Buddhists believe that Siddhartha attained a state that was free of conditions—things like upbringing, psychology, perceptions, opinions, presuppositions, and so on. To be Enlightened is to be Unconditioned, and a Buddha is free from conditioned responses such as prejudice, hatred, and greed. Rather, a Buddha is characterized by wisdom, compassion, and freedom. To be a Buddha is to see reality as it truly is. The word Buddha, in fact, is a title which means “one who is awake”—in essence, one who has completely awoken to reality
Buddhism fits surprisingly well into our contemporary world. Although it is classified as a world religion, Buddhism, with its focus on the nature of our reality, is more akin to the scientific process than to one of the faiths. It is a non-theistic belief system—believing in gods, as a Buddhist might say, is not useful for seeking Enlightenment, and so Buddhism is more focused on practice than on belief. It’s about not only believing in the precepts of Buddhism, but about the process of exploring these beliefs, understanding them, and, ultimately, testing those beliefs against individual experience.
Buddhism sees life as constant change, and takes advantage of it by advocating the fact that individuals can change for the better. The route to positive change, for the Buddhist, lies in the mind, through techniques such as meditation—a way of achieving higher levels of concentration, calmness, and awareness of one’s own emotions. Using this higher awareness, it is then possible to have a better understanding of the self, other people, and life.
Buddhism fits surprisingly well into our contemporary world. Although it is classified as a world religion, Buddhism, with its focus on the nature of our reality, is more akin to the scientific process than to one of the faiths. It is a non-theistic belief system—believing in gods, as a Buddhist might say, is not useful for seeking Enlightenment, and so Buddhism is more focused on practice than on belief. It’s about not only believing in the precepts of Buddhism, but about the process of exploring these beliefs, understanding them, and, ultimately, testing those beliefs against individual experience.
Buddhism sees life as constant change, and takes advantage of it by advocating the fact that individuals can change for the better. The route to positive change, for the Buddhist, lies in the mind, through techniques such as meditation—a way of achieving higher levels of concentration, calmness, and awareness of one’s own emotions. Using this higher awareness, it is then possible to have a better understanding of the self, other people, and life.
No comments:
Post a Comment