I want to understand Buddhism
By jojorv
@jojorv (201)
Philippines
July 25, 2009 2:32am CST
i really don't know much about Buddhism. but i came across some of its teaching and i find them very refreshing to the soul. i want to know more about this religion, can you help me?
4 responses
@freethinkingagent (2501)
•
25 Jul 09
Buddhism is not a religion but a discipline of though or philosophy. Buddhist have no Gods so to speak but teachers. The purpose of Buddhism is to find peace and harmony in all and elevate the mind to pure thought and unlike the religions that teach a heaven, the purpose of Buddhist I believe is to ascend to a higher consciousness. Buddhism had its beginnings in Hinduism but long ago broke from the religious aspects of Hinduism and kept the school of thought that man could assend his mundane world into a harmony and peace with creation.
@freethinkingagent (2501)
•
28 Jul 09
When I study philosophical works I feel I am swallowing something which I don’t have in my mouth. § Albert Einstein
@NefariousFox (161)
• United States
25 Jul 09
Buddhism to me comes in a few different parts.
First, it teaches you how to understand your mind. Using the techniques of mindfulness, you learn to examine your motivations, to study your own reactions, desires, disappointments, sadness, suffering, joy, greed, etc. Mindfulness will help you understand where these emotions and motivations come from.
I found that using mindfulness (keeping yourself aware of your thoughts, and in the moment) helped me with unneeded mental anguish very quickly.
Then Buddhism helps you use mindfulness to understand the world around you. You learn to understand the way the world is, and accept it for what it really is. You also learn to accept yourself for the way your are, and those around you.
The goal of Buddhism is to eliminate extremes in emotion. The simplest way to express the core ideology of Buddhism is this: If you want something, and can't have it, you are disappointed", though most texts usually use the word "suffering" instead of disappointment. By slowly eliminated desires, first with little things, and things we can't change, we eliminate "suffering" from our lives.
That can be a little bit unsettling for some people, but don't worry. Buddhist don't expect you to just stop wanting things right away. I've been a Buddhist for a few years now, and I suspect I will still have desires that will cause me disappointment until the rest of my life, but I still feel that Buddhism is making my life better be reducing my disappointment through mindfulness.
Best of luck, and I'm sorry if any of this is confusing at all.
@NefariousFox (161)
• United States
25 Jul 09
It's true, mindfulness can be very difficult. But you'll find that, sort of like an exercise, you'll be able to do a little bit more each day with practice.
I usually have a goal of being mindful for about an hour, cumulatively, each day. but I don't let it distress me if I fail to meet this goal.
@jshekhar (1562)
• India
25 Jul 09
Hello friend,
I am from India where there are a lot of Buddhists. I really like the way they dress up.
coming to the point, the aim of Buddhism is to spread humanity, to love human beings and to be easy on animals. I know all the religions teach that but here, we do not have so many rituals as you have in Hinduism or in Islam. It is a simple religion to follow and asks you to lead a simple lifestyle.
@wisdomsky (56)
• Nepal
19 Oct 09
buddhism is the most scientific religion till the date yet it has not yet been fulfill all the spritiual needs of human.