Buddhism: Basic Ideas and Dogmas

The most ancient of all existing world religions is Buddhism. The main ideas of this religion are part of the worldview of many peoples living in the territory from Japan to India.

The foundations of Buddhism were laid by Siddhartha Gautama, who entered the world history under the name of Buddha. He was the son and heir of the king of the Shakya tribe and since childhood he has been surrounded by luxury and all kinds of blessings. According to the generally accepted version, Siddhartha once left the palace grounds and for the first time faced a cruel reality in the face of a sick man, an old man and a funeral procession. For him it was a complete discovery, because the heir did not even know about the existence of illnesses, old age and death. Shocked by what he saw, Siddhartha fled the palace and, being already a 29-year-old man, joins the wandering hermits.

For 6 years of wandering Siddhartha has come to know many techniques and conditions of yoga, however he came to the conclusion that it is impossible to reach them through enlightenment. He chose the path of meditation and prayer, immobile meditation, which led him to enlightenment.

Initially, Buddhism was a protest against orthodox brahmanas and their doctrine of the sacredness of the existing estate and society system of society. At the same time, many points of Buddhism were drawn from the Vedas, abandoning their rituals, the law of karma and some other norms. Buddhism arose as a purification of the existing religion, and eventually resulted in a religion that proved capable of constant self-purification and renewal.

Buddhism: Basic Ideas

At the heart of Buddhism lie four basic truths:

1. Duhka (suffering).

2. The cause of suffering.

3. The loss can be terminated.

4. There is a way leading to the cessation of suffering.

Thus, suffering is the main idea that Buddhism contains. The basic provisions of this religion indicate that suffering can be not only physical, but also mental. Already birth is suffering. And illness, and death, and even unsatisfied desire. Suffering is a constant component of human life and, more likely, even a form of human existence. However, suffering is unnatural, and therefore you need to get rid of it.

From this follows another idea of Buddhism: in order to get rid of suffering, it is necessary to comprehend the reasons for its appearance. Buddhism, whose main ideas - this quest for enlightenment and self-knowledge - believes that the cause of suffering is ignorance. It is ignorance that serves as a trigger for a chain of events that lead to suffering. And ignorance lies in the misconception of one's own self.

One of the key theories of Buddhism is the denial of the individual "I". This theory says: it is impossible to understand what our personality is (ie, "I"), because our feelings, intellect, interests are impermanent. And our "I" is a complex of different states, without which the soul does not exist. Buddha does not give any answer to the question of the existence of the soul, which allowed representatives of different schools of Buddhism to draw completely opposite conclusions in this regard.

To cognition, and hence liberation from suffering (nirvana), leads the so-called "middle way". The essence of the "middle way" is to avoid all extremes, to become above the opposites, to look at the problem as a whole. In this way a person attains liberation by renouncing any opinions and inclinations, abandoning his "I".

In the end, it turns out that Buddhism, whose basic ideas are based on suffering, suggests that all life is suffering, and that means it is wrong to cling to life and cherish it. A man who seeks to extend his life (ie, suffering) is an ignoramus. In order to avoid ignorance, it is necessary to destroy any desire, and this is possible only by eliminating ignorance, which consists in isolating one's self. So, we come to the fact that the essence of Buddhism is the rejection of one's "I".