Essay on The Dhammapada

There have been many teachers in one’s lifetime, some more important than others. These teachers and instructors affect different people in different ways, and lessons are learned that are important to prepare for real life situations. In the book Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, a young Brahmin named Siddhartha is not content with his current spiritual self. Siddhartha is directed to spiritual enlightenment and Nirvana because of his guidance and teaching from Kamala, Kamaswami, and Vasudeva.

It gives relevant conduct of behaviour for the buddhists, for example, to abstain from taking life. Buddhist sacred texts also explains how this teaching arose by relating back to the belief of the ‘middle way’. As seen through the example of the Pali canon, sacred texts demonstrate how it is important in making a religion transcend time and

In the novel Siddhartha a young man journeys away from his family on a quest for knowledge. Siddhartha, a young Indian Brahmin grows restless with his life at home in a small Indian village. He leaves with his best friend Govinda to become a samana. Soon Siddhartha becomes aware that the way of the Samana’s does not teach true salvation, and he and Govinda leave to seek Gotama Buddha. When they finally do find the Buddha, Siddhartha decides that he doesn’t want to learn what the Buddha has to teach. He leaves Govinda behind and goes off in search for a life of possessions, and pleasure. He finds this desired life as the business partner to a rich merchant, and with frequent visits to Kamala, the local courtesan. He fathers a

In the novel Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, the main character experiences many ups and downs while on his journey to inner peace. First, he decides to live his life as a Samana. Later he abandons that life in return for a life as a rich man. In the end he decides that his rich life is unsatisfying and he begins the simple life of a ferryman. Herman Hesse writes about what it takes to obtain inner peace through his character Siddhartha.

Mindfulness is another way of meditation. Meditation was used to seek to improve one’s psychological or physical health, or spiritual growth. (Brantley, 2007). The history of Mindfulness comes from Buddhism and his search for enlightenment and a foundation of the four noble truths. The Buddha teaching focus on the four noble truths which consist of knowing suffering exists, there is a cause of suffering, there is cessation of suffering and there is a path that leads to the cessation of suffering. (Van Gordon, 2015). The four noble truths were not only there to represent the Buddha’s experiential understanding of suffering, but also to express the truth (Van Gordon, 2015). Studies of Buddhism and the Four Noble Truths teach us that there is always going to be suffering in our life but to find ways to overcome suffering (Tsering, 2005).

Growing up in what some may consider the “good life”, the Gotama (Buddha) was raised in a kingdom with every luxury available to him. His life was well set considering he was a prince and heir to the kingdom. When suddenly one day he was struck with the harsh realities of life, interpreting them as sufferings. As a result of these sufferings being brought to his attention, he left his kingdom in order to find a way to end he suffering. Gotama traveled searching for many years exploring religions and possible solutions to end universal suffering. Finally he developed his own practice and way of life that he felt was the solution. Gotama was now considered enlightened therefor becoming the Buddha. The foundations of Buddhism where created to be simple and is how the Buddha explains the process in which one must understand in order to understand suffering itself. These sermons are known as the four noble truths. The Dukkha is the first sermon also known as suffering. In order to understand the meaning of the first Dukkha and how it arises, one must also understand and follow the second, third, and forth, noble truths which contribute to the solution of the Dukkha. Most importantly, one must understand the Five Aggregates that make up the Dukkha, which according to Buddha also represent “the being”. Once one can understand this multi-level system they can start to apply the Buddhist solution.

He created many teachings of Buddhism and although Buddhism is a different religion, its principles can be used in any environment. The Buddha has many ideas that are thought to improve the quality of life. One of his key ideas is having the right mindfulness. The right mindfulness is the seventh part of the eightfold path created by the Buddha to help achieve a spiritual enlightenment and end suffering. According to Zen teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh says that Right Mindfulness is at the heart of the Buddha's teaching. Mindfulness is the acceptance of everything, whether we agree or disagree and without judgements. To be mindful is to be completely alert to everything the way that it already is, and trying to filter everything through our own personal views

The third section of the text is the training for those who are advanced in their spiritual development and consists of a mantra. A mantra literally means “mind protection” and its powerful words when chanted or spoken allowed act as a protective spell. This protection is against the influences of conditioned ignorance, or the temptations of Mara, whose lot in life is to lead others away from enlightenment. The mantra section of the text consists of two sections, the explanation

The Dhammapada is a religious work that is meant to provide a certain set of religious and ethical values, as well as a certain manner of perception of life and the problems that life brings along with the solutions. Although the verses may be looked at as trying to create good or bad people, the verses are actually trying to get people to

The conception of dhyana, as described above, also provides further comprehension of the Buddhist tradition. The first component of dhyana is “that of contemplation.” Now this can be understood in the Buddhist tradition as that which one spends a considerable time exploring anything in life and in practice.

All sects of Buddhism agree that the truths of Buddhism where discovered by Sakayumi Buddha during his meditations under the Bodhi tree. In honor of its founder, meditation holds a vital role in Buddhism for indicating an individual’s ability to attain truth. It is through the process of meditation, that Buddhists can attempt to attain enlightenment in the same matter as the Buddha during the myth of Bodhi- the story of Buddha’s enlightenment.

People from the spaghetti western world think of Buddhism as a conviction where people take the time to look at one’s self but in contemporary Asia this is not so where the Buddhist liberation movement is working to accomplish equality amongst people and to make available them with basic wishes as much as it means taking the time to think about one’s self. This focus on one’s self is where things such as karma and inexperience is placed second to focus on belongings such as greed loathing and new methods of solving peace, poverty and injustice. This liberation is called everyday emerging and includes every person from villages to nations.

The peace that is reached in western meditation is something that is fleeting, as the stressors of everyday life remove this peaceful feeling and replace it with the chaos that is everyday. To reach a true trance state requires the mindfulness and active thought of sámatha, a western cannot reach what those who have practiced meditation their whole lives can. The meditation that is done in the popularized version is only a small shell of what Buddhist monks truly practice. The concentration required to reach the peaceful state of the trance is one that many western

<p align=justify>In addition, meditation helps one understand various concepts of Buddhism. For instance, meditating on impermanence, such as decomposing bodies, helps dislodge attachment of worldly pleasures and show how everything is impermanent. The two types, “Vipassana” and “Samatha”, both teach the Buddhist how they should behave and in what state of mind. For example, Samatha teaches the Buddhist to detach from everyday concerns and concentrate on being impermanent. Vipassana teaches that everything is attached and interconnected in the world.

The Pali Cannon (tipitaka) is divided into three parts, the sutta pitaka, the vinaya pitaka, and the adhidamm pitaka. The Canon contains what is needed to show the path of nirvana. The sutta pitaka consists of written recolections of Buddha’s sermons, the vinaya pitaka is the list of monastic rules, and the adhidamm pitaka contains lists and summaries of Buddhist philosophy. Buddha’s teaching and the lived knowledge of those teaching becomes crucial for Theravada Buddhists, because without those teachings and experiences enlightenment would be unattainable. The text underscores all other traditions, and yet not all laypeople are scholars of the canon, the monks control the understanding of the Pali Canon, which births the concepts of samsara and nirvana, the monastic traditions, and is the ultimate guide for following the 8 fold path.