The story about how Buddhism was born has been told a thousand ways for a thousand years. Siddhartha Guatama, a prince who had led a sheltered life of privilege, left the palatial compound one day and witnessed the pain, suffering and death of peasants who lived a wretched existence in the city outside of his home. Shocked and saddened by what he witnessed, he sat to meditate beneath a fig tree. He sat for 49 days. At one point, the temperatures rose and Guatama was exposed to the extreme Indian heat, so 108 snails climbed onto his head to protect him. They died there, giving their lives for Buddha’s enlightenment, and these snails, commonly mistaken for hair, are what you see on his head. In many depictions of the Buddha, there is also a light behind his head, which is not an angel’s halo but a sign of his enlightened state of being. The fig tree is now called the Bodhi tree, the place where Guatama became Buddha. There, he realized these four noble truths to explain and eradicate human suffering:
The truth of suffering. Suffering, pain, loss, and death are all a part of life. Every living thing experiences pain and discomfort sometimes, and all living things die. You are going to die and you do not know the timing or the cause of your death, only that it is certain to happen. This might be a hard fact to acknowledge, but accepting the fact that you cannot stop death and you cannot avoid suffering can bring you comfort in its own way. Knowing that you are not alone in your suffering means that you can have compassion for all living things, including yourself. It also takes away your need for control. The constant striving to avoid pain or stop discomfort is what causes this suffering in the first place, which leads us to the second noble truth:
The truth of the cause of suffering. The cause of all suffering in your life is desire. You want your pain to stop, you want your illness to go away, you want to always be happy, you want material objects or experiences that you don’t have, you want to avoid death. This desire, this want, is where suffering happens, because you perceive that things are not as you would like them to be and you are disillusioned into thinking that you have control over what happens to you; you do not. The only control you have is over your thoughts. If you think to yourself “this pain, this situation is terrible and I hate it and I want it to stop,” you are miserable because you are not getting what you want. However, if your thoughts are more like “I am in pain right now, and that is a normal human experience that will end,” perhaps that eases your mind a bit. Or, even better, “I am not my pain. My pain is something that I am experiencing, but I do not have to allow it to change how I see the world or myself.” This is an example of the third noble truth:
The truth of the cessation of suffering.
Buddha discovered that suffering does not have to exist. You can actually do things, think a curtain way, train yourself, and change your perceptions to end all suffering! This does not mean that you will never get sick or hurt or old, or that bad things won’t ever happen to you. But it does mean that when those traumatic experiences occur, they do not have to lead you to suffer. You can experience the whole, wide range of human experiences and emotions while still being content. Have you ever had the experience of being sad but happy at the same time? Ever been experiencing anxiety while also feeling safe and reassured? Those emotions can coexist if you allow them to! The third noble truth teaches us that suffering can end and that we have the ability to make that happen.
The truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.
Finally, the way to get there; to become an enlightened being. It is both simple and incredibly difficult all at once. The path that leads to the end of suffering is the eightfold path; right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right concentration, right mindfulness. Sounds like a lot, I know. How can you do everything “right?!” In short, the eightfold path is also referred to as the “middle way,” essentially everything in moderation, everything in the middle, not too far one way or the other. In my chakra class we talk a lot about balancing our various energies to avoid underactive or overactive traits in ourselves. Traveling the middle way is just this; being mindful and balanced in all areas of our lives. See? Simple but difficult.
I find it reassuring, however, that even though the path is not always easy to walk on, it is the very practice of seeking to stay on it that gradually makes it easier to travel. As you begin your journey towards enlightenment, the path is slippery and grown in, you are constantly losing your bearings and must hack your way back to it time and again. But as time passes and you course correct over and over, you find that you are losing your way less frequently, the hills diminish, your stride becomes freer, and you spend more and more time in balance. This is the path that leads to the end of suffering. If you look around, you may see that you are not alone on that path.
Last note: Buddhism is not a religion; it is a practice and a way of life and it does not require you to forego your culture or other religious practices. There are no gods in Buddhism, and we do not worship the Buddha as a deity. He was a man who existed in history whom we can seek to emulate, learn from, and take refuge in. He was a teacher and he brought us the Dharma, the four noble truths and the eightfold path. You can be Jewish, Christian, Hindu, or Atheist and still practice Buddhism. If the four noble truths speak to you, bring you peace, or help you to live a well-balanced life then take them; they are yours.
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