Buddhism or Philosophy?

Curious to know about Buddhism..? Wandering about what life is..? Wanting a philosophical vision of life..? Well, you can find some answers here!

“Sabba papassa akaranan –
Kusalassa upasampada
Sachiththa pariyo dapanan –
Ethan Buddhanusasanam”

“To do no evil – To cultivate good
To purify one’s mind – This is the teaching of the Buddhas”
-Dammapada

PRELUDE:

Firstly, all the readers whose eyes reach these words are kindly requested not to abandon reading this article as soon as you see the word “Buddhism”. This piece of writing is less of a religious preaching of any kind and more of a philosophical insight into a topic of discussion that a majority of the world reader might have not had the opportunity to reflect upon.

Secondly, Buddhism is not of course set within the so called frameset of “religion”, but it is completely a philosophy and a vision of life and world .Thus, reading these lines is not going to harm any reader’s religious faith and instead gives a glimpse of a novel philosophy of life, the Buddhism.

WHAT IS BUDDHISM?

Lord Buddha the great sage of India who walked the earth 2600 years ago, preached his philosophy of life for the enlightenment of the living beings.

Buddhism is simply “a way of life” which envisions the good will of all living creatures. It focuses on bringing forth a purpose and control to life, not with hardcore rules but with guidelines that anybody of any religion is free to follow anytime. Nevertheless, Buddhism goes further deep by providing a universal reason for our existence, the concept of “Karma”.

A BETTER WAY AND SAY OF LIFE!

The Buddhist philosophy views all living organisms alike as slaves of karma, (the reactions that follow any action) and driven by the same.

In the surface level of its interpretation, every action, with its consequent good or bad reactions may bring forth either success and happiness or failure and sadness at varying levels in different times in our lives. Therefore, as explained in the verse above, it is a prime concern to cultivate good qualities in one’s life including kindness and compassion towards others, being truthful and having a good moral conduct that paves the way to success with rewards of contentment in life, whereas the bad is rewarded only with the bad.

A GLIMPSE OF THE DEEP PHILOSOPHY

Coming back to a deep and spiritual level of its interpretation, Karma has thus been entangling us within a vicious cycle of birth and death that need to be broken with ‘Nirvana’, the enlightenment of soul which is the ultimate goal and essence of the Buddhist philosophy. It invites the human being with an advanced mindset to understand the significant reality in life; the impermanence (‘anithya’), the suffering (‘dukkha’) and the uncontrollable nature (‘anathma’) that is hidden behind each and every object in the universe, nor excluding us, the mankind of soul and body.

This is the inescapable truth in life that everybody from the very moment of conception undergoes; the inevitable process of aging and change which eventually leads towards suffering from both sorrow and sicknesses and silently drags us day by day towards an unpredictable death that is written according to our Karma.

The spiritual weapon to disrupt this karmic flow of suffering is the ‘thrividya' of ‘sila' (the self-discipline), ‘samadhi' (the mental concentration) and ‘pragngna' (the wisdom). Here the meditations and self-control act as the pathway to the attainment of higher levels of mental stability and ultimately, the supreme bliss of 'Nirwana'.

The depths of great seas cannot be estimated with mere glances of few drops of water. Same is the depths of Buddhism that is to be discussed further and understood gradually.

To conclude with, the Buddhist philosophy depends more on self-understanding and insight than on blind faith or customary belief. Hence, regardless of any cultural, racial and religious boundaries, a revolutionary free thinker who looks forward to explore a deep philosophical vision of life is free to consider these basic Buddhist principles in cultivating more virtues in life which is the core of all religions; BE THE BETTER, TO ACHIEVE THE BEST!

-Privini Devindi!