Buddhism

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Hello everyone!

Welcome to 仏教の生き様 (bukkyou no ikizama), a blog series where I talk about Buddhism, its connection with Japan and share my learnings with you.

Before going ahead, I thought it was really important to briefly understand, what Buddhism is, where did it originate, what are the main beliefs and other important things that will be crucial for us as we try to understand Buddhism in Japan. 

So with this, let’s quickly dive into Buddhism. 


About me: 

This is Arpit Gupta, a student in the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, pursuing his Bachelors in Japanese language and having  great interest in Buddhism and Japan.


Contents:

  1. What is Buddhism?
  2. Beliefs 
  3. 4 noble truths 
  4. 8 fold path


What is Buddhism?

Buddhism (仏教 - Bukkyou) is a religion or philosophy, originated in India about 2,500 years ago, founded by ‘Siddhārtha Gautama’ who later got the name, ‘Gautama Buddha’ or simply ‘Buddha’, the name by which he is more commonly known today. The word ‘Buddha’ is a title, which means ‘The Awakened One’ in Sanskrit. 

From India, Buddhism travelled to Central and Southeast Asia covering, especially, China, Korea, and Japan. Later, at the beginning of the 20th century, it spread to the West. Today, it is considered the world's fourth-largest religion, with over 520 million followers, covering around 7% of the global population and a notable presence in East and Southeast Asia.


Beliefs:

According to major Buddhist beliefs, we are stuck in a cycle of life and death. This cycle of rebirth and life, in itself, is the main source of suffering. The only way to get out of this vicious cycle is by attaining ‘Nirvana’ (enlightenment). It is believed that this can be done by doing meditation, spiritual, physical labour and having good behaviour. This is because they believe in Karma (the law of cause and effect). Buddhists often meditate as it helps in transcending the individual self by awakening the truth, as done by Buddha. They don’t believe in a specific ‘god’ but they do believe that a supernatural force helps to guide them towards their goal of enlightenment. 


4 noble truths:

“Life is dukkha”, as it is popularly believed in Buddhism. 

This points towards the endless suffering in life. To explain this further, the Buddha came up with the ‘Four Noble Truths’. These talk about the truth and origin of ‘Dukkha’ and how can one free oneself from the same. These truths are as follows:

  1. The truth of suffering (Dukkha): This calls for noticing the fact that life is suffering. As long as there is life, there is suffering, in some or the other way. 
  2. The truth of the cause of suffering (samudaya): This truth points towards the origin of the suffering. The Buddha says that the origin of suffering is desire (tanha). We suffer because of our desires, highlighting the fact that the desires are never-ending, and this mortal body can never be satisfied. 
  3. The truth of the cessation of suffering (nirodha): This truth brings into notice the fact that ‘dukkha’ ends only with the end of life. This does not mean ending one’s life, but escaping the vicious circle of life and death. This can only be done by attaining enlightenment (Nirvana or Moksha). 
  4. The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (magga): The Fourth Noble truth charts the path that helps one attain enlightenment, thus ending suffering. This ‘Middle Path’ refers to the Noble Eightfold Path that was devised to overcome suffering and attain ‘Nirvana’. 

Through these Four Noble Truths, Buddhism aims at identifying and eradicating dukkha caused by desire and ignorance of reality's true nature and non-identification of the non-existence of the self (anattā).


Eightfold Path:

As discussed earlier, Buddhism says that dukkha can only be ended by attaining Nirvana. For this purpose, they underlined a ‘Middle Path’, called the Eightfold Path. By following the eight paths mentioned in this, it is believed that one can attain enlightenment. The truths are as follows:

  1. Right Understanding (Samma ditthi)
  2. Right Thought (Samma sankappa)
  3. Right Speech (Samma vaca)
  4. Right Action (Samma kammanta)
  5. Right Livelihood (Samma ajiva)
  6. Right Effort (Samma vayama)
  7. Right Mindfulness (Samma sati)
  8. Right Concentration (Samma samadhi)

So with this, now we have a basic understanding of Buddhism, its origin, beliefs and teachings in general. Next, I’ll try to study and cover Buddhism in Japan, so keep connected as we learn together!


Happy learning ^.^

Arpit Gupta

Other Blogs: Getting started, About

Contact: apt.arpit.gup@gmail.com, Twitter



References:

https://www.history.com/topics/religion/buddhism 
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/buddhism/
https://thebuddhistcentre.com/buddhism
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buddhism
https://tricycle.org/beginners/ 

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