Buddhism For Beginners: 3 Quotes From Famous Buddhists.

Buddhist philosophy is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who lived about 25 centuries ago. He came to be called ‘Buddha’, which translates to ‘awakened one’, after he experienced a profound realisation of the nature of life, death and existence.

Throughout the rest of his life, Buddha travelled and taught, however he didn’t teach people what he had realised in the moment he became enlightened. Instead, he taught people how to realise enlightenment for themselves.

So how can Buddhism help us in the modern day world? What wisdom can be extracted to use in your life?

Meditation is used as a way of transforming and calming the mind. Buddhist meditation encourages and develops concentration, clarity, emotional positivity and the ability to see the true nature of things, rather than the common practice of judgement.

“When you can accept discomfort, doing so allows a balance of mind. That surrender, that letting go of wanting anything to be other than it is right in the moment, is what frees us from hell. When we see resistance in the mind, stiffness in the mind, boredom, restlessness … that is the meditation. Often, we think, “I can’t meditate, I’m restless,” “I can’t meditate, I’m bored,” “I can’t meditate, there’s a fly on my nose.” That is the meditation. Meditation isn’t to disappear into the light. Meditation is to see all of what we are.” – Stephen Levine

People who are starting out on a spiritual path often resist meditation. But it is in acceptance of those moments of frustration that we have an opportunity to meet ourselves. If you push through the initial discomfort by focusing on your breath and being mindful of your thoughts, you are practicing meditation. This practice can bring a great new sense of awareness to your own life if you commit to it.

The Four Noble Truths are said to contain the essence of the Buddhist path.

They are-

The truth of suffering

The truth of the cause of suffering

The truth of the end of suffering

The truth of the path that releases suffering.

According to the teaching of the Buddha, no matter the kind of life we have, it will always contain a degree of suffering. Even if we believe we are happy, this happiness is transient. This means that in the end we can only find temporary happiness and pleasure in life. This may sound negative or disappointing, but actually it provides great freedom.

“Come back to square one, just the minimum bare bones. Relaxing with the present moment, relaxing with hopelessness, relaxing with death, not resisting the fact that things end, that things pass, that things have no lasting substance, that everything is changing all the time—that is the basic message”. – Pema Chodron

When we are alive and resting our attention on the present moment, we become enlightened; and teaching this path to enlightenment was the goal of Buddha’s journey.

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment”. Buddha

Buddhism teaches us that we will inevitably suffer in some way in our lives, but that we do not need to attach ourselves to that suffering. In fact, if we can accept impermanence, then we will understand our suffering enough to be rid of it.

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