About Buddhism

Who is Buddha?

The historical Buddha Shakyamuni was born as prince Siddhartha Gautama about 2560 years ago, to a royal family in what is now Northern India. From early childhood, he was surrounded by wealth and beauty, and enjoyed a sophisticated education. The texts describe him as tall, strong, and blue-eyed. When he was 29 years old, he left the palace for the first time and encountered an old person, a sick person, and a dead person - experiences he had never known before. He then realized that nothing was permanent and left his palace to meditate in the mountains and forests of Northern India. After a six-year search for lasting meaning, he recognized the nature of mind while in deep meditation in what is Bodh Gaya in Northern India today. He reached enlightenment: a state of lasting, limitless happiness which is the full development of body, speech and mind. Buddha taught for 45 years in the highly developed Indian culture. During his constant travels, he encountered different kinds of people and gave general and specific advice for all life's situations.

The goals of Buddhism: Liberation and Enlightenment

Liberation means the awareness of body, thoughts, and feelings being in a constant state of change. Therefore, there is no basis for a real existing ego or 'self'. Realizing this, one no longer feels like a target and stops taking suffering personally. Enlightenment is the second and ultimate step. Here, the clear light of mind radiates through every experience. One realizes that seer, what is seen and the act of seeing are interdependent parts of the same totality. In every moment, mind enjoys its self-arisen abilities and everything becomes spontaneous and effortless.

Buddha's teachings

Buddha's teachings enable us to experience lasting happiness. By using suitable meditations, our theoretical knowledge turns into direct experience; additional methods secure attained levels of consciousness. The goal of Buddha's teachings is the full development of body, speech and mind. The teachings of Buddhism have remained a liberating gift to mankind for the last 2,500 years. Non-dogmatic and without any gods or commandments, they have enabled people to benefit both others and themselves. Especially today, with the many independent thinkers and new communication techniques, it has become possible to collect, organize and distribute Buddhist teachings, old as new, in attractive and fresh ways.

Different levels of Buddha's teachings: The Three Ways

During his about 45 years of teaching, Buddha gave explanations and advice to very different people about how they could use their lives to remove obstacles and gain lasting happiness. Since his statements always referred to a given situation and took into consideration the personal attitude, foundations and abilities of his disciples, they resulted in a multifaceted and comprehensive collection of Buddhist teachings. Though never categorized by Buddha himself, there developed different ways or 'vehicles'(skt.: yana) for spiritual development, each with emphasis on different ways of access and different methods. There are various divisions into two, three or nine ways in use. The division into the three parts of Diamondway (skt.: Vajrayana), Great Way (skt.: Mahayana), and Way of the Elders (skt.: Theravada), as discussed here, mainly refers to the priorities set in meditation practice. Regardless what categories are used, it is important to understand, that the different ways are never in opposition to each other but they are different ways of getting access, which complement and are built upon each other.
What sometimes is called the Lesser Way from the perspective of the Great Way, is named Theravada (skt. for 'The Way of the Community's Elders') by its own practitioners. This is important to know, in order to prevent the misunderstanding that this access was of lesser importance. Here, the key practice most of all is positive behaviour and avoiding difficult situations, often combined with monastic life. In the long view, there arise more and more pleasant experiences in response to that. Supported by pacifying meditations combined with the insight that the source of all difficulties - the 'ego' or 'self' - has no independent existence, practitioners of this way reach the goal of liberation from all suffering. Therefore, an Arhat (skt.) or 'destroyer of the foe' is someone who has realized this state of peacefulness by overcoming all mental tendencies that made him or her cling to the idea of an independent self.
For those who practice the Great Way, development of wisdom and active love and compassion are essential. Here, the point is to make life more meaningful and worthwhile for others and oneself. Often adopted by lay people, this way does not emphasize outer behaviour but the underlying motivation. Its methods aim at perfecting one's own abilities to become able to help all beings in the best of possible manners. The final result of this way is buddhahood, where all qualities of the mind have been fully developed.
The Diamondway especially attracts people with fundamental trust in their own Buddha nature and every sentient being's. Here, it is of highest importance to develop the view that every sentient being already possesses all enlightened qualities (fearlessness, joy, active compassion) and that the different kinds of wisdom have always been inherent in the mind. You just have to remove the veils that keep you from experiencing this. As a realizer (in earlier days often described with the exotic word Yogi) you practice to experience everything on the highest and purest of possible levels. Thus, you experience the abundance inherent in every situation in life. Eventually, by identifying with one's own Buddha nature all mental veils disappear and you reach the goal: buddhahood or enlightenment.
Before Buddhism spread over various parts of the world during the last decades, Diamondway in its complete form was only practiced in Tibet and the neighboring countries, parts of it also in Chan-Buddhism in China and in the Japanese Zen. The Great Way was practiced in the northern Buddhist countries, which are the Himalayan countries including Tibet, Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, and Mongolia, China, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Korea. The tradition of Theravada or the Way of the Elders, was mainly followed in the southern Buddhist countries, as for example Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

What is Buddhist Meditation?

The goal of Buddhist meditation is liberation from disturbing emotions, accumulation of positive impressions in our mind, overcoming egoistic attitudes, and identification with our own Buddha nature.
Meditation was not invented by Buddha. Every way of spiritual development and every religion seems to include some phase of gathering or concentration. But meditations can differ. Their contents and techniques totally depend on the goal, that is to be achieved with their help.
The first goal in Buddhism is liberation from what disturbs us, like fears, outbreaks of disturbing emotions, confusion, and the like. To reach this goal, Buddha taught meditations which calm the mind (Tib.: Shinay or Skr.: Shamata). By concentrating on one's breath, on external objects like pictures or statues, or on imagined objects like forms of light or Buddhas, you can free yourself from experiencing thoughts and emotions as compulsive. Concentrating on an object of meditation is a remedy, to stop the mind from wandering around. As soon as a distraction is noticed, concentration is refocused towards the object of meditation, but without thinking about its special features. The object of meditation only is a support for concentration.
The Great Way focuses on developing love and compassion, on one hand to accumulate many positive impressions in one's own mind, which brings forth pleasant experiences, and on the other hand, to overcome selfish attitudes.
In the Diamond Way the concentration phase is used to attune to the abilities of the fully developed mind. Qualities like joy, fearlessness, love and inspiration are imagined as forms of light and energy. In addition to concentration this also brings about identification with enlightened qualities. This is further supported by merging with the imagined Buddha form so that enlightened qualities can be experienced directly. At the end of the meditation, all positive impressions that were built up, are given away to all beings, so meditation will not nourish our ego.
The ultimate goal of Great Way Buddhism (Mahayana) is enlightenment - the total realization of all qualities of the mind. This means, feeling comfortable with every situation, experiencing boundless joy, free from external conditions, and bringing forth undiscriminating, very active love.
Buddhist meditation does not have to be complicated or require long retreats: Even some few minutes of meditation every day can soon bring strong results.

Quotes of the Buddha

"Do not believe in anything, simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions simply because they have been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. But when, after observation and analysis, you find anything that agrees with reason, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. " (Kalama Sutta)