The founder of Buddhism is Gotama Buddha. Gotama was born into a royal family and, consequently, lived a privileged life. Being severely dissatisfied with his life, he renounced his wealth to become a monk. He lived as an ascetic until he realized that asceticism was not the way to enlightenment. He then traveled to Buddhagaya to meditate under the Bodhi tree; it was under this tree that Buddha became enlightened. Once enlightened, Buddha went out into the world and taught others about Enlightenment. (Nakamura 1-56).
Buddha taught the concept of the Middle Way. Nakamura sums it up best: "One should realize that there are two extreme practices which should be followed by a man of the path…if you abandon these two extremes and adopt the Middle Way you will achieve brilliance, wisdom, concentration, and liberation" (78).
Enlightenment helps us to escape from the endless cycle of birth and rebirth. The Enlightened Buddha escaped this cycle at his earthly death.
The goal of enlightenment is Nirvana, or a release.
There are four noble truths. They are suffering, the cause of suffering,
the end of suffering (enlightenment), and the path to the end of suffering
(Rahula 16).
There are three types of suffering: ordinary suffering, suffering produced
by change, and suffering as a conditioned state (Rahula 19).
The path to the end of suffering is an Eight Fold Path, which includes: right
understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood,
right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration (Rahula 45).
A 'being' is made up of five aggregates. They are the aggregate of matter,
the aggregate of sensation, the aggregate of perceptions, the aggregate of
mental formations, and the aggregate of consciousness (Rahula 20-23).
"This means that all the Four Noble Truths are found within the Five
Aggregates, i.e., within ourselves" (Rahula 42).
Buddhism does not believe in a Soul, known as Atman. The idea of self is
not real and can lead to selfishness (Rahula 51).
Buddhism advocates the practice of meditation. According to Ticht Nhat Hanh, "Meditation is to be aware of what is going on-in our bodies, in our feelings, in our minds, and in the world (4).
Rahula, Walpola. What the Buddha Taught. New York: Grove Press, 1974.
Nakamura, Hajime. Gotama Buddha. Tokyo: Kenkyusha Printing Co., 1987.
Hanh, Ticht Nhat. Being Peace. Berkley, CA: Parallax Press, 1996.
