The MAG Vietnam Vol 5 Jan 2015 | Page 24

Culture

UNDERSTANDING BUDDHISM

In some religions , sin is the origin of human suffering , in Buddhism there is no sin : the root cause of human suffering is AVIDYĀ “ Ignorance ”.
KEY BUDDHIST CONCEPTS The Buddha was not concerned with satisfying human curiosity related to metaphysical speculations . Topics like the existence of god , the afterlife , or creation stories were ignored by him . During the centuries , Buddhism has evolved into different branches , and many of them have incorporated a number of diverse metaphysical systems , deities , astrology and other elements that the Buddha did not consider . In spite of this diversity , Buddhism has a relative unity and stability in its moral code .
“ THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS ” The most important teaching of the Buddha is known as “ The Four Noble Truths ”, which is shared with varying adjustments by all Buddhist schools . In general , the Four Noble Truths are explained as follows :
1 . The First Noble Truth is generally translated as “ all life is suffering ”, which can be easily understood when it comes to painful situations like death , illness , abuse , poverty , and so forth . But suffering also may arise from good things because nothing is permanent , everything is changing , and whatever gives us happiness will sooner or later come to an end . It seems that all pleasures are temporary and the more we enjoy them , the more we will miss them when they end . “ Nothing lasts forever ”, is one of the insights of the Buddha .
2 . The cause of suffering is desire . Suffering comes from desire , also referred as “ thirst ” or greed . Our desires will always exceed our resources and leave us unhappy and unsatisfied . All suffering originates in desire , but not all desire generates suffering . Only selfish desire generates suffering : desire directed to the advantage of the part rather than to the good of the whole .
3 . By stopping desire , suffering also stops . The idea is not to get too attached to material goods , places , ideas , or even people . Non-attachment to anything is the main idea behind the third noble truth . It means that since all changes if our attachment is too strong , we will inevitably suffer at some point . After all , we will all get old , decay , and die ; this is a natural cycle , and there is nothing wrong with it . The problem comes when , by attaching too much , we do not accept the changes .
4 . By following “ The Eightfold Path ”, desire stops . The Eightfold Path is composed of : right views , right intentions , right speech , right action , right livelihood , right effort , right mindfulness and right concentration .
24 The MAG Vung Tau
Buddha is a spiritual name of prince Siddhartha Gotama .
He is regarded as the Supreme Buddha .“ Buddha ” meaning “ awakened one ” or “ the enlightened one . Vietnamese literally pronounce “ But ”.” Buddha lifetime was as c . 563 BC to 483 BC . Buddha was born in Lumbini , modern Nepal today in the Royal family .
To Learn more about Siddhartha Gotama — Buddha check out the webpage below . http :// www . buddhistedu . org / en / index . php / dhamma-class / 14-class-lessons / 101-the-life-ofsiddhartha-gautama-