Living Buddhism: Synthetic Essay

Introduction

Buddhism is a historical faith that was discovered by Siddhartha Gautama, who was referred to as "the Buddha." The faith was found approximately 2500 years ago in India. Currently, Buddhism is perceived to be one of the main religions in the world, following the high following of about 470 million people (Ura & Chophel, 2012). Notably, the practice of Buddhism is prominent in the east and southern East of Asia. However, its influence is significantly increasing in the West. Most of the Buddhist practices and philosophies are overlapping over the beliefs of other faiths. Personal efforts applied to Buddhist practices, stories, and teachings to individual life is the best way of understanding religion.

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Good Karma

Overall, Karma implies intentional action that relates to the verbal, physical, and mental activities of humans. As a believer of the faith, my aim is always to experience the rewards of good Karma. I am focused on positively impacting the lives of people around me so that I can fall in favor of Karma in this life or in the life to come. Arguably, good Karma signifies a form of reward for doing well or treating other people appropriately (Ura & Chophel, 2012). The good Karma is an effect of the cause of thoughts, deeds, or words of an individual. The intention of an individual is a driving force toward the impact of their action to manifest as good. According to the Buddhism faith, a good deed by an individual can be returned to the particular individual in this life or the next. For example, I care for the sick and selflessly put their interest in other people before mine. As such, they stand a chance of getting rewarded with good fortunes either in this life or the next. Furthermore, faithfulness is a way of doing good things in the Buddhist faith. Individuals who follow the rules and beliefs of the faith and guided by the faith get positive rewards for the deeds at every point in time.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is described as a Buddhist technique where one attempts to notice the present feelings, thoughts, and sensations of others without judgment or prejudice. Buddhists have the philosophy of maintaining nonjudgmental behaviours as well as states of heightened awareness of emotions, beliefs, or experiences of their counterparts (Batchelor, 2012). The application of mindfulness as teaching has helped me to reflect on the feelings, emotions, and experiences of other people before acting. It has thus enabled me to prevent hurting others through inappropriate behaviours that go against the doctrines of Buddhism. Every faithful individual needs to control their experiences and avoid hurting the feelings of other people. Self-reflection is a crucial aspect of mindfulness. Specifically, it enables Buddhists to assess themselves and evaluate their emotions by putting themselves in the shoes of the people around them. Meditating on life experiences creates room for those who believe in the Buddhism faith to control their feelings, emotions, and experiences. Moreover, mindfulness is expressed by relating personal situations to those of other people after meditating on them and understanding their consequences.

Anti-Mindfulness

Anti-mindfulness is one of the teachings that Buddhism attempts to discourage among its followers across the globe. Technically, faith considers anti-Buddhism as a vice that should not be inculcated in society (Batchelor, 2012). It is majorly demonstrated by the emptiness and tiredness of individuals in exercising the specific beliefs of the faith. I have personally been committed to ensuring that I do not engage in anti-mindfulness. I also try my best to proclaim the good deeds of a noble Buddhist by teaching the young people the disadvantages of failing to be mindful in the society.

Buddha's Teaching

Buddha's teachings aim solely at liberating the sentient beings from undergoing any form of suffering. The teachings act as a form of enlightenment to the believers on how to live true to the faith. The teachings also show the ways through which individuals can attain knowledge. The teachings revolved around The Four Noble Truths of Buddha, which have lived in the Buddhism faith for ages (Nydahl, 2012). As a believer I have come to terms with the four truths, and I know that suffering happens, it always has a cause, it has an end, and there is still a way to bring an end to its existence. Therefore, whenever I am presented with an unfamiliar situation of suffering, I deal with it by first accepting that it is reasonable to encounter suffering as a human being. I also try to encourage people to embrace suffering as a regular occurrence in life. I have also been putting substantial efforts to find out the root cause of suffering in my life and the lives of people around me. Moreover, I am committed to finding solutions to the causes of sufferings that affect the development of the human race and bring them to an end by implementing the solutions. Finally, I am putting efforts into teaching the young generation about the eightfold path which revolves around the best practices of the religion of Buddhism. Mainly, I tend to stress the need to have the right resolve, view, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and meditative absorption amongst believers. The teachings are part of the principles of Theravada Buddhism that aims at guiding Arhatship.

Dukka Dukka is a concept in Buddhism which loosely refers to suffering, stress, and dissatisfaction. It implies the fundamental pain and stress of mundane life. Technically, life is made up of challenges that every individual has to endure. Such problems are characterized by the suffering which is described in Buddhism teachings as a norm for the faithful (Nydahl, 2012). For instance, I endure what can be translated as dukkha pressure and stress during school work. At times, the schoolwork can be so overwhelming that I only crave for rest. The school assignments and other activities that have to be completed within limited time represent one of the types of suffering that I have gone through. However, I have consistently exercised resilience to overcome the challenges and achieve personal goals. The dissatisfaction associated with dukkha has been a particular driving force to achieve more.

Plan

I am a believer in the religion, and I try to live according to its tenets over the years. The practices, teachings, and concepts of the religion act as my guide to leading a moral and righteous life. The teachings on four truths have been motivational to me to persevere through the hardships and trials that I experience in life. Overall, I agree with the concepts, teachings, and practices of Buddhism because they directly relate to personal life in this world and motivate believers to live morally. I intend to improve by reading more about the religion and engaging religious leaders to gain more knowledge on the ways of the faith. Interacting with other faithful Buddhists expands the scope of understanding religion. I mainly reflect on my life as an individual and as a Buddhist, daily to examine how well I am doing as a believer. I also practice breathing skills and avoid distractions to match the standards of the faith

References

Batchelor, S. (2012). A secular Buddhism. Journal of Global Buddhism, 13, 87-107.

Nydahl, L. O. (2012). The way things are: A living approach to Buddhism. John Hunt Publishing.

Ura, K., & Chophel, D. (2012). Buddhism without Borders: Proceedings of the International Conference of Globalized Buddhism. The Centre for Bhutan Studies.