Introduction Buddhism

WHAT DID THE BUDDHA TEACH ?

Eighty years before the commencement of the Buddhist Era, a great man was born into the world. He was the son of king Suddhodana and Queen Siri Mah? M?y? of the Sakka country which is now within the boundaries of Nepal. His name was "Siddhattha". Thirtry - five years later, Prince Siddhattha attained Supreme Enlightenment and thereafter became known as the " Enlightened One" or the "Lord Buddha" as he is called in Thai. He proclaimed his "Dhamma"* or Universal Truth to the people; and, thereafter, the Buddhist religion (the Teachings of the Buddha) and the Buddhist community of disciples came into existence. The community was composed of bhikkhus or monks (including samaneras of male novices), bhikkhunis or nuns (including samaneris or female novices), upasakas or male lay followers and upsikas or female lay followers. At present, in Thailand, we have only monks and novices, upasakas or Buddhist layment and upasikas or Buddhist laywomen. A monk is a man who has been ordained and_____________________________________* Also called "Dharma" from the Sanskrit.
Conducts himself in accordance with the precepts laid down for a monk. A novice is a person under or over 20 years of age who has been ordanined and conducts himself in accordance with the precepts laid down for a novice. A Buddhist layman or laywoman is one who has taken refuge in the Triple Gem, i.e. theBuddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, and observes the precepts applicabe to laymen and laywomen. At present we call laymen and laywomen, whether of age or under age, "Buddham?maka" and "Buddham?mika" and "Buddhama?mika" respectively, meaning "he or she who believes in the Buddha". Buddhism has spread from its place of birth into the various countries of the world.
The focal point of worship in Buddhism is the Ti-Ratana (the Triple Gem) namely the Buddha who by Himself discovered, realized and proclaimed the Dhamma, Thereby establishing the Buddhist religion, the Dhamma (Umiversal Truth) discovered, realized and proclaimed by the Buddha and the Sangha or community of those who hear, follow and realize the Buddha's Teachings. Some members of the Sangha become monks and help in the dissemination of Buddhism and the perpetuation of monkhood up to the present time. Everyone who is initiated into the Buddhist religion, whether a layman, a laywaman or a monk, ought To conform to a preliminary rule, namely one must Solemnly promise to take refuge in and accept the Triple Gem as one's own refuge or, in other words, to regard the buddha as one's father who gives birth to one's Spiritual life. A buddhist may associate himself or herself with people of other faiths and pay respect to objects of reverence of other religions in an appropriate manner in the same way as he or she may pay respect to the father, mother or elders of other people while having at the same time his or her own father. He will not lose his Buddhist religion as long as he believes in the Triple Gem, just as he will remain the son of his own father as long as his father instead, or just as he will remain a Thai as long as he does not adopt another nationlity. Buddhism, therefore, is not intolerant. Its followers may at will associate with people of other nationalities and religions. Buddhism does not teach disrespectfulness to any one. On the contrary, it declares that respect should be paid to all those to whom respect is due and that the Dhamma should not be withheld from the knowledge of others and kept only to oneself. Whoever desires to study and practice the Dhamma may do so without having to profess first the Buddhist faith. The Dhamma as proclaimed by Buddhist religion, will help to demonstrate that it is "Truth" that will be beneficial and bring happiness in the present life. The essence of the entire Buddhist teachings lies in the Four Noble Truths.
Noble Truth (Ariya-Sacca) is short for "truth of the Noble ones (or of those who have attained a high degree of advancement)", "truth attainable by the noble ones", "truth by which one is ennobled". It should first be understood that it is not simply truth that is agreeable to the world or to oneself, but truth that is directly born of wisdom. The four Noble Truths are :-
1. Dukkha or suffering; which means birth, decay and death which are the normal incidents of life. It also means sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair which are at times experienced by our body and mind. To be separated from the pleasant, to be disappointed, or to be in contact with the unpleasant are also suffering. In short our body and mind are subject to suffering or, in other words, we may say that our existence is bound up with suffering*.
2. Samudaya; which means the cause of suffering, which is desire. It is a compelling urge of the mind, such as the longing to own what we desire, to be what we desire to be, or to avoid those states to which we feel aversion.
3. Nirodha; which means cessation of suffering, which connotes extinction of desire or such longings of the mind.
4.Magga; which means the way to the cessation of suffering, which is the Noble Eight fold Path, namely Right Understanding, Right Intention, Right speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
Some people believe that Buddhism is pessimistic in outlook because its teachings deal only with suffering and are of so high a standard that ordinary people are unable to practise it because it advocates extinction of desire, which is very difficult to accomplish. Since such misunderstanding exists, clarification is necessary before the noble Truths can be dealt with. The Buddhist religion_____________________________* Some present-day Buddhists are of the opinion that the word "frustration" is a good translation of Dukkha, as it carries a wider meaning than "suffering"
is neither wholly pessimistic nor wholly optimistic. It derives its outlook from truth, i.e. truth which can only be understood through a combination of insight and purity of mind.

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