I'm no Buddhist

I'm no Buddhist or not a follower of Buddha's teachings, but I strongly believe he was on to something. Since elementary school I've taken his words to heart and try ever so hard to live righteously. But like any human, I too fall and have my dark days. It's those good days that holds me up, it's those bad days that makes me stronger.

Buddha believes that we are created born to live with sorrow and suffering. Suffering is brought upon by selfish desires and can only be eliminated by living in accordance to "Dharma", meaning to live a righteous life or to follow a virtuous path.

According to Buddha, the way to deliverance is summed up into four noble truths:

1. The universality of suffering - People discover through rebirth, aging, and death that life is full of sorrow. We suffer this sorrow until deliverance is achieved.

2. The origin of suffering - Suffering is caused by the false desires of the senses that have been deceived into clinging to the impermanent world. The quest for immortality further aggravates human suffering.

3. The overcoming of suffering - If false desires cause suffering, then the desires need to be suppressed, abandoned, or rejected in order to nullify their effects. Ignorance of the way of deliverance and the delusion that there is a permanent self are the primary cause of suffering.

4. The way leading to the suppression of suffering - The noble eightfold path is a sacred path with eight branches called right views of understanding, right aspirations, right speech, right conduct or action, right livelihood, right effort or endeavor, right mind control or concentration, and right mindfulness. These eight branches are not stages that can be lived out in succession or isolation from one another. They are different dimensions of a total way of life. Buddha did not deny the existence of gods, he taught that the worship of gods obstructed one's quest for nirvana. To him the gods inhabit the cosmos and are impermanent like all of us, so they too must escape rebirth through nirvana.

I think finding out the truth is something he lived and died for. We too, sooner later find out the truth, that our world is not perfect. We are born and is living under pain and suffering, even religion is a never ending struggle of faith. If by chance enlightenment can be achieved, then imagine a world free from physical bonds. No bounds as long as there are minds and thought.