What do Buddhists believe?

Question

What is their basic belief about life, etc.

I did look it up in wikipedia. I just want something simple and short, not the history.

Answer 1

The Triple Gem, The Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Paths. Different traditions have developed different ways of perceiving life but the above mentioned are still the primary common core and guidelines of all Buddhist beliefs.
I interpret Buddhism as a way of life following the advise and guidance of the Triple Gem to transcend suffering and realize perfect truth. But Buddhism can also mean differently to different Buddhists.

Answer 2

As the long-winded (but well-informed guy) stated above (not just before this, but earlier), Buddhism is more a philosophy than a religion, with many different forms and "sects". Some are more strict than others. The basic concept is self-denial of material things and desire, to achieve enlightenment, and eventually Nirvana, (which might be the same???) and it's usually expected to take more than one life time. (I don't get why he then goes off on a tangent about Jesus!)

Meditation, fasting, chanting and sometimes prostration are supposed to help achieve a state of "mindfulness", among other things, or becoming "one" with the rest of existence (since, as the person just above says, we are not separate entities, according to Buddhism). Still, other Buddhist sects place less emphasis on this and more on spirits and "gods" that are more like ancient Celtic earth spirits than any Judeo-Christian idea of a "God".

Whoever said "Look it up in Wikipedia" was right! Or read the two posts above and elsewhere on the 'net or in books. Or you could just look up Richard Gere!

It's a VERY complex subject: the link is below:

Answer 3

The concept of self is an illusion and the cause of all suffering. Everything is separated by the illusions, oneness is Truth.

Answer 4

Buddhism is a religion that has started in India thousands of years ago. However, like other religions, it has spread across various cultures, mostly in Asia. Unlike other religions, Buddha is not based on a fundamental religious system. In fact, Buddhism has been described as a religion, a philosphy, an ideology, and a way of life. It is a flexible religion in that different cultures have adapted to it and that Buddhism has adapted to them.

It rejects the concept of a God, as Christians, Jews, and Muslims believe. Buddhism is well know for its diverse nature. In fact, there is no one Buddhism. In Buddhism there are no moral absolutes. It also offers many different paths for diverse people with various needs and capacities. The Basic Teachings of Buddhism are the Four Noble Truths, the Kalama Sutta, and the Eightfold Path.

The First truth is the undeniable existence of suffering in the world of birth and death. Solving a problem involves using the other three principles and using virtue, concentration, and discernment. Discernment is developed through meditation. In order to alleviate the suffering and stress, one must abandon our self-identity. There is strong emphasis on meditation and a denial of "self". Faith is about a heartfelt confidence in our own awakening. In other words, we become our own gods and we are the masters of our destiny.

Because of its flexibility, Buddhism has no Commandments, but moral guidelines. They reject the "rigidities" that are associated with Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Freedom is the promise of Buddhist practice. It is about freeing ourselves from psychological restraint and responding to each situation. Their view of ethics is different from that of Christianity whereas Buddhist views of ethics is about contributing to one's own well-being and that of others, including in sexuality. Whereas in Christianity, the only sex that is not sinful is that between a man and a wife. In Buddhism, sexuality is not based on constructs such in marriage, but that sexuality is consentual, but not harmful or perverted. The structure of sexual desire is unique, and the limit is within the precepts of sexuality. In fact, marriage is a civil matter not a spiritual matter. They feel that the sexual ethics of Christianity are repressive; however, they feel that they have a strong sexual ethic. This includes sexuality in a consentual, honest, respectful, and not in a ill-willed, manipulative way. Buddhism does not buy into the social constraints, or social engineering, of reproduction.

Buddhism is a religion that has evolved throughout its history. That is a problem. In Christianity, there is a God who has never evolved. He has stayed the same through all time. He is not a God of repression. He does not have suggestions. He has commands us not to hate, to steal, to lie, or to kill. He commands us to love, to serve and worship Him. Sex is not to be taken lightly. Adultery and fornication are sins, plain and simple. In the Bible, those constraints are there for the purposes of right, moral living, and obedience to God. Salvation and "higher living" is through faith in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins. He loved us enough to die for our sins. We were called to reproduce. Marriage is a spiritual matter, between man and wife, for according to the Bible, man and wife are one. Faith is the substance is the things hoped for,the evidence of things not seen. (Heb. 11:1) It is not about awakening. Those who believe on Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God, should not perish, but have everlasting life. Christianity is a religion of hope. Suffering is in the world, but Christians should rejoice at their suffering. To be a Christian, no meditation is necessary, and the only self-denial there is to take up your cross and follow Jesus. Believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord. (Romans 10:9)

Answer 5

Holy crap, dont ask us to sum it up, try wikipedia.

Answer 6

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/buddhism/beliefs.html

Answer 7

i think they believe in enlightment...

Answer 8

The following is the basic buddist belief:

The Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama, a prince of the Sakya tribe of Nepal, in approximately 566 BC. When he was twentynine years old, he left the comforts of his home to seek the meaning of the suffering he saw around him. After six years of arduous yogic training, he abandoned the way of self-mortification and instead sat in mindful meditation beneath a bodhi tree.

On the full moon of May, with the rising of the morning star, Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha, the enlightened one.

The Buddha wandered the plains of northeastern India for 45 years more, teaching the path or Dharma he had realized in that moment. Around him developed a community or Sangha of monks and, later, nuns, drawn from every tribe and caste, devoted to practicing this path. In approximately 486 BC, at the age of 80, the Buddha died. His last words are said to be...

The Four Noble Truths



1. Life is suffering;
2. Suffering is due to attachment;

3. Attachment can be overcome;

4. There is a path for accomplishing this.

1. Suffering is perhaps the most common translation for the Sanskrit word duhkha, which can also be translated as imperfect, stressful, or filled with anguish.

Contributing to the anguish is anitya -- the fact that all things are impermanent, including living things like ourselves.

Furthermore, there is the concept of anatman -- literally, "no soul". Anatman means that all things are interconnected and interdependent, so that no thing -- including ourselves -- has a separate existence.

2. Attachment is a common translation for the word trishna, which literally means thirst and is also translated as desire, clinging, greed, craving, or lust. Because we and the world are imperfect, impermanent, and not separate, we are forever "clinging" to things, each other, and ourselves, in a mistaken effort at permanence.

Besides trishna, there is dvesha, which means avoidance or hatred. Hatred is its own kind of clinging.

And finally there is avidya, ignorance or the refusal to see. Not fully understanding the impermanence of things is what leads us to cling in the first place.

3. Perhaps the most misunderstood term in Buddhism is the one which refers to the overcoming of attachment: nirvana. It literally means "blowing out," but is often thought to refer to either a Buddhist heaven or complete nothingness. Actually, it refers to the letting go of clinging, hatred, and ignorance, and the full acceptance of imperfection, impermanence, and interconnectedness.

4. And then there is the path, called dharma. Buddha called it the middle way, which is understood as meaning the middle way between such competing philosophies as materialism and idealism, or hedonism and asceticism. This path, this middle way, is elaborated as the eightfold path.



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The Eightfold Path

1. Right view is the true understanding of the four noble truths.

2. Right aspiration is the true desire to free oneself from attachment, ignorance, and hatefulness.

These two are referred to as prajña, or wisdom.

3. Right speech involves abstaining from lying, gossiping, or hurtful talk.

4. Right action involves abstaining from hurtful behaviors, such as killing, stealing, and careless sex.

5. Right livelihood means making your living in such a way as to avoid dishonesty and hurting others, including animals.

These three are refered to as shila, or morality.

6. Right effort is a matter of exerting oneself in regards to the content of one's mind: Bad qualities should be abandoned and prevented from arising again; Good qualities should be enacted and nurtured.

7. Right mindfulness is the focusing of one's attention on one's body, feelings, thoughts, and consciousness in such a way as to overcome craving, hatred, and ignorance.

8. Right concentration is meditating in such a way as to progressively realize a true understanding of imperfection, impermanence, and non-separateness.

The last three are known as samadhi, or meditation.



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The Kalama Sutta

In the Kalama Sutta, we find the Kalamas, a people of apparently skeptical natures, asking Buddha for guidance in distinguishing good teachers from bad ones, and proper teachings from evil ones. The Buddha answers in three parts, which are treasures of wisdom. First, he outlines the criteria we should use to distinguish good from bad teachers and teachings:

"It is proper for you, Kalamas, to doubt, to be uncertain.... Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another's seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, 'The monk is our teacher....'

"What do you think, Kalamas? Does greed appear in a man for his benefit or harm? Does hate appear in a man for his benefit or harm? Does delusion appear in a man for his benefit or harm?" -- "For his harm, venerable sir." -- "Kalamas, being given to greed, hate, and delusion, and being overwhelmed and vanquished mentally by greed, hate, and delusion, this man takes life, steals, commits adultery, and tells lies; he prompts another too, to do likewise. Will that be long for his harm and ill?" -- "Yes, venerable sir...."

"Kalamas, when you yourselves know: 'These things are bad; these things are blamable; these things are censured by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill,' abandon them. "

Next, Buddha presents The Four Exalted Dwellings or Brahma Vihara:

"The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who in this way is devoid of coveting, devoid of ill will, undeluded, clearly comprehending and mindful, dwells, having pervaded, with the thought of amity, all corners of the universe; he dwells, having pervaded because of the existence in it of all living beings, everywhere, the entire world, with the great, exalted, boundless thought of amity that is free of hate or malice.

"He lives, having pervaded, with the thought of compassion, all corners of the universe; he dwells, having pervaded because of the existence in it of all living beings, everywhere, the entire world, with the great, exalted, boundless thought of compassion that is free of hate or malice.

"He lives, having pervaded, with the thought of gladness, all corners of the universe; he dwells, having pervaded because of the existence in it of all living beings, everywhere, the entire world, with the great, exalted, boundless thought of gladness that is free of hate or malice.

"He lives, having pervaded, with the thought of equanimity, all corners of the universe; he dwells, having pervaded because of the existence in it of all living beings, everywhere, the entire world, with the great, exalted, boundless thought of equanimity that is free of hate or malice.

And finally, Buddha reveals how, no matter what our philosophical orientation, following this path will lead to happiness, The Four Solaces:

"The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who has such a hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and such a purified mind, is one by whom four solaces are found here and now.

"'Suppose there is a hereafter and there is a fruit, result, of deeds done well or ill. Then it is possible that at the dissolution of the body after death, I shall arise in the heavenly world, which is possessed of the state of bliss.' This is the first solace found by him.

"'Suppose there is no hereafter and there is no fruit, no result, of deeds done well or ill. Yet in this world, here and now, free from hatred, free from malice, safe and sound, and happy, I keep myself.' This is the second solace found by him.

"'Suppose evil (results) befall an evil-doer. I, however, think of doing evil to no one. Then, how can ill (results) affect me who do no evil deed?' This is the third solace found by him.

"'Suppose evil (results) do not befall an evil-doer. Then I see myself purified in any case.' This is the fourth solace found by him.

"The disciple of the Noble Ones, Kalamas, who has such a hate-free mind, such a malice-free mind, such an undefiled mind, and such a purified mind, is one by whom, here and now, these four solaces are found."

(quotations adapted from The Anguttara Nikaya 3.65, Soma Thera Trans., emphases added.)