If you *want* to learn about Buddhism, perhaps you should start with learning about Buddha himself.
The King Suddhodana, of Sakya Clan, was a very successful and liked King. He and his wife Maya had everything they wanted except a sole heir, a son. Maya has a dream one night that a white elephant visited her bedroom (elephant = represents good fortune and kingship) and pierces her side with his tusk. She awakes to find herself pregnant. She gotes to the Lumbini Grove to have the child, and produces the child from the side of her belly.
The child speaks right out of the womb and says "This is my last birth and with it, I shall put an end to birth itself" The Queen was soo overjoyed with the anticipated birth of her son, that she died from excess of joy. The boy was braught up by his sister.
The time came where the King took the boy to the wise men/astrologers to have his future read. The men could not tell his future but could only come to this conclusion... That the boy would either end up a great religious leader or a Great King. So Buddha's father wanted his son to be a great king like himself, so he began thinking about how to make sure Buddha (aka Siddhartha Guatama, also known as Sakyamuni) doesn't begin studying religions. So the King decides that if his son never had to deal with suffering, then he would never be interested in religion (as the Hindu religion mainly deals with the problem of pain) So the King decided he would do anything he could to keep his son inside the castle so that he wouldn't go outside, in the real world, and see people suffering; see death, old age, and disease.
Buddha grew up having everything he wanted... women, food... all the pleasures that a price could think of. Eventually, he married and had a child whom he named Rahula (which means something that ties one down).
Buddha realized one day that he had never, ever left the walls of the castle. He decided to take a look at the world. So he gets his friend Chandaka to take him outside the castle. The King catches wind of Buddha's plans and realizes that what he didn't want to happen is happening. He goes out to the local towns and makes sure that all the sick, old age people stay indoors and only healthy, youthful people can come outside. So Buddha travels to the nearest towns and enjoys the praise of the people. Off in the distance, Buddha sees a man walking down the road, hobbling on a stick, all bent over and decrepid. So Buddha asks Chandaka what the was the matter with that man and Chandaka tells Buddha that the man is old, it is what happens to people when they get old. So Buddha was shocked. He had never seen old age before. So Buddha was disturbed by the idea the he could never escape old age and he knew what was to become of him. Buddha commanded that his travels be cancelled and he went back to the palace.
Buddha then decides to try another trip outside the castle. This time he sees a man lying down, sweating and shivering with deformities and bumps all over his being. Buddha asks Chandaka what the matter was with the man and Chandaka tells Buddha that the man is ill. Buddha gets deeply upset at the idea of sickness and orders they return to the castle.
The third outing, Buddha travels out into the countryside and was enjoying the view and the scenery. Buddha then sees a flock of birds in the road and approaches them. He finds a man lying in the road who is not breathing. Buddha asks Chandaka what the matter was and Chandaka told Buddha that this man is dead. Buddha got very depressed at the idea of death and human's inability to do anything about it. Buddha then began looking around him and saw the feild workers sweating and weathered by their toils. He felt pity on them.
Buddha got back to the castle and stayed in a state of deep depression. The King decided to cheer him up by throwing a big party. So everyone got dressed up and was enjoying the party, but Buddha would not come out to his guests. After much deliberation, Buddha was persuaded to come out although the party was almost over. When he came out, he was disgusted by the sight of all the drunken guests. He couldn't understand how they could live life knowing about disease, death, and old age. So Buddha decides he will try to figure out how to deal with suffering.
Buddha leaves the castle and his family in search for the solution.
He went out with his friend Chandaka and they got out to the countryside. He sat under an apple tree and began thinking about suffering. He concentrated very hard and fell into a meditative trance. This was Buddha's first experience with meditation. Buddha realized that we are all in the same boat with old age, disease, and death... so we should be kind to one another.
Buddha looks up and sees a man walking down the road. The man was a sannyasi (a traveling hermit, recluse that renounces society and lives the remainder of his life in devotion to his religion) Buddha and the sannyasi talk for a bit and Buddha realizes he should become a sannyasi.
Buddha and Chandaka part. Buddha shaves his head and leaves his jewels and nice cloths behind and becomes a sannyasi. For 6 years he wandered around looking for a teacher, always asking "How can I end suffering" He never found a suitable teacher.
Eventually, he came across 5 ascetics practicing yoga. These 5 men were very devout in their practices and put themselves through rigorous techniques. Buddha begins doing what the 5 men do. His diet was 1 grain of rice, 1 seasame, and 1 ju-ju fruit per day. He looked at hismelf one day and could see his spine through his stomach, and realized that he has obtained no enlightenment from these practices. He tells the other 5 what he has come to realize and they reject him.
So Buddha departs and goes to Gaya. He sits under a tree and begins to sleep because he is too wearty to go any farther without food. A girl named Nandabala sees Buddha and thinks he is a ghost or forest spirit. She decides that she should leave him an offering of food. Buddha eats the food and feels revitalized. He still is upset after never finding a solution to suffering. He vows to never leave from underneath the tree until he does. So he begins meditation.
Mara (god of sex and death) offers daughters (Lust, Discontent, Craving) to tempt Buddha and break his meditation. Buddha realizes that Mara are figments of his own subconscience and denies them.
Getting deeper into his meditation, Buddha sees all of his previous births. He acquires a supreme insight (sees the world as it really is). He realizes why beings are born, why they suffer, and why they die. Buddha then enters a state of Nirvana.
Braham, the creator god, appears before him and verifies his understandings that he has acquired from meditation. Brahma tells Buddha, that while this trance is eternally blissful, that he must go and tell others what he has learned.
Buddha then comes back to bodily awareness and goes to Beanares. He sees the 5 ascetics again and they still reject him. Buddha persuades them to listen to what he has learned and so they do:
Buddha's 1st Teaching: (Dharmachakrapravartana Sutra = actual writing of the 1st teaching)
**Think of his teachings as a medical diagnosis on humanities problem of suffering**
1.) Dukkha - disease *basically the suffering/pain that everyone has*
2.) Samudaya - reason *what causes us to suffer*
3.) Nirodha - cure *Nirvana*
4.) Magga - How to be cured *Noble Eightfold Path*
First I'll try to explain what the 5 Skandhas (the components that make up the impression of self) are:
1.) Matter- We have bodies that provide sensory equiptment
2.) Sensations- light, dark, sweet, sour, hot cold
3.) Perceptions- Our awareness of the sensations
4.) Mental Formations- Ideas we make of our perceptions. This is where desires arise... our craving to have the same perception of a particular sensation over and over. (i.e. sex, food, drugs, love, etc...)
5.) Consciousness- We are all aware of 1-4.
Reasons for Suffering:
1. Thirst for Sensations
2. Thrist for Existance
3. Thirst for that which is Eternal (moksha, heaven, atman, etc...)
Once you can overcome these three things, you can enter a state of Nirvana (no suffering, no desires)
Example:
A hot blonde riding down the road in a red sports car.
1. Your eyes see
2. Blonde, red
3. We percieve they are good things
4. We formulate a plan of how we are to obtain a hot blonde with a red sports car. ***This is where the problem lies in Buddhism. Mental Formations are the root of desires. The blonde will not love you forever, the car will not last forever... suffering and pain are the result. Buddhists believe that things are always changing. Nothing ever stays the same. With this in mind, good will eventually become bad. Young will become old. Joy will become strife. While we desire these things, we also bring upon us the negative opposites that will eventually come with them. So Buddhism teaches to not desire them in the first place***
Please keep in mind, I'm not learned in Buddhist teachings. I am not claiming to be. This is what I have come to understand what Buddhism is. If you have a different understanding, please share it so that all may understand. I do not claim that all of this is 100% correct as I am just a religion major undergrad. Thank you.
I ask questions and all you do is try and turn it into a personal attack. Oh well, perhaps someone else will come along and answer my questions.
