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What the Buddha means to me
I don't claim to be a Teacher or anything like that, so anything I say in this piece may not be taken as "Gospel" if that word can be applied to buddhism. The original meaning of the word was "good news" but it has come to mean Christian teaching. Well, whatever. The Buddha lived about 2500 years ago, and spent his youth in what was then considered pampered luxury, although we probably wouldn't consider it all that great. The fact remains that he had everything that his father could provide for him, because he was fighting to prevent a prophesy by a wise man that his son would become a wandering ascetic. Every precaution was taken to prevent the Buddha, Gautama, from becoming discontented with life. But it's just the way it goes, if something is meant to happen, sooner or later it does. Prince Gautama was visiting the local town with his groom, and he saw a man who was suffering from some disfiguring disease begging. He hadn't seen anything like this before, so he asked what this was, and was told "this man is sick". Another time, he saw a funeral procession with people wailing and carrying the body to the place of burial. Again, he asked, and was told "these people are grieving at the death of a relative". The third sight he saw was a wandering ascetic. On asking, he was told that the man was seeking enlightenment. These Three Sights (capitalized by most buddhists, because they were the start) made Gautama quite troubled, and I guess he must have had bad dreams and the thoughts just wouldn't get out of his mind, because quite soon after this, he upped and left his new wife and son, to seek enlightenment. Nowadays, anyone doing this would be thought of as being almost criminally irresponsible, but the family took care of his wife and child, and the career of ascetic was not unusual, and was well-respected. He wandered from teacher to teacher for 6 years, trying to find out the meaning of life, as we would say. After 6 years, by which time his ribs showed clearly through his skin, he came to a Bodhi tree and vowed to himself that he would sit there until he attained enlightenment. He sat for 6 days without food, meditating, and there are legends about what happened to him there, including a temptation scene not unlike the one told of Jesus in the 40 days and nights in the wilderness. After resisting the blandishments of the gods and devils, finally, he came to a realization, which is now known as the 4 Noble Truths: All things are duhkha (unsatisfactory is the best translation according to what I've been able to discover) - because they are either imperfect or they are transient
The cause of duhkha (dissatisfaction/sadness) is desire/lust - if you don't want something, it doesn't matter if it is imperfect or goes away
Duhkha can be avoided by removing desire
The way to remove desire is the Noble Eightfold Path. I know I've got these a bit wrong, so far as the words go, but I think this is what is meant. But as I say, I am no Teacher, so go find your own meaning, if you disagree with mine. |
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PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
Frann Leach
Frann Leach's personal site
www.frannleach.com
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