in the transformation of one’s mind
and that liberation could come only with sloughing off of all vain clinging to the things of this life.

For Hindus, salvation comes in realizing that everything is one, everything is in union with Brahman and
one’s soul is the same as the universal soul. But for Buddhists, salvation is gained through the
understanding of the ways things really are according to the Buddha’s Dharma. Once an individual has
become enlightened they can then reach a state of nirvana. Nirvana is described as the extinguishment
of suffering by escaping the continuous cycle of rebirth called samsara. Recall that the goal for both
Hindus and Buddhists is to escape the samsaric cycle of rebirth—but each religion’s interpretation of
how to do this and what it meant to get off the cycle differed.

FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

 Life is full of suffering - it is suffering because we are not perfect nor is the world in which we live
perfect.
 Suffering is caused by passionate desires, lusts, cravings - attachment to transient things and
ignorance thereof. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a “self” which is a delusion,
because there is no abiding self. What we call “self” is just an imagined entity, and we are merely
a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.
 Only as these are obliterated, will suffering cease – The cessation of suffering can be attained
through the detachment of desire and craving.
 Such eradication of desire may be accomplished only by following the Eightfold Path of earnest
endeavour. – The end of suffering is achieved by seeking the middle path. It is the middle way
between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence and excessive self-mortification, leading
to the end of the cycle of rebirth.

EIGHTFOLD PATH

 Right belief and acceptance of the “Fourfold Truth” – it simply means to see and to understand
things as they really are and to realize the Four Noble Truths.
 Right aspiration for one’s self and for others – can be described as a commitment to ethical and
mental self-improvement.
  Right speech that harms no one – abstaining from the use of false, slanderous, and harmful
words which hurt others.
 Right conduct, motivated by goodwill toward all human beings – means to abstain from harming
others, abstain from taking what is not given to you, and avoid sexual misconduct.
 Right means of livelihood or earning one’s living by honourable means – means that one should
earn one’s living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully.
 Right endeavour, or effort to direct one’s energies toward wise ends – To simply put it it means
“Right Effort” is the prerequisite for the other principles of the path as one needs the will to act
or else nothing will be achieved.
 Right mindfulness in choosing topics for thought – the ability to contemplate actively one’s mind,
body, and soul.
 Right medication, or concentration to the point of complete absorption in mystic ecstacy.- Right
Concentration: the ability to focus on the right thoughts and actions through meditation.

WAY TO SALVATION

 Self abnegation
 Rigid discipline of mind and body
 Consuming love for all creatures
 Preparation for entering the Nirvana (enlightened wisdom)
 The effects of Karma are broken

ADDITIONAL NOTE: The way to salvation, in other words, lies through self-abnegation, rigid discipline of
mind and body, a consuming love for all living createres, and the final achievement ‘of that state of
consciousness which marks an individual’s full preparation for entering the Nirvana (enlightened
wisdom) of complete selfessness. In this state, the effects of the Law-of Cause and Effect (Karma) are
overcome; the Cycle of Rebirth is broken, and one may rest in the calm assurance of having attained a
heavenly bliss that will stretch into all eternity