What do people who are Buddhist believe in? I've tried to read about it, but nothing makes sense.
2007-01-30 08:36:48 · 14 answers · asked by gally 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The basic beliefs of Buddhism can be demonstrated in the following concepts and doctrines:
The Four Noble Truths
The First Noble Truthis the existence of suffering. Birth is painful and death is painful; disease and old age are painful. Not having what we desire is painful and having what we do not desire is also painful.
The Second Noble Truth is the cause of suffering. It is the craving desire for the pleasures of the senses, which seeks satisfaction now here, now there; the craving for happiness and prosperity in this life and in future lives.
The Third Noble Truth is the ending of suffering. To be free of suffering one must give up, get rid of, extinguish this very craving, so that no passion and no desire remain.
The Fourth Noble Truth leads to the ending of all pain by way of the Eightfold Path.
The Eightfold Path
The first step on that path is Right Views: You must accept the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.
The second is Right Resolve: You must renounce the pleasures of the senses; you must harbor no ill will toward anyone and harm no living creature.
The third is Right Speech: Do not lie; do not slander or abuse anyone. Do not indulge in idle talk.
The fourth is Right Behavior: Do not destroy any living creature; take only what is given to you; do not commit any unlawful sexual act.
The fifth is Right Occupation: You must earn your livelihood in a way that will harm no one.
The sixth is Right Effort: You must resolve and strive heroically to prevent any evil qualities from arising in you and to abandon any evil qualities that you may possess. Strive to acquire good qualities and encourage those you do possess to grow, increase, and be perfected.
The seventh is Right Contemplation: Be observant, strenuous, alert, contemplative, and free of desire and of sorrow.
The eighth is Right Meditation: When you have abandoned all sensuous pleasures, all evil qualities, both joy and sorrow, you must then enter the four degrees of meditation, which are produced by concentration.
Buddhist Precepts
There are five precepts taught by Buddhism that all Buddhists should follow:
Kill no living thing.
Do not steal.
Do not commit adultery.
Tell no lies.
Do not drink intoxicants or take drugs.
Other precepts apply only to monks and nuns:
Eat moderately and only at the appointed time.
Avoid that which excites the senses.
Do not wear adornments.
Do not sleep in luxurious beds.
Accept no silver or gold.
Sacred Scriptures
In Theravada (Southeast Asian) Buddhism, there are three groups of writings considered to be holy scripture, known as the "Three Baskets" (Tripitaka). The Vinaya Pitaka (discipline basket) contains rules for the higher class of Buddhists; the Sutta Pitaka (teaching basket) contains the discourses of Buddha; and the Abidhamma Pitaka (metaphysical basket) contains Buddhist theology.
Mahayana (Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc.) Buddhism contains an incredibly large amount of holy writings, over five thousand volumes. The oldest scriptures are based on Sanskrit, while others have been written in Nepalese, Tibetan, and Chinese. There are no clear limits as to what should be admitted as scripture, so thousands of writings on the topic have been admitted.
2007-01-31 04:23:32 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Isn't this question about Buddhism, as opposed to any other religion? Keep in mind I'm an atheist, and I feel that out of all major religions, buddhism is by far the most logical, even though some of it is plain crackers. It's based on the 4 noble truths and the eightfold path.
For a user friendly quick guide to buddhism, go to
http://www.rotten.com/library/religion/buddhism/
Also I feel that buddhism is less oppressive than the other religions. If you look at people like Larry S, he's trying to convince you into believing that Jesus is the one and only. Additionaly, Christians have a more brutal past, what with all the wars and the inquisistions, witch burnings etc. You don't seem to hear much about buddhist crusades....
Finally, quoting from the bible doesn't really justify alot.... as it was written by men, not God, and has been ammended time and time again to suit the politics of the pope of that generation.
"all other gods are actually satan or his demons..." Honestly... grow up.
2007-01-30 09:05:45 · answer #2 · answered by louie2356 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh jeez now you have the bible thumpers in an uproar! LOL In Buddhism, a buddha (Sanskrit बुद्ध) is any being who has become fully awakened (enlightened), has permanently overcome desire or craving (lobha), aversion (dosa), and delusion (moha), or ignorance, and has achieved complete liberation from suffering. However, such a negative definition should be augmented with its positive aspect, for a Buddha is also "one who has achieved a state of perfect enlightenment,"[1] which is a state of perfect mental tranquillity and non-fading bliss: "is the highest bliss" and "the bliss of peace, the bliss of enlightenment."[2]
They do not believe Buddha is a god. Being a Buddhist is not a bad thing and I believe it's a good way to live your life. Also the people who quote the bible should realize that Buddhists also have books that they could quote from as well, but since they are beings of peace they probably wouldn't.
I'm sure I'm going to get many thumbs down but I don't care. It's not wrong for someone to ask a question about a religion that you don't subscribe to. You don't have to start quoting the bible. Maybe this person is a Christian and was just curious.
2007-01-30 08:46:39 · answer #3 · answered by musicpanther67 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Buddhists believe that we are all perfect spiritual beings, but because we are caught in the material world, we have forgotten this. The material world is an illusion which our spirits keep falling back into (reincarnated) because of karma, which is the accumulated cause and effect of all the good and bad we have done in all of our lifetimes. There is a way though to be liberated from this cycle by attaining enlightenment, or Nirvana, which is where, through meditation, study and contemplation, you actually see through this illusion. At this point you break free of your karma and become that perfect being again.
As far as a god goes, Buddhism is generally agnostic - not that they don't believe knowledge of the creator is impossible, but they simply believe it is irrelevant. One of the key realisations of enlightenment is that everything is one. Not just connected, but THE SAME THING, at a spritual level. It is this realisation that informs buddhist morality as well. Since we are all one, the harm you do to another, is actually harm you do to yourself. In this world view, we are god, though not all buddhists would interpret it as such.
2007-01-30 08:52:30 · answer #4 · answered by dead_elves 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I "believe" in nothing, everything is sacred". A Buddhist monk said when asked "what is a Buddhist" said "there is no such thing as a Buddhist, Buddhist is only a word". The truth is beyond words but can be pointed to with words, the monks "answer" is a good example.
2007-01-30 09:12:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You cant read and understand Buddhism . Buddhism is not a normal past time reading materials like any novels which you can simply understood .
Buddhism , requires you to come and see , listen , investigate it , question it and practice it in order to understand it . It should not be a blind believe nor should you listen to what other people have told you .
Investigate it , or question it is the best way to know it .
2007-01-30 16:16:29 · answer #6 · answered by YoBro'' 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
what's a faith? whether that's a perception gadget that's composed of one or greater deities, then Buddhism isn't strictly a faith. Buddha is respected as a God in some branches of Buddhism, yet as a instructor in others. The latter are philosophies no longer religions.
2016-11-23 14:36:35 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
All things are impermanent and nothing is permanent. All things are changing and arise due to causes and conditions.
All the things you THINK bring you happiness, only really bring suffering, ultimately, so clinging and attachments to such things, when they fizzle out, break down or die, is why you "suffer".
There is a way to get beyond that suffering and the mind training or meditation and gaining knowledge and wisdom through the Dharma will help you get beyond it.
It's a middle way... no extremes, no being forced to give up anything, etc. It would be more helpful if you posted what concepts don't make sense to you. I can't offer much more beyond this as basic beliefs...
_()_
2007-01-30 08:44:28 · answer #8 · answered by vinslave 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
People like LARRY S seem to be the best argument against christianity.
Read the wikipedia entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism
the religious tolerance entry
http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism.htm
A couple of other sites:
http://www.buddhanet.net/
http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/buddhaintro.html
If you have specific questions, people here will be glad to answer them.
I'm an atheist, but no buddhists have ever tried to hurt me, which is more than I can say for followers of the abrahamic religions.
2007-01-30 08:45:37 · answer #9 · answered by eldad9 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
They really don't believe in anything...it is a path of experience.
They recognize there is suffering and give a method of overcoming suffering.
Even the Buddha said...don't believe anything I said, you must look into it yourself and find out for yourself.
~ Eric Putkonen
2007-01-30 08:51:47 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋