Basic beliefs and principles of Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, born in the fifth century BC in what is now Nepal and northern India. He was called "the Buddha", which means "awakened", after experiencing a profound realization of the nature of life, death and existence. In English the Buddha was said to be enlightened, even though in Sanskrit he is "bodhi" or "awakened".

For the rest of his life, the Buddha traveled and taught. However, he did not teach people what he had accomplished when he enlightened. Instead, it taught people how to make lighting for themselves. He taught that awakening comes through your direct experience, not through beliefs and dogmas.

At the time of his death, Buddhism was a relatively minor sect with little impact in India. But in the third century BC, the emperor of India made Buddhism the state religion of the country.

Buddhism then spread across Asia to become one of the dominant religions of the continent. Estimates of the number of Buddhists in the world today vary widely, partly because many Asians observe more than one religion and partly because it is difficult to know how many people practice Buddhism in communist nations like China. The most common estimate is 350 million, making Buddhism the fourth largest of the world's religions.

Buddhism is distinctly different from other religions
Buddhism is so different from other religions that some people wonder if it is a religion. For example, the central focus of most religions is one or many. But Buddhism is not theistic. The Buddha taught that believing in the gods was not helpful for those seeking to achieve enlightenment.

Most religions are defined by their beliefs. But in Buddhism, simply believing in doctrines is not the point. The Buddha said that doctrines should not be accepted just because they are in the scriptures or taught by priests.

Instead of teaching to memorize and believe doctrines, the Buddha taught how to realize the truth for yourself. The focus of Buddhism is on practice rather than belief. The main pattern of Buddhist practice is the Eightfold Path.

Basic teachings
Despite its emphasis on free investigation, Buddhism could best be understood as a discipline and a demanding discipline in this. And although Buddhist teachings should not be accepted on blind faith, understanding what the Buddha taught is an important part of that discipline.

The foundation of Buddhism are the four noble truths:

The truth of suffering ("dukkha")
The truth of the cause of suffering ("samudaya")
The truth of the end of suffering ("nirhodha")
The truth of the path that frees us from suffering ("magga")

By itself, the truths don't seem like much. But under the truths there are innumerable layers of teachings about the nature of existence, the self, life and death, not to mention suffering. The point is not simply to "believe" in the teachings, but to explore, understand and test them with one's own experience. It is the process of exploration, understanding, verification and realization that defines Buddhism.

Several schools of Buddhism
About 2000 years ago Buddhism was divided into two large schools: Theravada and Mahayana. For centuries, Theravada has been the dominant form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, (Myanmar) and Laos. Mahayana is dominant in China, Japan, Taiwan, Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia, Korea and Vietnam. In recent years, Mahayana has also gained many followers in India. Mahayana is further divided into many secondary schools, such as pure land and Theravada Buddhism.

Vajrayana Buddhism, which is mainly associated with Tibetan Buddhism, is sometimes described as a third major school. However, all the Vajrayana schools are also part of the Mahayana.

The two schools differ mainly in their understanding of a doctrine called anatman or anatta. According to this doctrine, there is no "I" in the sense of a permanent, integral, autonomous being within an individual existence. Anatman is a teaching difficult to understand, but to understand that it is essential to make sense of Buddhism.

Basically, Theravada believes that the anatman means that an individual's ego or personality is an illusion. Once freed from this illusion, the individual can enjoy the happiness of Nirvana. Mahayana pushes the anatman further. In Mahayana, all phenomena are devoid of intrinsic identity and take identity only in relation to other phenomena. There is neither reality nor unreality, only relativity. The Mahayana teaching is called "shunyata" or "emptiness".

Wisdom, compassion, ethics
Wisdom and compassion are said to be the two eyes of Buddhism. Wisdom, particularly in Mahayana Buddhism, refers to the realization of anatman or shunyata. There are two words translated as "compassion": "metta and" karuna ". Metta is a benevolence towards all beings, without discrimination, which is devoid of selfish attachment. Karuna refers to active sympathy and sweet affection, the willingness to endure the pain of others, and perhaps pity. Those who have perfected these virtues will respond to all circumstances correctly, according to Buddhist doctrine.

Misconceptions about Buddhism
There are two things that most people think they know about Buddhism: that Buddhists believe in reincarnation and that all Buddhists are vegetarians. These two claims are not true, however. Buddhist teachings about rebirth are notably different from what most people call "reincarnation". And although vegetarianism is encouraged, in many sects it is considered a personal choice, not a requirement.