My Human Revolution

During evolution of mankind the widely acclaimed spiritual philosophy became religion. Every religion passes through a life cycle and the most interesting part is that every philosophy gives something to be pondered upon. Buddhism and Buddha are terms derived from Bodh. Its literal meaning is realization or getting enlightened. Buddhism has been divided into many sects now. Siddhartha Gautama, an Indian prince was the founder of Buddhism in 520 BC, NE India.

Buddha reminded us that our life is precious and death can’t be avoided. The law of Karma (action) regulates the world. The Four Noble Truths according to Buddha are: Life means suffering. The origin of suffering is attachment. Suffering can be eliminated. Cessation of suffering is following Eightfold Path.

The Noble Eightfold Path describes the way to the end of suffering. It is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing the individual from attachments and delusions; and it finally leads to understanding the truth about all things. Together with the Four Noble Truths it constitutes the whole gist of Buddhism. The eight aspects of the path are to be in rhythm with the universe. The steps are highly interdependent principles that have to be seen in relationship with each other.

Right View is the beginning and the end of the path, it simply means to see and to understand things as they really are and to realize the Four Noble Truth. As such, right view is aspect of wisdom. It means to see things through, to grasp the impermanent and imperfect nature of worldly objects and ideas. Right view is not necessarily an intellectual capacity, just as wisdom is not just a matter of intelligence. It begins with the intuitive insight that all beings are subject to suffering and it ends with complete understanding of the true nature of all things. Since our view of the world forms our thoughts and our actions, right view yields right thoughts and right actions.

Right Intention refers to the volitional aspect, i.e. the kind of mental energy that controls our actions. It can be described best as commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement. Buddha distinguishes three types of right intentions: the intention of renunciation, which means resistance to the pull of desire, the intention of good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and aversion, and the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly, aggressively.

Right speech is the ethical conduct. It is viewed as a guideline to moral discipline, which supports the other principles of the path. This aspect is not self-sufficient, however, essential, because mental purification can only be achieved through the cultivation of ethical conduct. The importance of speech in the context of Buddhist ethics is obvious: words can break or save lives, make enemies or friends, start war or create peace. Buddha explained right speech as to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary.

Right Action is the second ethical principle, right action, involves the body as natural means of expression, as it refers to deeds that involve bodily actions. Unwholesome actions lead to unsound states of mind. Again, right action means to abstain from harming sentient beings, especially to abstain from taking life (including suicide) and doing harm intentionally or delinquently, to abstain from taking what is not given, which includes stealing, fraud, and dishonesty, and to abstain from sexual misconduct. Positively formulated, right action means to act kindly and compassionately, to be honest, to respect the belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships harmless to others.

Right Livelihood means that one should earn one’s living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha mentions four specific activities that harm other beings and that one should avoid for this reason: dealing in weapons, dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution), working in meat production and butchery, and selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs. Furthermore any other occupation that would violate the principles of right speech and right action should be avoided.

Right effort can be seen as a prerequisite for the other principles of the path. Without effort, which is in itself an act of will, nothing can be achieved, whereas misguided effort distracts the mind from its task, and confusion will be the consequence. Mental energy is the force behind right effort; it can occur in either wholesome or unwholesome states. Right effort is detailed in four types of endeavours that rank in ascending order of perfection: to prevent the arising of unwholesome states, to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen, to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen, and to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen.

Right mindfulness is the controlled and perfected faculty of cognition. It is the mental ability to see things as they are, with clear consciousness. Usually, the cognitive process begins with an impression induced by perception, or by a thought, but then it does not stay with the mere impression. Buddha accounted for this as the four foundations of mindfulness ie contemplation of the body, feeling (repulsive, attractive, or neutral), state of mind, and of the phenomena.

Right Concentration in this context is described as one-pointedness of mind, meaning a state where all mental faculties are unified and directed onto one particular object. Right concentration for the purpose of the eightfold path means wholesome concentration, i.e. concentration on wholesome thoughts and actions. The Buddhist method of choice to develop right concentration is through the practice of meditation. The meditating mind focuses on a selected object. It first directs itself onto it, then sustains concentration, and finally intensifies concentration step by step. Through this practice it becomes natural to apply elevated levels concentration also in everyday situations.

Buddha said of death: Life is a journey; Death is a return to earth,The universe is like an inn, the passing years are like dust. Regard this phantom world as a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream, A flash of lightning in a summer cloud, a flickering lamp – a phantom – and a dream

Facts collected from www.religionfacts.com