An Introduction to Buddhism
To do no evil;
To cultivate good;
To purify one's mind:
This is the teaching of the Buddhas.
--The Dhammapada
To do no evil;
To cultivate good;
To purify one's mind:
This is the teaching of the Buddhas.
--The Dhammapada
The Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama, a prince of the Sakya tribe of Nepal, in approximately 566 BC. When he was twentynine years old, he left the comforts of his home to seek the meaning of the suffering he saw around him. After six years of arduous yogic training, he abandoned the way of self-mortification and instead sat in mindful meditation beneath a bodhi tree.
On the full moon of May, with the rising of the morning star, Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha, the enlightened one.
The Buddha wandered the plains of northeastern India for 45 years more, teaching the path or Dharma he had realized in that moment. Around him developed a community or Sangha of monks and, later, nuns, drawn from every tribe and caste, devoted to practicing this path. In approximately 486 BC, at the age of 80, the Buddha died. His last words are said to be...
Impermanent are all created things;
Strive on with awareness.
Sit for a moment. Think to yourself.
What is the one thing you want above everything else?
All of those things you think you want, you only want them because of your true ultimate goal: because they will make you happy.
Even if you are suicidal and want to die, it is because you believe in that moment that dying will make you happy.
You can look around you and everyone you see no matter how different or frustrating they may seem to you... you share something in common with them. Both of you, in the end, just want to be happy.
Buddhism is about that. Buddhism is about being happy forever.
We're going to skip the causes of suffering for a moment. We're going to skip Buddha's life. Those are important. But I'm going to show you how to make you happy.
On the full moon of May, with the rising of the morning star, Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha, the enlightened one.
The Buddha wandered the plains of northeastern India for 45 years more, teaching the path or Dharma he had realized in that moment. Around him developed a community or Sangha of monks and, later, nuns, drawn from every tribe and caste, devoted to practicing this path. In approximately 486 BC, at the age of 80, the Buddha died. His last words are said to be...
Impermanent are all created things;
Strive on with awareness.
Sit for a moment. Think to yourself.
What is the one thing you want above everything else?
All of those things you think you want, you only want them because of your true ultimate goal: because they will make you happy.
Even if you are suicidal and want to die, it is because you believe in that moment that dying will make you happy.
You can look around you and everyone you see no matter how different or frustrating they may seem to you... you share something in common with them. Both of you, in the end, just want to be happy.
Buddhism is about that. Buddhism is about being happy forever.
We're going to skip the causes of suffering for a moment. We're going to skip Buddha's life. Those are important. But I'm going to show you how to make you happy.
One thing — when developed & pursued — leads solely to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding. Which one thing? Recollection of the Dhamma... (f:teachings)
One thing — when developed & pursued — leads solely to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding. Which one thing? Recollection of the Sangha... (f:community)
One thing — when developed & pursued — leads solely to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding. Which one thing? Recollection of virtue...
One thing — when developed & pursued — leads solely to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding. Which one thing? Recollection of generosity...
One thing — when developed & pursued — leads solely to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding. Which one thing? Recollection of the devas... (f:holy beings)
One thing — when developed & pursued — leads solely to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding. Which one thing? Mindfulness of in-and-out breathing...
One thing — when developed & pursued — leads solely to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding. Which one thing? Mindfulness of death...
One thing — when developed & pursued — leads solely to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding. Which one thing? Mindfulness immersed in the body...
One thing — when developed & pursued — leads solely to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding. Which one thing? Recollection of stilling. This is one thing that — when developed & pursued — leads solely to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.
— AN I.287-296
