Can someone tell me what the fundamental beliefs of Buddhists are?

Question

I am very curious. I also want some recommended reading. Thank You.

Answer 1

You've asked for an answer to a very big question. It is very difficult to reduce a philosophy and an ideology to a few lines or even paragraphs, but if you bear with me I'll do the best I can to satisfy your avid curiosity. I'll try to keep it to less than War and Peace..../Buddhists are allowed to have a sense of humour/...

Buddhism then....in a nutshell....whew this is going to be tough even for me as a Buddhist........

We believe in the Dharma or Teaching. The basis of which is the 4 Noble Truths which are
1. In Life there is suffering
2.The cause of suffering is self serving human desire
3.To cease suffering one must cease self serving desire
4.The way to do this is by following the Noble Eightfold Path

It follows then that to follow the Noble Eightfold Path one must develop the following

Morality including
1.Right Speech
2.Right Actions
3.Right Livelihood (killing is forbidden even as employment)

Mind including
4.Right Effort
5.Right mindfulness
6.Right concentration

Wisdom including
7.Right thoughts
8.Right understanding

As well as these, there are a set of moral code guidelines which are called the Precepts. In general there are 5 but some prefer the more strict code and follow 8. The 5 are
1.Refrain from taking Life
2.Refrain from theft
3.Refrain from sexual miscunduct
4.Refrain from lying
5.Refrain from drugs and alcohol

So, by practising the development of these 8 characteristics of the Noble Eightfold Path and adhering to the 5 Precepts we strive for the achiement of an enlightened state of consciousness which is free of suffering.

We do this not for a selfish reason, rather we strive so that all beings are free of suffering both through a direct result or consequence of our Actions or through the positive consequence or Karma for which we strive.

Buddhists believe several things
1.That Beings include all sentient Life Forms, these Life Forms
include animals and humans.
2.There are several levels of existence....several Lower Realms,
this Realm and several higher Realms each containing Life
Forms of their own.
3.There is no Deity or all powerful God
4.Some higher Realms do have Beings such as Gods and
superhumans who have evolved to get to that Realm
5.Life is a cyclic phenomenon which continues endlessly from
Birth through Life then Death then Rebirth
6.Rebirth is a result of another phenomena known as Karma.
Karma is a phenomena which is a consequence of our
Actions in both this Life and our previous Lives. These
consequences can be positive, negative or neutral depending
on our intentions.
7.To escape from and therefore move out of the cycle of Karma,
Death and Rebirth, one must evolve and to do this one must
attain enlightenment it is understood that we do not have to be Monks to achieve this state but it attainable by all who dilligently follow the Path, it is further understood that it is a Path with no end, that following it will expand our awareness to include others and thereby release ourselves from our self serving feelings, selfishness if you will. We are in effect to become truly selfless in our dealings with others.
8.Buddhists do not preach to attract converts as the Dharma
states that we each should not believe the Dharma but should
reach understanding by our own experience of it.

This is a very, very basic introduction to the Dharma and Buddhist ideology. Do not take this answer as the truth of Buddhism. I am not a Teacher nor an Adept and only serves as a very incomplete guide.

Here are a couple of references for you covering the Theravada tradition....

http://www.what-buddha-taught.net/
http://www.what-buddha-taught.net/books/Ajahn_Brahm_Becoming_Enlightened.htm

I hope I've helped you...

Peace from a Buddhist..in the season of joy

Answer 2

Harm nobody and seek an end to all suffering. But it goes much deeper. Though many do, I don't view it as a religion, it's more way of life.

I read a book written by a Quacker who also practised Buddhism.
He was able to do both because some of us don't practise prayer. Can't pray to the Buddha, all you can do is follow his example.

The second book I read was this.
http://www.amazon.ca/How-Practice-Way-Meaningful-Life/dp/0743453360/sr=1-3/qid=1168240202/ref=sr_1_3/701-5122040-1238709?ie=UTF8&s=books

The first on I read was nowhere near as good as How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life.

Or you could try Buddhism for Dummies,
http://www.amazon.ca/Buddhism-Dummies-Jonathan-Landaw/dp/0764553593/sr=11-1/qid=1168240733/ref=sr_11_1/701-5122040-1238709

I browsed it once and thought it gave a good overview of the differnt practises and it's evolution into them, though it isn't meant for study like the first book I've recommended.

We are all the same.
"Everybody wants happiness, doesn't want suffering." H. H. the Dalai Lama

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/5minbud.htm

Try that link it has the basic background information
There are different sects of Buddhism today
My family was Nichiren Buddhism which is a Japanese form this sites below are good for that
http://www.nichiren.info/
and
http://www.sgi.org/
in sgi you can pretty much find a center or temple anywhere in the us without a problem I have gone there in Texas and Chicago
they our world wide
there is also Tibetan Buddhism
which is associated with the Dali lama and also the yogi
http://www.tibet.com/Buddhism/
Buddhism is more of a philosophy of life than a religion
All of the schools of though in Buddhism stem from
Siddhartha Gotama, known as the Buddha
he was trying to dispel the negatives of life, he left all of his wordily possessions and went on a quest to find the self
this is when he found the Buddhist laws or guides to freedom
Good luck on your quest any questions just e mail me

Answer 4

Buddhism is the philosophy of awakening.This philosophy has its origin in the experience of the man Siddhata Gotama,known as tha Buddha,who was himself awakened at the age of 35.
The essence of the Teaching of the Buddha are:
1.The Four Noble Truths
2.The Noble Eightfold Path
3.Dependent Origination
4.Three Marks of Existence

Please go to:http://www.bswa.org

The above is one of the best site on Buddhism.

Answer 5

The best I can offer is this link.
http://www.buddhanet.net/index.html

I tend to think in terms of Zen as Buddhism, but as you see there are other varieties. I think the Pure Land Vietnamese style of Buddhism seems to much like a Christian subcult, relying on faith for salvation instead of awareness and personal work.

Answer 6

Read my blog entry for yesterday.

It covered the four noble truths, the eight forld path, and the 10 precepts.

My blog entry for today will teach people how to do zazen (sitting meditation).

Answer 7

Very simply put, it is...

To do good, keep doing good, do more good until you re-born, reborn better and better each time until you become a MONK.

Finally, after monkhood if you continue to do good, you reach NOTHINGNESS. Nirvana.

One wonders why go through so much to become nothing? And how often can they be reborn since the world is ending? Imagine being reborn but no ground to stand on. :)

Answer 8

Try http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism.htm for information about basic Buddhist beliefs and http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism3.htm for places to go for more information.

Answer 9

I don't see why being a war correspondent would go against Buddhism. You're probably fine.

Answer 10

The eight fold path and the four noble truths.