Buddhism for Beginners: The Complete Beginners Guide to Buddhism with Introduction to Modern Buddhism

By Owen Payne

Buddhism is a rich and profound understanding of the universe which is often taught incorrectly and misinterpreted, especially in the Western world when we try to fit it around our modern lives without understanding the important context and background of key Buddhist teachings. This book, therefore, aims to give context to all those teachings by providing an historical overview of the origins and spread of Buddhism, clear and detailed descriptions of the core ethics and beliefs of Buddhists, an insight into Buddhist custom and tradition, advice on how to meditate in the Buddhist fashion, information about some of the most important Buddhist figures and advice on how to achieve enlightenment in the modern world. The key to enlightenment is held within the fundamentals of Buddhist teachings and in following them correctly. This book is an essential guide on to how to do this and how not to make the mistake of missing out on vital principles of Buddhism that are crucial in reaching nirvana.
This book is a comprehensive overview of the core principles and beliefs of Buddhism and covers the following topics:

The History of Buddhism
Branches of Buddhism
The Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path
Karma and Samsara
The Wheel of Life and the Universal Realms
Customs and Traditions
Buddhist Meditation
Iconic Buddhist Figures
Modern Buddhism
This book covers everything that a beginner in Buddhism needs to know and is an excellent starting point for anyone wishing to know more about this interesting and insightful way of life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JVzon Studio
• Release date: Feb 22, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386819639

Book preview

Introduction

Buddhism is an ancient religion which dates all the way back to the sixth century and the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, who was the first Buddha and the man to bring the teachings, or sutras, of Buddhism into the world.

Over the centuries, Buddhism has developed rapidly and in many diverse ways across the world. From Tibetan Buddhism, to Pure Land Buddhism, to Zen Buddhism; the schools of Buddhism are almost endless and each offer a slightly different insight into the teachings of the Buddha.

Navigating those teachings, therefore, can be incredibly challenging and one of the greatest pitfalls facing modern Buddhists today, especially in the Western world, is receiving a watered-down version of Buddhism, which takes the teachings out of context or teaches them selectively and consequently risks losing the possibility for true enlightenment in this lifetime, of which the Buddha taught.

This book therefore, aims to offer a guide through the history, culture, customs, traditions and beliefs of Buddhism to help you to fully understand the concepts of Buddhism and how they can affect your life and lead you towards nirvana.

In this book, we aim to deconstruct the misconceptions surrounding Buddhism and what it is all about. Misunderstandings such as karma as a ‘points system’ or meditation as a way to relax will be tackled so that you can understand their true role in the life of a Buddhist. Furthermore, we will take a look at some of the overriding and core beliefs of Buddhists which form the backbone of Buddhist teachings and the Buddhist lifestyle. These beliefs include the Buddha's teachings on The Four Noble Truths, The Eightfold Path, the wheel of life and the universal realms. This knowledge is essential, as without knowing of these and having some understanding of what they mean, it is impossible to truly embrace any other Buddhist teachings.

Everything in Buddhism is interrelated and one sutra leads into the next. This is why it is important to have at least a basic understanding of all the core precepts of Buddhism, as without context, all teachings fall apart. This is the aim of this book; to uncover the rich, complex and profound teachings of the Buddha and to put them into their correct historical and philosophical context so that you can better understand them and the role that they play in Buddhist life.

This book is in no way a complete guide to everything that Buddhism has to offer - that would be a very long book! The teachings of the Buddha and the teachings that have been developed and spread by his disciples since his death are numerous, complex and widespread. This book aims to tackle only the most concrete of these; the most fundamental and the most accepted by the majority of Buddhist schools of thought.

By the end of this book you will have a knowledge of how Buddhism began and spread throughout the world; a better insight into the beliefs and ethics of Buddhists based on the teachings of the Buddha; a deeper understanding of Buddhist ideas of life, death and rebirth; a fuller knowledge of karma, what it means and how it affects us; a better understanding of how meditation is used by Buddhists as part of a larger system of belief rather than as an isolated practice and you will discover what has made the lives of some historical and mystical Buddhist figures so iconic.

All of this will enable you to develop firm foundations in your understanding of the Buddhist system of belief and how to implement Buddhist teachings in your own life in order to work towards achieving enlightenment and all the pure joy and contentment that comes with it. This understanding will enable you to truly connect with Buddhist concepts and not get caught in misinterpretations and misteachings that may actually lead you away from enlightenment.

In the next chapter we will look at the life of Siddhartha Gautama and learn about how he became enlightened, his first teachings and how his life started a religion which now has nearly 500 million followers worldwide. So, read on to learn about the origins of Buddhism and the life of the Buddha himself.

Chapter 1 – The History of Buddhism

The Buddhist belief system spans all the way back to 624 BC and to the birth of the royal prince, Buddha Shakyamuni (Siddhartha Gautama), in a place called Lumbini, which is found in what is Nepal today at the foothills of the Himalayas. The story goes that this young prince, whose name was Siddhartha, lived a life of luxury in his palace and surrounded by his servants until he was twenty-nine years old.

This is when he first left the palace. What he saw outside the palace walls compelled him to reject a life of materialism and comfort and to begin a life as a wanderer in search of a higher truth. Siddhartha had seen that the world was full of pain and suffering and was perplexed by its presence. He was determined to find an answer to all the pain in the world.

The prince's first reaction to all of the poverty and pain in the world was to completely deprive himself and this led to a period of fasting that verged on starvation. He became skeletal in his abandonment of worldly comforts, but eventually came to realize that this extremism was not the answer he was looking for. He began to understand that the ‘Middle Path’ was the way and that while greed and excessive indulgence would not bring satisfaction and release, neither would pain and excessive deprivation.

Siddhartha, who is now commonly known as the Buddha, began to meditate in search of answers. For six years he wandered and meditated until at last he sat down beneath the Bodhi tree and eventually reached a state of enlightenment, where is felt he understood the world. This is when he became aware that this was not his first life and understood concepts of reincarnation. He had a revelation of the Four Noble Truths, which became the basis for Buddhist teaching.

The Buddha began to teach his sutras, which are Buddhist teachings. He believed that it was the goal of humanity not to simply reach relief from suffering for a short time, but to permanently release itself from pain. This release became known as ‘nirvana’, which it is believed the Buddha reached upon his death - complete release from the cycle of death and rebirth; an end of every suffering.

During the Buddha's lifetime, it is thought that he gave over eighty-thousand teachings and by the time of his death in 483 BCE, the Buddha had an established following and left behind a group of monks who were disciples of his teachings.

While other systems of belief with similar teachings were also developing at this time - such as Jainism, which was taught by a young man named Vardhamana - Buddhism seemed to spread much more quickly into neighboring regions and even into the Western world. Many social historians attribute this to the interest that the Indian Emperor Ashoka Maurya gave to the emerging system of belief around one-hundred and fifty years after the death of Siddhartha when his teachings were still spreading.

It is believed that Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism after he was overwhelmed with regret and repentance following the bloody conquest of Kalinga, which saw many slaughtered. The Emperor and his children were patrons of Buddhism and their support allowed the teachings of the Buddha to spread even further.

At this point, two subdivisions of Buddhism emerge with slightly differing beliefs. These were known as Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. Both forms spread into the East, South and North and became firm fixtures in Thailand, Burma,