Philosophy & Buddhism

I've got a great interest in philosophy. Thinking about the essential things in life, about how we relate to the universe, is such a fundamental, inescapable, and powerful faculty. It is this that separates us from other animals and brings a wide variety of philosophies and religions into this world.

Buddhism

In 2005 I became more and more interested in Buddhism and started learning more about it. The popularity of Buddhism in the west has greatly increased the last five decades. It appeals to a lot of people as exoticly eastern and mystic, but that is certainly no ground for me to get drawn to Buddhism, on the contrary.

Buddhism is a most fascinating philosophy, it has to be understood that it is not a religion in the Christian- ,Islamic-, Judaic- sense. The existence or non-existence (I hold the latter view) of one or more gods, is of little importance. Nor was Buddha a god, nor should he be worshipped as one. Other misconceptions about Buddhism are that Buddhists are statue-worshippers or nihilists.

Unlike the three major monotheistic religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), Buddhism does not attribute concepts like creation of the universe, judgement over sins, omnipotence to external entities such as gods. Buddhism is a philosophy of understanding yourself and your position in life. It has a high psychological factor. The object of study therefore is inside yourself, not outside. Religion is an instrument to gain understanding about life in all its aspects.

Buddhism also does not demand blind faith and absence of doubt, it is a highly contemplative philosophy, everything has to be weighed and valued by every practitioner separately.

The story of the Buddha

Buddhism arose, as the traditional teaching goes, from the teachings of a man, Siddhārtha Gautama, who lived about 2500 years ago in what now is northern India. The story is that he grew up as a prince, in wealth, and his father, the king, shielded him from seeing death and suffering. One day, at 29 years of age, he got confronted with several aspects of death and suffering, which led him to pounder about it. He came to the realization that every man suffers and dies. He left his wife and his home as he wanted to abandon his worldly life and dedicate himself to finding an answer to the problem of how to end suffering.

For a while, he travelled down a path of ascetism, putting himself through extreme hardship, poverty, pain and hunger, in sharp contrast to the rich life he had enjoyed before. All in the companion of other teachers and followers, all of whom he surpassed eventually.

But still he found no solution to the problem of suffering. He then set down to meditate under a bodhi tree, he sat there for a long time, motionless, developed a new way of meditation and came to the realization of the nature of all things, including suffering. He had found his answer and attained enlightenment. All the remaining years of his life he spent teaching others what he had learned, so all could be free from suffering.

The Four Noble Truths

At the core of the realization the Buddha had, lay the so-called four noble truths. Here they are in my own words, and although they seem simple, perhaps even superficial, they are extremely complex and contain many different layers of realization. It's beyond the scope of this little introduction of mine though, so I keep it short:

Suffering is universal, everybody suffers, in the broadest sense of the word. Everyone pursues joy and bliss and struggles to avoid whatever form of suffering.
Suffering is caused by attachment (craving and repulsion) and ignorance, again in the broadest sense of the words.
There is an end to suffering
The path leading out of suffering is the noble eightfold path:
1. Right understanding [Wisdom]
2. Right thought [Wisdom]
3. Right speech [Ethics]
4. Right action [Ethics]
5. Right livelihood [Ethics]
6. Right effort [Meditation]
7. Right mindfulness [Meditation]
8. Right concentration [Meditation]

I recommend you to visit this site for a more extensive dissertation of these four noble truths.

Buddhism in my life

I attempt to take a Buddhist perspective on life, as I see a lot of truth in the Buddhist teachings and I think it can help me, and help me help others. In my daily life, I am confronted with a lot of issues upon which Buddhist teachings offer an inspiring outlook.

I came to the conclusion that with pure science and pure logic, I feel there's a dimension lacking, the emotional or even spiritual if you will... Buddhism might be what can help me attain a better balance between emotion and logic, and between myself and the rest of the universe.