Buddhism Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-15-2022

Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world; it encompasses several branches (or schools), including Theravada and Mahayana. In addition to fundamental teachings on the nature of reality, Buddhism offers a systematic approach involving techniques and practices that enable its followers to experience a deeper level of reality directly for themselves.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

As he guided his followers over the 45 years that he taught, Buddha recognized four distinct levels or stages of realization, each one marked by a deep and unmistakable experience of selflessness followed by certain changes in outlook and behavior. The experience generally occurs during intensive meditation, when the attention has become one-pointed, and follows extensive study and understanding of the basic truths of Buddhism (especially the three marks of existence: selflessness, impermanence, and dissatisfaction). The following list explains the four distinct stages on the path to nirvana. Stream-enterer: The first direct insight into selflessness is often the most powerful because it's unlike anything you've ever experienced before. For a timeless moment (which may last just an instant), no one is there — that is, there's no trace of a separate self anywhere. A feeling of tremendous relief, often accompanied by joy and bliss, generally follows the experience: At last, you've had the insight you've been seeking for so long. At last, you've "entered the stream" of realization. When you become a stream-enterer, you can never again believe that you're really a separate self that lives inside your head and looks through your eyes. Your experience forever eliminates this illusion. When you look within, you can't find a self anywhere. In everyday life, however, you may still feel like a separate somebody and may still get caught up by greed, anger, ignorance, and various other negative feelings and patterns. Fortunately, the stage of stream-enterer also brings an unshakable confidence and dedication to the Buddhist spiritual path, so you're motivated to keep deepening and refining your realization. Once-returner: After you become a stream-enterer, your practice includes reminding yourself of your new realization of "no-self," as well as paying attention to the ways that you're still attached and your resistance to life as it unfolds. After a period of time (generally years of devoted practice) in which your concentration gets even stronger and your mind becomes even more tranquil, you have another direct insight into no-self. (Remember, knowing this truth as a concept or memory is one thing, but experiencing it directly, beyond the conceptual mind, is something else entirely.) This insight (essentially the same as the first but even stronger and clearer) brings a significant reduction in attachment and aversion and the suffering that accompanies these states of mind. For example, occasional irritation and preference replace hatred and greed, which no longer have any hold over the once-returner. Someone who reaches this stage has only one more rebirth before becoming completely enlightened — hence the name once-returner. Never-returner: After the experience that signals entry to this stage, all of the worst hindrances, such as hatred, greed, jealousy, and ignorance, completely drop away, but a hint of a self-sense (a "me") still remains — and with it, the slightest trace of restlessness and dissatisfaction sticks around as well. The experience itself is rarely accompanied by any emotion or excitement, just a clearer recognition of what has already been seen twice before. These people appear to be extremely content, peaceful, and without desire, but the subtlest preference for positive rather than negative experiences remains. Arhat: At this stage, the path bears ultimate fruit in nirvana — any residual trace of a separate self falls away for good. The experience, frequently accompanied by unimaginable bliss, has been compared to falling into the depths of a cloud and disappearing. At this point, the circumstances of life no longer have the slightest hold over you; positive or negative experiences no longer stir even the slightest craving or dissatisfaction. As Buddha said, all that needed to be done has been done. There's nothing further to realize. The path is complete, and no further rebirths are necessary.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

On many occasions, Buddha himself said that your mind creates, shapes, and experiences everything that happens to you, without a single exception. That's why, from the Buddhist point of view, what goes on inside you (in your mind) is much more important in determining whether you're happy or miserable than any of the outer circumstances of your life. Hold it right there. Does what you just read sound reasonable? Do the inner workings of your mind really have a greater effect on you than, say, your possessions or your surroundings? After all, big companies and advertising agencies spend billions of dollars every year trying to convince you that the opposite is true! In their eyes, your best shot at achieving happiness is to buy whatever they're selling. They appeal to the "if only" mentality: If only you drove a fancier car, lived in a bigger house, gargled with a stronger mouthwash, and used a softer toilet paper — then you'd be truly happy. Even if you don't believe everything advertisers tell you, don't you believe that the external conditions of your life determine how well off you are? You should get into the habit of asking yourself these types of questions when you come across new information. Investigating points brought up in a book that you're reading or in teachings you receive isn't an intellectual game or idle pastime. If done properly, such questioning becomes a vital part of your spiritual development. As Buddha himself indicated, merely accepting certain statements as true while rejecting others as false without examining them closely doesn't accomplish very much. In this case, examination is particularly important because the questions concern the best way to live your life. Should your pursuit of happiness focus mainly on the accumulation of possessions and other "externals"? Or is primarily devoting yourself to putting your inner house in order the better way to go? To get a feel for how you might go about examining this issue, consider the following situation. Two friends of yours, call them Jennifer and Karen, take a vacation together to Tahiti. They stay in the same luxurious guesthouse, eat the same food prepared by the same master chef, lounge on the same pristine beaches, and engage in the same recreational activities. But, when they get home and tell you about their trip, their stories sound like they vacationed in two completely different worlds! For Jennifer, Tahiti was heaven on Earth, but for Karen, it was pure hell. For every wonderful experience Jennifer brings up, Karen tells you about two awful ones. This situation is hypothetical, of course, but doesn't it sound familiar? Hasn't something like this happened to you or your friends? Consider one more scenario. During wartime, two friends get thrown into a prison camp. As in the previous example, both soldiers end up in identical situations, but this time, the outward conditions are miserable. One soldier experiences extreme mental torment due to the horrible physical conditions and ends up bitter and broken in spirit; the other manages to rise above his surroundings, even becoming a source of strength for the other prisoners. True stories like this scenario aren't rare, so how can you account for them? These examples (and relevant ones from your own experience) demonstrate that the outer circumstances of your life aren't the only factors — or even the most important ones — in determining whether you're content or not. If external conditions were more important than the condition of your mind, both Jennifer and Karen would've loved Tahiti, both prisoners would have been equally miserable, and no rich and famous person would ever contemplate suicide. The more closely you look, the more clearly you'll see (if the Buddhist teachings are correct on this point) that your mental attitude is what mainly determines the quality of your life. This is not to say, however, that your outer circumstances count for nothing, any more than a person has to give away all of his or her possessions to be a sincere spiritual seeker. But, without developing your inner resources of peace and mental stability, no amount of worldly success — whether measured in terms of wealth, fame, power, or relationships — can ever bring real satisfaction. Or, as someone once said, "Money can't buy happiness; it can only allow you to select your particular form of misery."

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Socrates, one of the fathers of Western philosophy, claimed that the unexamined life isn't worth living, and most Buddhists would certainly agree with him. Because of the importance they place on logical reasoning and rational examination, many Buddhist traditions and schools have a strong philosophical flavor. Others place more emphasis on the direct, non-conceptual investigation and examination that take place during the practice of meditation. In either approach, direct personal experience based on self-awareness is considered key. Although Buddhism emphasizes direct investigation and experience, it does put forth certain philosophical tenets that sketch out a basic understanding of human existence and serve as guidelines and inspirations for practice and study. Over the centuries, Buddhism actually grew into a variety of schools and traditions, each of which had its own more or less elaborate and distinct understanding of what Buddha taught. In addition to the discourses memorized during the founder's lifetime and recorded after his death, numerous other scriptures emerged many centuries later that were attributed to him. Despite all its philosophical sophistication, however, Buddhism remains at heart an extremely practical religion. Buddha has often been called the Great Physician for good reason: He always avoided abstract speculation and made identifying the cause of human suffering and providing ways to eliminate it his chief concern. Likewise, the teachings (known as the dharma) he shared are known as powerful medicine to cure the deeper dissatisfaction that afflicts us all. Buddha's first and best-known teaching, the Four Noble Truths (suffering; cause of suffering; cessation of suffering; the path that leads to the cessation of suffering), outlines the cause of suffering and the means for eliminating it. All subsequent teachings merely expand and elaborate upon these fundamental truths. At the core of all genuine dharma teachings is the understanding that suffering and dissatisfaction originate in the way your mind responds and reacts to life's circumstances — not in the raw facts of life. In particular, Buddhism teaches that your mind causes you suffering by attaching to permanence and constructing a separate self where in fact neither exists. Reality is constantly changing; as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, you can't step into the same river twice. Success and failure, gain and loss, comfort and discomfort — they all come and go. And you have only limited control over the changes. But you can exert some control over (and ultimately clarify) your chattering, misguided mind, which distorts your perceptions, mightily resists the way things are, and causes you extraordinary stress and suffering in the process. Happiness, Buddha once said, is actually quite simple: The secret is to want what you have and not want what you don't have. Simple though it may be, it's definitely not easy. Have you ever tried to rein in your restless and unruly mind, even for a moment? Have you ever tried to tame your anger or your jealousy, control your fear, or remain calm and undisturbed in the middle of life's inevitable ups and downs? If you have, you've no doubt discovered how difficult even the simplest self-control or self-awareness can be. To benefit from the medicine Buddha prescribed, you have to take it — which means, you have to put it into practice for yourself.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Buddhism has a long and rich history. From the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, based on whose teachings Buddhism developed, to the present day, this religion has changed how millions of people view the world. The teachings of Buddhism evolved over a long period of time, spreading from the Indian subcontinent into other parts of Asia and across the globe. Date(s) Historical Event(s) 5th Century BCE Life of Shakyamuni Buddha, based on whose teachings Buddhism developed. 269-231 BCE Reign of King Ashoka, patron of Buddhism; sends first Buddhists to Sri Lanka in the third century. 100 BCE to 100 CE Rise of Mahayana Buddhism. First half of 2nd century CE Reign of King Kanishka; Mahayana Buddhism spreads to Central Asia. 1st century CE Buddhism first enters China. 520 First Zen patriarch Bodhidharma arrives in China. 538 Buddhism enters Japan from Korea. 7th to 8th century Vajrayana Buddhism established in Tibet. 11th to 14th century Theravada Buddhism established in Southeast Asia. 1199 Nalanda University destroyed; demise of Buddhism in India. 13th century Zen, Pure Land, and Nichiren Buddhism established in Japan. 1881 Pali Text Society founded. 1893 World Parliament of Religions (Chicago). 1956 Celebration of 2,500 years of Buddhism.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Numbers have always played an important role in Buddhism. They help give structure to the teachings and practices of Buddhism. 3 Jewels of Refuge Buddha Dharma (the teachings) Sangha (the Buddhist community) 3 higher trainings Morality Concentration Wisdom 4 noble truths Suffering Cause of suffering Cessation of suffering Eight-fold path to the cessation of suffering 4 marks of Buddha's teachings Compound phenomena are impermanent Ordinary phenomena are unsatisfactory All phenomena are insubstantial (selfless) Nirvana is peace 5 aggregates (skandhas) Form Feeling Recognition (Mental) formations Consciousness 6 Mahayana perfections Generosity (giving) Moral discipline (ethics) Patience Effort, energy Meditative concentration Wisdom 10 Theravada perfections Generosity Moral discipline Patience Effort Meditative concentration Wisdom Renunciation Truthfulness Loving-kindness Equanimity 8-fold path Right view Right intention Right speech Right action Right livelihood Right effort Right mindfulness Right concentration 10 non-virtuous actions Body Killing Stealing Sexual misconduct Speech Lying Divisive speech Harsh speech Idle gossip Mind Craving Aversion Delusion 12 links of dependent arising Ignorance (Mental) formations Consciousness Name and form Six Senses Contact Feeling Craving Grasping Becoming Birth Aging and death