Lessons from Buddhism
Sometime during the 6th to 5th century BCE, Siddhartha Gautama, who is said to have given up royalty to become an ascetic seeker of spiritual reality, awakened. His awakening and further teaching initiated a way of life that is known today as Buddhism.
Buddhism is a religion (or philosophy, if you wish) without a god. It is practiced worldwide by nearly 550 million people who live mostly in southeastern Asia. The western Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, practiced by nearly four billion people worldwide, believe in one omnipotent, creator god, while the ancient Hinduism of India, practiced by over a billion people, is more polytheistic.
Instead of worshipping a god (or gods) which created the world, governs it, and offers salvation with an afterlife, Buddhists seek spiritual awakening in the manner demonstrated by the life of the Buddha, Siddartha Gautama. It is a life of ethical conduct and mental discipline. Its purpose is to remove suffering which is rooted in ignorance, desire, and attachment. The way of the path is not in worshipping a god but in personal transformation through mindful living, meditation, and wisdom.
There is a cycle of birth and death in these religions that separates the living from the dead by providing for gods, guardians, angels, souls, etc., outside of worldly boundaries. They offer solace, guidance, and aid but cannot provide ultimate salvation or enlightenment. In Buddhism, this is left to individuals to find alone without aid from spirits. It is better to rely on your own insights and experiences for spiritual progress than to approach unseen forces. To be free of the world and escape the cycle of birth and death, a person must seek enlightenment on their own through their own true nature.
For Buddhists, the cycle of birth and death is one of suffering in the world. The answer to suffering is to break the cycle by removing desire, ignorance, attachment, and fear from one’s life to achieve peace of heart in all situations. This goal of Buddhism can be achieved by walking a correct path of action while practicing mindfulness and concentration. This is done alone without invoking gods or other unseen forces. Buddhists claim that there is one power, which is found in the true nature of the practitioner, which is eternal and unchanging.
Practitioners realize that they have no self, that is, no permanent, unchanging self or soul. Everything about them is in constant flux, including the individual self. Clinging to any permanent identity causes suffering because it is at odds with the Buddhist understanding of impermanence and the non-self. Attachment to self creates conflict and struggle whereas the Buddhist practice of mindfulness, meditation, and ethical living breaks the pattern of attachment to self and releases the individual to live with peace of heart always.
The Buddhist way focuses on personal development, self-awareness, and understanding of the true nature of one’s reality. Buddhists seek to live compassionate, peaceful, and wise lives. Their joy and wisdom come from within. They encourage self-reflection and an understanding of the interconnections within all of creation. There is no divine intervention because there is no divine. Instead of seeking salvation as found in other religions, Buddhists seek liberation from the cycle of birth and death by being responsible for their own awakening in the manner of the Buddha, who was Siddhartha Gautama.