“Noble truths”

BUDDHISTS

Siddharta explained four “Noble truths”:
1. Existence is suffering. To exist in this world means to suffer.
2. The origin of suffering is desire – the desire for independent personal existence, a personal attachment or love for people or things, and even the desire to stop existing. These desires imprison man in the cycle of rebirth and suffering. Desires can also lead to quarrels and striving which build up bad karma. The weight of karma, like the momentum of a heavy load, crashes into this world again expressing itself in the new body in rebirth.

3. Suffering is destroyed by eliminating desire. When a person desires nothing, and has no attachments to any person or thing, and then through meditation realizes that neither he or anything else has a soul, that person will cease to be reborn and will enter “nirvana” – the state of cessation of desire and freedom from the cycle of rebirth.
4. The way to the end of suffering (nirvana) is the Eightfold Path. Siddharta taught that people can achieve nirvana by following this path over many lifetimes. The eight parts of the path are set out below under the headings of wisdom, morality, and concentration.
Wisdom:
1. Right views: having an understanding of the basic principles of Buddhism – the impermanence, suffering and impersonality of everything.
2. Right intension: having pure motives.
Morality:
3. Right speech: speaking in a truthful, helpful and considerate manner.
4. Right action: obeying the five commandments of Buddism:
a. Not killing any person, animal, or insect
b. Not stealing
c. Not engaging in sexual immorality
d. Not lying
e. Not using alcohol or drugs
5. Right livelihood: following a trade compatible with the above commands (for example by not being a butcher)
Concentration:
6. Right effort: making the effort to remove all evil from one’s mind, and developing good qualities.
7. Right mindfulness: mind control
8. Right concentration: a mystical state in which one realizes the emptiness of all things, and in which one develop psychic powers such as being able to assume any shape, or controlling natural laws according to one’s own will.

Buddhism denies a personal, holy God who feels, loves, orders, proposes and punishes. Strict Buddhists do not pray as Christians do, in a personal relationship with God as Father. Their prayers are meditations an intellectual process of adjusting their mind to what is pure spirit. At length, they attain the ability to think about nothing, and desire nothing, which they regard as happiness. When there are no desires, there are then no worries or pain.
Believing that sensual pleasure, social responsibilities and worries are obstacles to mental concentration, the first Buddhists followed Siddharta’s example and become celibate monks and nuns. Monks are not allowed to work for a living or grow food: they must beg,
For those following the original (Theravada) Buddhism, salvation does not mean being rescued from sin, the devil, guilt, hell and death. Rather, it is an escape from the process of being reborn over and over again. They hope one day to enter “nirvana” – not heaven, but a state of non-existence. Some of those who realize that they are not capable of achieving nirvana hope to arrive in “sawan” – a type of heaven.
Most Buddhists see salvation as a slow process of freeing themselves from what is material. They achieve it through their own efforts, seeking what is spiritual through many methods. The most common method is deep meditation. They do not meditate on the Word of God, but try, in a mysterious sense, to stop existing. They try to empty their minds of every worry, feeling and purpose. The aim is to think of nothing. They remove from their mind all distraction, desire, affection, feeling, and all thought. They enter a trance. Sadly, demons may take advantage of the empty house to fill it. Cases of demonic possession are commonplace among Buddhists.

Buddhist Sects
Buddhists have formed many sects with widely differing beliefs. Here are a few of the most common.

Theravada (also called Hinayana)
For the first few centuries, anyone following Buddhism had to become a monk or a nun, leaving their home and family. The Theravada strain of Buddhism tries to follow Buddha’s original teachings and only monks and nuns can fully participate in it. They believe that enlightenment comes through thousands of lifetimes following the Buddhist way. They believe that nirvana is attainable only by personal works – not by merit from anyone else.
Theravada Buddhism is practiced mainly in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

Mahayana
Around the time of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, another school of Buddhism arose called Mahayana. The Mahayana version has made Buddhism more popular: it views Buddha as a savior and has invented many other gods which they believe can help men on their way, and to whom they can pray. The Mahayana tradition believes that enlightenment can be achieved in one lifetime rather than thousands. Those achieving enlightenment can delay their entry into nirvana in order to help liberate other people. Those who did this were called boddhisattvas. This teaching is contrary to the doctrine of Siddharta who believed that salvation had to be achieved by one’s own efforts. The Mahayana became very much more popular than the Theravada. It is practiced in Japan and Korea, and also in China where it is mixed with Chinese religious.

Tibet Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism is practiced not only in Tibet, but in the surrounding lands of Mongolia, Bhutan, and by some Tibetan peoples of Southern Russia, Nepal, and Western China

. Tibetan Buddhism arose between 700 and 1000 A.D. Like Theravada Buddhism, it teaches that man’s basic problem is that he does not realize that the world is an illusion. Its way to escape from the illusion and achieve Buddhahood is through occult rituals and the use of magical words and diagrams. Its followers worship many gods. Some of its adherents are practically demon worshippers. Tibetan Buddhism derived many of its occult rituals from a movement called “tantrism” which also influenced Hinduism, especially in Nepal.