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Buddhist Beliefs
What do Buddhists believe?
Buddhism focuses on a series of teachings (dharma) developed by Siddhartha
Gautama – the Buddha – in the 6th century BCE. The goal of these teachings is to
help the believer achieve enlightenment and the cessation of suffering. Buddhism’s
central tenets – the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path – put one on
the path to enlightenment (nirvana). Underlying these tenets is the philosophy of
the Middle Way, a path of moderation between excess and austerity in which one
provides the body with every-thing necessary for its healthy functioning but
nothing further, thus allowing the believer to prevent both suffering from lack of
nourishment as well as distraction by sensual pleasures in order to focus on
attaining enlightenment.
The Four Noble Truths are the foundation of all Buddhist beliefs, and they provide
believers with a plan for dealing with and overcoming the challenges of life. The
First Noble Truth is that life is suffering (dukkha), which is considered the
fundamental quality of unenlightened existence. The notion of suffering is not
intended to convey a negative worldview but is rather a pragmatic perspective that
deals with the world as it is and attempts to rectify it. The concept of pleasure is
not denied, but acknowledged as fleeting. Pursuit of pleasure can only continue
what is ultimately an unquenchable thirst. The same logic belies an understanding
of happiness. In the end, only aging, sickness, and death are certain and
unavoidable.
The Second Noble Truth seeks to determine the cause of suffering. In Buddhism,
desire (tanha) lies at the root of suffering. Buddhists view desire as cravings for
pleasure, material goods, and immortality, all of which are wants that can never be
fully satisfied. As a result, desiring them can only lead to suffering. These cravings
distract people from seeing the world as it actually is. Without the capacity for
mental concentration and insight, Buddhism explains, one’s mind is left
undeveloped, unable to grasp the true nature of things. Vices, such as greed, envy,
hatred, and anger, derive from this ignorance.
The Third Noble Truth – the truth of the end of suffering – has dual meanings,
suggesting either the end of suffering in this life or in the spiritual life through the
attainment of nirvana. When one has achieved nirvana, which is a transcendent
state free from suffering and the worldly cycle of birth and re-birth, enlightenment
has been reached.
The Buddha taught through the Fourth Noble Truth the path to end suffering and
attain enlightenment – the Noble Eightfold Path. The steps of the Noble Eightfold
Path include Right Understanding, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action,
Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
Buddhist’s today typically divide the path into three themes – good moral conduct
(Understanding, Thought, Speech), meditation and mental development (Action,
Livelihood, Effort), and wisdom or insight (Mindfulness and Concentration). (For
more in the Noble Eightfold Path, see the lesson on “Buddhist Practices.”)
A central part of Buddhist cosmology is the belief in samsāra, the Sanskrit word
that de-notes the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth to which sentient beings are
subject. For a Buddhist, the ultimate goal is not to attain an afterlife in a heavenly
realm, but to achieve complete liberation from samsāra altogether. In this sense, it
is similar to the concept of moksha in Hinduism. Once a person attains
enlightenment, they no longer remain part of the wheel of rebirth and they attain
nirvana. Nirvana is not envisioned as a place, such as in the Abrahamic faiths of
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Instead, Buddhists conceive of nirvana as a state
of eternal, enlightened consciousness beyond death and life, free from suffering.
The force that keeps people enmeshed in samsāra is karma – the idea that all
intentional actions will bear fruit either in this life or a future life. Good actions –
judged largely by the person’s motivation – will result in good consequences for
the person, while bad actions will create bad consequences. Rebirth, whether as a
human or as a lesser being, is the karmic consequence of one’s past actions.
However, through right living as laid out in the Noble Eightfold Path, one
generates liberating karma, which eventually leads to enlightenment. Once one has
reached nirvana, one ceases to generate karma, thus removing oneself from the
cycle of rebirth.
Buddhists agree that the highest realm of rebirth is to be a human being. It is the
highest realm because it offers the opportunity to achieve enlightenment.
Buddhists believe that given the sheer number of living things, to be born a human
being is a precious chance at spiritual perfection, a rare opportunity that a person
should not forsake. Broadly speaking, Buddhism affirms that the potential for
awakening and perfection is present in every human being and that realizing this
potential is a matter of personal effort.
Denominational differences
The two major branches of Buddhism today – Mahayana (Sanskrit for “the Great
Way”) and Theravada (“the Teaching of the Elders”) – possess differing beliefs
regarding humanity’s potential for enlightenment, the role of enlightened beings,
the nature of the Buddha himself (saint or savior), and the way to escape the cycle
of death and rebirth.
Mahayana Buddhism is comprised of a diverse group of schools with a core of
certain shared beliefs. Mahayana Buddhists hold that an individual who achieves
enlightenment has not yet reached the pinnacle of his spiritual quest; those who
reach this state of perfect awakening are called to become a bodhisattva – an
awakened being who guides others on the path to awakening until all of humanity
has attained nirvana. In-deed, Mahayana teaches that all beings are destined to
eventually gain enlightenment.
An outgrowth of the Mahayana emphasis on the guidance of bodhisattvas is the
belief – manifested in diverse ways between different schools – in the supernatural
powers of supremely enlightened beings known as Buddhas. Mahayanists often
believe that Buddhas can assist one in the quest to spiritual perfection long after
the physical death of that particular Buddha. This belief developed into Devotional
Buddhism, in which a person devotes oneself to a Buddha and remains mindful of
him and his teachings in order to be granted salvation by the Buddha’s grace. As
such, some Mahayanists view Buddhas essentially as deities. Devotional
Buddhism minimized the mental rigors of meditation in favor of the more
accessible practice of personal devotion to a Buddha. Because of the
denomination’s historical willingness to incorporate preexisting belief systems as
it spread across East Asia, some Mahayana schools believe in a variety of
supernatural beings and deities that play various, often minor roles in their
cosmologies.
Theravada Buddhism has kept its system of beliefs considerably more contained.
In Theravada, attaining enlightenment is a personal quest that cannot effectively be
furthered by others, Buddhas or otherwise. Be-cause of this belief, those who do
achieve nirvana have no responsibility to help others along the path to
enlightenment; their journey is complete. Another consequence of the view of
enlightenment as a personal matter is the absence of devotional worship in
Theravada Buddhism. Every individual is responsible for his or her own salvation,
which requires great personal effort. Thus, enlightenment is not guaranteed or preordained for anyone.
“The Sermon at Benares”
by Siddhartha Gautama
Now, this, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning suffering: Birth is attended
with pain, decay is painful, disease is painful, death is painful. Union with the
unpleasant is painful, painful is separation from the pleasant; and any craving that
is unsatisfied, that too is painful. In brief, bodily conditions, which spring from
attachment, are painful. This, then, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning
suffering.
Now this, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning the origin of suffering: Verily,
it is that craving which causes the renewal of existence, accompanied by sensual
delight, seeking satisfaction now here, now there, the craving for the gratification
of the passions, the craving for a future life, and the craving for happiness in this
life. This, then, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning the origin of suffering.
Now this, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning the destruction of suffering:
Verily, it is the destruction, in which no passion remains, of this very thirst; it is
the laying aside of, the being free from, the dwelling no longer upon this thirst.
This, then, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning the destruction of suffering.
Now, this, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning the way which leads to the
destruction of sorrow. Verily, it is this noble eightfold path; that is to say: Right
views; right aspirations; right speech; right behavior; right livelihood; right effort;
right thoughts; and right contemplation. This, then, O bhikkhus, is the noble truth
concerning the destruction of sorrow.
Buddhist Beliefs
Directions: In the boxes, write some of the attributes
associated with each of these truths.
The Noble Truth
The First Noble Truth
Life is Suffering
By the practice of loving-kindness, I have attained liberation of heart, and thus I am
assured that I shall never return in renewed births. I have even now attained Nirvana.
The Second Noble Truth
Suffering is due to attachment
The Third Noble Truth
Attachment can be overcome
The Fourth Noble Truth
There is a path for
accomplishing this
Response
1. Why did the Buddha believe that to begin the Eightfold Path a person had
to have a proper view of The Middle Way and the Four Noble Truths?
4. Analyze and discuss whether the First Noble Truth is a pessimistic
assessment of the human condition.
2. What does Buddha mean by the idea of “right intention”? In other words,
is it a specific set of actions or a way of life?
5. Compare and contrast the Eightfold Path to practices in other traditions
such as Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam.
3. If moral behavior is not commanded by a god or by an outside authority,
how are human beings supposed to behave ethically?
6. Examine and discuss whether you believe it possible to attain Nirvana.
7. Discuss the most important idea that you learned from this lesson.