Teachings of Buddha

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Buddha had realized the Truth by following a life of purity and discipline and asked his followers to follow the same path. His teaching were simple and he explained them in the language of the people, illustrating them with homely parables. Buddha condemned offering of prayers to God to win His favour.

Four great truths

Buddha’s teachings begin with the Four Great Truths.

Truth of Pain.

There is suffering and sorrow in the world. There is sorrow when one’s near or dear dies. There is sorrow when one falls ill. To be separated from things which we like, that also is sorrow. Not to get what one wants, that too is sorrow.

Truth of the Cause of Pain.

Everything has a cause. The cause of all types of sorrow is Trishna i.e., desire and cravings. Man is a bundle of cravings and desires and so long as he is a slave to these desire, he cannot escape from pain and sorrow.

Truth of Cessation of Pain

This pain of sorrow can be removed by suppressing desires and cravings.

Truth To Conquer Desires

It requires a disciplined life which Buddha called the Middle path or the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Noble Eightfold Path

In order to attain supreme bliss,every Buddhist is to follow the noble eightfold path.

• Right views: Every one must realize from his own experience that sorrow is the basis of life and that sorrow can end only by controlling desires.
• Right Aspirations: One must resolve to have nothing to do with material pleasures; and also resolve not to have malice against any other being.
• Right Speech: One must abstain from telling lies, slander, abuse, harsh words and gossips.
• Right Action: One is to be very vigilant when acting in life. No one should be injured mentally or physically by our actions.
• Right Living: One is not to follow the professions of a butcher’s, a slavedealer’s or a poison-seller’s.
• Right Efforts: One is to control evil thoughts and actions, and in their place try to have good thoughts and to do good by deliberate effort.
• Right Mindfulness i.e.Vigilances: Sometimes one’s mind misleads one. Through self-examination and self-study, self-mastery is to be acquired.
• Right Contemplation or Meditation: But still one cannot attain salvation without meditation. T

Nirvana

Nirvana is when a person attains freedom from the Wheel of Life or from the cycle of birth and death.

Ahimsa

Buddha held that no one should kill or injure animate beings.One of his ten commandments was “refrain from killing”. He said that one should cultivate life for all beings.

He, however, was opposed to all types of violence, because violence was against the principle of love. Love for humanity and love for all beings was essential for a good Buddhist.

Anatta or Non-self

Buddha also asked his followers to rise above “Anatta”, which means they should practise complete self-abnegation. He held that the “Anatta” consisted of five elements which were perishable; and the worldly people were running after those elements. Those five elements are: bodily form, perception, feeling, disposition and intellect. The seeker after truth should not run after these nor be a slave to them.

Karma

Buddha held that one of the chief features of the Universal law of Dharma is, “As man acts, so shall he be”. We make or mar our future. Thoughts, actions and feelings of the past have fashioned our present, and our present deeds will determine our future when we are reborn. No person can escape the consequences of his or her deeds.

Different teaching of Buddha centered round one point-Do good deeds and lead a highly moral and disciplined life.

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Tags: buddha, buddhism, great truth, karma, moksha, morality, nirvana, noble eightfold path, personal god, selfishness, teaching