Buddha/Teachings of Buddha

Lotus Flower

           Siddhartha Gautama was born into a royal family in a kingdom located in Nepal. He was known that he was going to either be a wealthy person, like he is now, or a holy man.  Because he never associated with the outside world and common people, he got to experience it one time, when he realized that people grow old, get sick and die, and wondered what the purpose of existence was. He eventually left the kingdom and became a holy man. Siddhartha began to perform certain disciplinary rituals focusing on enlightenment and cleansing your inner self. This concept is known as Buddhism. Over time, he began to teach people how to meditate, in which it spread to other countries where achieving enlightenment is being practiced.

Three Jewels

            The three jewels consist of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. These three jewels help you to become a Buddhist. The Buddha refers to Buddhism and transforming your life to seeking enlightenment through retreat and studying the teachings of Buddhism. Dharma is ethical teachings that help you to live life. Sangha are examples of what Dharma teaches in order to accomplish Buddhism. The general term for Sangha is in reference to sharing your life with other people as a religious society.

Sangha Day

Dharma Cosmic Wheel

Buddha Wisdom

            Threefold way path is ethics, meditation and wisdom. Ethics refers to how we conduct ourselves. Our actions and words can have a positive and negative outlook on life. The law of ethics is called the Five Percepts. These principles are used independently but help with knowledge and delicacy. Meditation is a way of altering the mind through positive thoughts. Wisdom helps us to understand the true outlook on life and how being ignorant is not the way to think. A person who is wise will see life as stages in which they are ok with. 

        Four Noble Truths are 1. All existence is dukkha (suffering/painful). 2. The purpose of dukkha (pain) is a strong desire. 3.  Ending pain comes with stopping the desire. 4.  There is a path that takes us away from suffering. The noble eightfold path is very common when practicing Buddhism. It is intertwined with Dharma and are: 1. Right understanding, 2. Right resolve, 3. Right speech, 4. Right action, 5. Right livelihood, 6. Right effort, 7. Right mindfulness and 8. Right meditation.

Meditation (Threefold Path)