Drum – 22 August 2019

58 |^22 AUGUST^2019 http://www.drum.c

escapedsuffering.Heabandonedthisstrictway

oflivingbutdidn’treturntohispamperedlife.He

triedtofollowtheMiddleWay– neitherlivingin

self-denialandpovertynorlivinginluxury.

Onedaysittingundera figtreeinBodhGaya,

India,hestartedtomeditatedeeply.Hevowedto

stayintheareauntilheunderstoodthetruthof

theuniverse.Aftermeditatingfor 49 dayshe

reachedenlightenmentandbecameknownas

theBuddha(“theEnlightenedOne”).

Hedecidedtoteachothershowtoreach

enlightenmentandspentthelast 45 yearsofhis

lifetravellingandteachingwhathe’dlearntto

others.Hediedaged 80 inaround483BC.

THEBUDDHA’STEACHINGS

ThebasicsteachingsofBuddhistsare

theFourNobleTruths,whichexplain

whyhumanssufferandhowtoovercomethis.

FromthistheBuddhadevelopedtheEightfold

Path,whichwillultimatelyendsuffering.

TheFourNobleTruths

Lifeisfullofsuffering(dukkha).

Sufferingiscausedbythreepoisonsorevils:

greedanddesires(wants),ignoranceanddelusion

andhatredanddestructiveurges.

Sufferingcanbeendedifa personstopsdesi-

ringthings,suchasmorepower.

Tostopsuffering,youmustfollowtheEightfold

Path.

TheEightfoldPath(theMiddleWay)

Rightunderstanding:knowthetruth(basedon

T

HOUGH there are only

25000 BuddhistsinSA,

it’stheworld’sfourth-largest

religion,witha followingof

about 520 millionpeople

worldwide.

WHATISBUDDHISM?
Buddhistsdon’tworshipa god. Instead
theyfocusonpersonalspiritualdeve-
lopmentandgaininginsightintothetruenature

of life. TheBuddhaisn’ta godbutamanwho
becameenlightened.
BuddhismdevelopedinIndiainreactionto
Hinduism. ThefounderofBuddhismwasborna

Hindu andthereligionshavemanyofthesame
beliefs suchasreincarnation– thatalllivingthings
go througha continuouscycleofdeathandrebirth.
A waytoescapethiscycleistobuildupgood

karma –ifyoudogoodthings,goodthingswill
happentoyou,sowhenyoudieyou’rereincar-
nated ina betterlifethantheonebefore.
Hindusocietyisdividedintofivecastes(social

classes),fromthelowest(streetsweepers)tothe
highest(priests).There’snowaytoescapeyour
caste – all you can do is behav

up good karma in the hopeth
you’ll be reborn in a higherc
have enough good karmay
(enlightenment), break freefr

and become one with theuniv
Buddhists believe nirvanac
by anyone who follows therig
mattertheircaste.

THE BUDDHA

The Buddha wasbo

2 500 years agoin

Inourfourth

articleonreligions,

weexplore

thespiritualbeliefs

oftheBuddhists

eligions

art 4

f 5

Re

Pa

Buddhism

Nepal.HewasaprincecalledSiddhartha

Gautamaandhadeverythinghisheartdesired.

Aseerhadpredictedhe’dbecomea greatkingif

hestayedinthepalaceora greatreligiousleader

ifheleft.

Hisfatherwantedhimtobecomea kingsokept

himinthepalace.Theprincegrewupinluxury,

marriedandhadason.ButSiddharthafelt

unhappy.

Whenhewas 29 yearsold,theprincecameinto

contactwithrealpainandsufferingforthefirst

time. Heleftthepalaceandsawfoursightsthat

hada deepimpactonhim:a sickman,anelderly

man,a deadmananda monk.Thefirstthreemade

himrealisethatevena richprincecouldn’tescape

illness,sufferinganddeath.

ThemonkinspiredSiddharthatoleavebehind

hisgoodlife, hisfamilyandwealth.Hewentin

searchofpeaceandcalmandtofinda wayto

escapethesufferingandgriefoftheworld.

Duringhistravelshesearchedforanswersto

questionssuchas,“Whymustpeoplesuffer?”and,

“Whatcausessuffering?”

THEMIDDLEWAY

fo-

ta-

n’t

ut

im

n’t

nicknameofBudai,a legendaryChineseBuddhist

pictedasa jollyfellowwitha bigbelly.IntheWest

n confused with the Buddha. Chinese Buddhists often

uesof him as they believe he brings happiness.

HELAUGHING BUDDHA

Buddha

statues have

meaning from

head to toe:

closed eyes

show medi-

tation, a dot on

the forehead

symbolises

enlightenment

and the serene

smile points to

a calm nature.

co.za

y p y

ve properlytobuild

hatinyournextlife

aste.Finally,ifyou

youreachnirvana

omreincarnation

verse.

canbe reached

ght path,no

ornabout

Lumbini,

ForsixyearsSiddharthaf

cusedonprayer andmedit

tion.Healsofasted(didn

eat)forlongperiods.B

thisdidn’tsatisfyhi

either.

He stillhadn

Thisisthen

masterde

he’soften

have statu

TH

Oneoftheways to reachnirvanaisto

meditate.Thisisttopractisedistancing

yourselffromyouur thoughtsandemotions.

It’sa waytostopyyourmindrushingabout

andsimplytobe––notjudgingorthinking

but being at peacee andfocused.