Harrison Keeran

4/12/16
Philosophy
The Buddha- Siddhartha Gautama
The Buddha or Siddhartha Gautama was a philosopher born a prince in
Nepal, who later traveled to India to find himself and to become enlightened.
The Buddha grew up very sheltered and un-aware to what was going on
around him. He left his palace one day against his fathers wishes and got his
first real world experience. After his first experience he left his comfortable
surroundings more and more often to see the struggle that was surrounding
him.
After becoming unhappy with the direction his life was heading, he
decided to leave Nepal, and go on a day dry fast in India. He went to seek
enlightenment, and to find the meaning of his life. On the 40th day of his fast
a woman spilled milk onto his lips and thats when he had his revelation. This
is when he received his name Buddha which translates to the enlightened
one.

Once he had become enlightened he had the choice to become The

Buddha Hinayana, which would mean he would be working with a small
circle, becoming an exclusive monk. Or he could become The Buddha
Mahayana, which would be the opposite of the Hinayana, as he would be

working in a big circle and becoming a teacher, sharing all that he knows as
being an enlightened one.
The Buddha elected to become Mahayana, and a spiritual leader. He
would go on to share his beliefs with others, and try to explain to them how
they too, could become enlightened.
The Buddha taught that there are Four Noble Truths to follow. The first
of these is the Truth of Suffering. To understand this we must understand
Dukkha which is translated to difficult to bear. When we talk about
suffering and dukkha we have to understand that we are not suffering, but
that there is suffering in the world. One of the things that the Buddha
noticed when he was on his journey to enlightenment was that suffering was
all around us. Suffering comes with life, and there is no avoiding it. There are
two kinds of suffering; physical and mental. Physical sufferings include;
birth, sickness, old age, and death. Mental suffering includes being away from
the people we love and care about, interactions with people we do not like,
and being mad that we do not have what we want.
Although there is so much suffering in the world, there is still
happiness, however it is just a temporary distraction from all the bad going
on around us. When happiness fades away we are back to where we began
with suffering, because unlike happiness suffering is permanent. The Buddha
teaches us that we should not try to distract ourselves with temporary
happiness and pleasures, because while the suffering might go away for a

short amount of time it will eventually return, and soon the temporary
happiness that we use to distract ourselves will only make our suffering
worse. He taught that the best way to end suffering is to accept that suffering
is a part of life and cannot be avoided.
The second Noble Truth of The Buddha is the Truth to the cause of
Suffering. According to the Buddhas philosophy the best way to end suffering
is to come to an understanding about what the causes of suffering are,
craving/desire, and ignorance. People are only happy when they get what
they are craving, and then become unsatisfied until they can replenish their
cravings with new desires. Cravings don't last forever, and some with the
satisfaction that we get when we fulfill those cravings, they are only
temporary. Ignorance is another cause of suffering because it causes people
to have a skewed view of the world. They see it i a different light than it
really is so they live in an illusion of what they think should be a reality but
actually is far from it. Ignorance is the inability to see the truth in the world.
The third of the Noble Truths is the End of Suffering. The way to end
all suffering is to end all desires, ill intents, and ignorance. Once you take
away the causes of suffering you will experience real happiness, wisdom, and
the qualities of enlightenment, you will reach Nirvana. Nirvana is a feeling
that cannot be described and can only be understood by someone who has
reached it. It is another term for becoming enlightened. The Buddha has
mentioned it in many forms, such as absolute happiness, and peace. Nirvana

is a place where we can go while we are alive, it is not a destination in the

after life. Every step we take to end suffering we are gifted with more
happiness. It is not a quick fix however, it takes people their whole lives to
achieve Nirvana. You must free yourself from the causes of suffering and
once you do that you will start to experience more happiness. When you
finally reach enlightenment you will have earned and experience qualities
such as wisdom and compassion.
The fourth and final Noble Truth is the Path leading to the end of
Suffering. The path that leads to the end of suffering is referred to as the
Eightfold Path. It involves the understanding and actions of 8 steps.
The first step is Right Understanding. You must understand cause and
effect of the Four Noble Truths. When you give into temporary happiness
your suffering will come back strengthened, but when you start to rid yourself
of ignorance and desire you will be rewarded with happiness.
The second step in the path is Right Attitude. You must rid yourself of
negative thoughts such as anger. You must take away the negative emotions
such as greed and hate.
The Third step is Right Speech. You should not lie, gossip, spread
rumors, and avoid all hate speech. The Buddha taught that you must take
what you say very seriously.
Step number four is Right Action. Do not harm your neighbor. Do not
kill, do not steal, do not do anything that will hurt the people around you.

The fifth step is Right Livelihood. It states that you should always try
to avoid doing something that bring harm to yourself and others around you.
Step six is Right Effort. People should always be trying your best to
move in the right direction to achieve Nirvana.
The Seventh step is Right Mindfulness. You must always be aware of
what is going on in your life and what is going on around you.
The final step, step eight, is Right Concentration. You must be able to
calm yourself in times where things are becoming hectic, and bring yourself
to realize what is happening around you.
All of these steps can be split into three categories; Good
Conduct(Right Speech, Action, and Livelihood), Mental Development(Right
Effort, Mindfulness, and Concentration), and Wisdom(Right Attitude, and
View). The end goal of the eight fold path is to provide a better
understanding of the Four Noble Truths, and to help end suffering.

Works Cited

http://buddhism.about.com/od/thefournobletruths/a/fournobletruths.htm

http://www.buddhaweb.org/

http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/8foldpath.htm

http://www.buddhanet.net/4noble.htm