Beginner’s guide to Buddhism

Mindfulness is in short a western version of buddhist practice. It takes a bit of this and a bit of that and makes it into a useful and simple tool that anyone can use no matter cultural background or religious orientation. But as I ventured a bit further into studies of Buddhism I found something resembling answers to some of the things I have been contemplation most of my life. I am no expert on Buddhism mind you, not at all, but the things I have learned I will now share with you. Think of it as an introduction. The are many different variations and forms of Buddhism so one cannot really say that Buddhism is so and so. Some common facts remains though.

Buddhism originated in India and as the story go it was founded by Siddhattha Gotama presumably about 2500 years ago give or take. Siddhattha started out as a spoiled prince but he ended up becomming the Buddha, which means the enlightend one. Buddhism is often categorized as a religion but unlike any other religion I know of it does not operate with a singular being who is the sole deity1. In other words: no God. Instead Buddha is all human, more a rolemodel than a god and the Buddhist version of Paradise, Nirvana, is actually a state of mind. One could argue that Buddhism most of all is a philosophy, its wisdom and truths open to anyone which I personally find very appealing.

The very core of Buddishm is the Four Noble Truths, sometimes considered to contain the essence of the Buddha’s teachings:

1.Life contains suffering.
2.Suffering is caused by craving.
3.We can end suffering by ending craving.
4.Reaching this liberated state is achieved by following the path laid out by the Buddha.

Simple as that. Still I had a hard time understanding this and it really did not make sense to me at all when I was first presented to this. But I think I get it now so let us look a little further into the statements. The suffering mentioned in the first paragraph actually falls into two categories. Real suffering and imagined suffering so to say. Real suffering is know to Buddists as Dukkha and Dukkha you cannot avoid because it is part of being human. We experience this when our bodies hurt and/or grow old or when we loose someone we care for. This we must accept. But then there is the imaginary pain or dirty pain know to Buddhists as Dukkha Dukkha. The suffering mentioned in the second paragraph refers to Dukkha Dukkha.

This distinction can be a little bewildering to a Western mind but if we rephrase the second paragraph we might understand better: Dukkha Dukkha occours when we want life and reality to be anything else than what it is. When we crave that which is not, material, emotional or mental. And most of us do that a lot, from the simplest things to the most important ones. Let me give you some different but typical, illustrative examples of my own devise:

 A woman looks in a mirror. She is not happy with what she sees. She finds that she is too fat and yet her breasts are not big enough. She tells herself that how she actually looks is not good enough according to some invented, mental standart she lives by (shaped by culture or media or both). Furthermore she thinks that all of her future happiness depends on obtaining a ‘better’ look and she tells herself that no man can love her otherwise. This is Dukkha Dukkha, completely unnessacary suffering, based solely on beliefs. In this scenario many of us would most likely try to change reality, here in the form of the body, but all to often that is like putting out fire with gasoline in the long run. You can only undertake a certain amount of plastic surgery and still look human as Hollywood is a perfectly good example of. Eventually you will grow old and, by this ruthless standart, ugly, no matter what you do.

Another example: A man is experiencing emotions that are unpleasant; let us say intense restlessness. He cannot tell why; He has a good job, a loving wife and a secure bankaccount, but the restlessness drives him mad and he desperately wants it to dissapear. He thinks he needs to change his life. Maybe that is in reality the case and so the story ends, for now at least. But maybe he finds a new wife and a new job and the restlessness lingers – and in that case this is also Dukkha Dukkha. He uses all the money on the account on new cars and bungee jumping thinking the rush of it all can make the pain go away but he only ends up being poor as well as restless. Whenever you are trying to externalize or escape emotions you automaticaly create dirty pain and eventually it will catch up with you.

Last example: A man tragicly looses his wife in an accident. The loss itself is of course Dukkha, the real pain. But Dukkha Dukkha emerges quickly when he starts to mourn all the things they will now never come to share, the children they did not concieve together. These thoughts become obsessions and he cannot let them go. He sinks into depression believing he will never love again and that life will never be worth living again now that she is gone. Whatever he does or whereever he is he only concerns himself with thoughts on how much better it would have been if his wife was still by his side. So he no longer pays attention to potential joyful things or his remaining loved ones but instead uses all of his mental energy wishing the wife to be alive again. When that cannot be he soon reaches the conclusion that suicide is the only option left for him. So he kills himself and leaves it to the rest of the family to deal with Dukkha and Dukkha Dukkha – what he himself could not.

 But the third of the Noble Truths tells us that it does not have to be like that. First of all we have to distinct between real and dirty pain; what we can change and what we cannot. Drug addicts and alkoholics will know this from the serenity prayer: ”God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” Very wise words I think. And Dukkha Dukkha we can always change and rid ourselves off. I am not saying this is easy and neither do the Buddhists. In fact it can be extremely difficult especially when you are not used to this kind of thinking I guess. But nevertheless it is not only possible but also never too late to begin; even old wounds and traumas we can change this way.

This of course brings us to the last of the Noble Truths; the big how. Once we have truely grasped the first three Noble Truths we can leave them more or less behind. But the last one will require our attention propably for the rest of our lives. The fourth of the Noble Truths tells us that the way out of suffering (meaning Dukkha Dukkha) goes through examination, accept and transformation which is the path to enlightenment. This is also known as the Noble Eightfold Path. I will return to this shortly but enjoy, if you like, the simple beauty of the Four Noble Truths just for a moment. Not only does Buddhism tells us why we hurt in a sensible manner but also how to end the pain with practical guidance. And these are not rules alledgely layed down by a god like we know from the ten commandments but merely advisables leaving room for individual adjustments.

 It seems that Buddhist tradition likes to group things up and then name this gathering of insight something poetic. I think this is very user friendly. The Noble Eightfold Path, the way to enlightnment, consists of the following eight sections presented in three groups:

Wisdom (Prajna):
1.True conception.
2.True intensions.

Ethichs (Sila):
3.True speaking.
4.True actions.
5.True living.

Mental discipline (Samadhi):
6.True efford.
7.True mindfulness.
8.True contration.

 These three groups are known as the Three Higher Trainings. They can either be seen as a simultaneous development where all eight disiplines are practiced at the same time or as a progressive series of stages where the culmination of one leads to the beginning of the next. But what does it all mean? I will try to elaborate the best I can.The first group, Prajna, has to do with the way we percieve all things. True conception means we strive to see reality just as it is, without distortions. True intentions means that we do so only with good intentions; that we try to obtain this wisdom with things like freedom and kindness in mind.

The second group, Sila, guides us as to how we act and behave in the world. True speaking means that we will make an efford to talk honest and kind to others. This includes that we do not waste other people’s time with senseless small talk or gossip. True actions means we will try to be nice to others or at least treat them in a non-harmful way. And finally there is the more general true living which means that whatever we do we try to do so in a way so that we do not harm anything or anyone. This applies for example to the way we make a living for ourselves.

The third group, Samadhi, relates to how we train our minds. True efford means that we are commited to improving ourselves. True mindfulness means that we strive to stay present without any cravings or aversions towards reality. And finally true concentration means that we meditate and discipline our minds rightly. This is rather comprehensive stuff but all a beginner needs to know is that if you fall asleep during your meditation you are certainly not practicing true concentration. True meditation is not something you do in order to relax, on the contrary it is hard work.

There is a vast amount of Buddhist scriptures, teachings, practices and branches but this is in essence what Buddhism is all about. So there you have it: you can end your own suffering by fully accpecting yourself and life as it is and this you do through mindfulness and true meditation. Again it is really simple when it comes down to it, even if simple is not the same as easy. It is worth mentioning the important guiding principle known as the Middle way which among other things tells us that any kind of absolutes should be avoided, in thinking as well as in behaviour. Pure good or pure evil makes no sense in this way of thinking and neither does overindulgeance or total abstinence. Absolutes are only invisible prison cells for the body as well as for the mind. This is indeed a realistic philosophy designed for real human beings. And the good news is that if you do not make it in this life you will get another chance in the next one. Rebirth is central in Buddhist belief.

The last Buddhist principle I will present to you for now is the one known as the Three Jewels; that which you turn to when you need refuge and guidance. They are Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. The Buddha is the example or symbol of that which we want to acchieve. The Dharma is his teachings and our guidelines as to how to acchieve it and finally the Sangha is the community where teachers are available to us should we need their guidance towards enlightnment. In others worlds: this is what I want, this is how I can obtain it and this is where I can find help in the process. Even though I am not a Buddhist myself, at least not yet, I believe that to be a treasure indeed and I can make good use of this knowledge regardless. I hope you can too. And if you forget or discard everything else, just keep this in mind: You do not need to suffer endlessly; there is a way out, it is thouroughly described and defined and it is always within your reach.