Buddhism is a religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in India around 2,500 years ago. He became known as the Buddha (meaning “awakened one”) and shared his insights into how to achieve peace through meditation and wisdom.
Buddhists believe that there’s an underlying connection among all living things: our suffering stems from ignorance of this fact. The Buddha taught that by understanding this connection we can gain insight into our own lives, free ourselves from suffering, and find peace within ourselves.
Buddhism teaches that all human beings have the potential to become Buddhas (awakened beings). All people go through the same cycle of birth-growth-decay-death in order to reach enlightenment.
The path toward enlightenment involves following certain teachings called the Four Noble Truths:
1) Life is suffering;
2) The cause of suffering is attachment;
3) Suffering ceases when attachment ceases;
4) There is a path leading out of suffering (the Eightfold Path).
All life is connected and dependent on each other, just like the web of life in nature. We’re all interconnected because we share the same Buddha nature (our inner spirit).
The Dharma is the body of teachings that were given by the Buddha himself during his lifetime. It includes all kinds of wisdom teachings about how to live peacefully and happily as well as instructions for developing one’s mind powers through meditation practice.
Sangha refers to all those people who have reached enlightenment through Buddhist practice and who continue to teach others how to do so themselves.
