What is Buddhism?

Buddhism really is about practicing having and maintaining awareness.....
and practicing correct actions, correct speech, and correct thinking....
and through these practices having a life of meaning and happiness....

 

Buddhism is so many different things to different people. Buddha has 48,000 different teachings, each teaching is equally good, and they are taught because each sentient beings are different. To me, Buddhism is a way of life. To live a simple and noble way. Always be aware of your body, speech and mind. Do right action, speak right words and have right mind.

 

@Cease2020
Do you still want to hear more definitions of Buddhism?

How about I try to describe it without using buddhist terms: it's a practical description how to reach full psychological health (something which, in medical psychology, is unknown and undefined as of yet). This state is defined in buddhism as having no suffering (a state where you can deal with life without fear of loss and without exaggerated reaction to anything bad). Exaggerated reaction is, when you make it worse for yourself through your own reaction to events that already occurred and cannot be changed or avoided.

What's this practice to reach such a state? Learning to mentally let go of things. Letting go is achieved, strangely enough, not by throwing away, not by avoiding, but by accepting.

If you accept things as they are, in that moment you already have let them go. That means, however things are, they don't bother you any more and you can better deal with them.

This means, if there is a solveable problem there, you can solve it more effectively in that state. If there is a non solvable problem you can endure it more effectively (without making it worse through complaining). If there is pleasure you can enjoy it more effectively (without fear of loss).

 

Thanks Teapot,
Namaste and all due respect to you....
Your comments brought two things, one about reactions.....
Mostly reactions arise from our minds becoming conditioned by strong events from the past, primarily from our family of origin....and react we do in the present to whatever triggers us from the past....breathing helps ....and lately I have been studying the 12 Links a lot....looking at how we become conditioned in general, and this I am finding helpful in general and with Nofap

The second thing is patience...I have to be patient enough to see reactions for what they are, and allowing them to dissolve.....This was from your comments on acceptance, basically radical acceptance and patience: same hand....Thanks
Thanks for allowing me to rant....It really helps to come here to type anything.
Peace to you....

 

Namaste to you too, WalktheLine. Sure, we all come here for some help and support. And this place does provide both.

I also believe, that acceptance and patience go hand in hand, how could one be patient with something one does not accept?

We become conditioned in many different ways. I feel like there are many ways into conditioning, but only one way out - see things as they are, accept everything as it is, return to here and now, do your next step from there...

Peace to you too man

 

The Buddha said "I teach two things - suffering and the way to end suffering". So basically that is Buddhism. Its a path to end all forms of suffering.