One Buddha Teaching That Will Tell You More About Yourself Than Anything Else

One Buddha Teaching That Will Tell You More About Yourself Than Anything Else

The Indian religion of Buddhism is based around the many teachings of Gautama Buddha, the revered founder of Buddhism whose philosophies and mantras are still widely revered throughout the world today. Many find solace and peace in the Buddhist teachings.

If your interest is piqued by Buddhism, you might be leaning toward finding out more about who you are via the Buddhist teachings. If that is the case, the first step to finding a teaching that could transform how you view your life - and tell you more about yourself - is to traverse the major teachings of Buddha. Let’s take a look!

The Buddhist teachings are normally divided into three different segments: The Three Signs of Beings, The Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. This is where we will start on our journey to find the one teaching that suits you specifically.

The Three Signs of Beings

The first major teaching is the Three Signs of Being - or the Three Marks of Existence - which refers to the Buddhist ideal of everything in this life having three particular characteristics. These characteristics are known as dukkha, anatta and anicca.

Dukkha refers to the nature of unpleasantness in its many forms, whether it is suffering, pain, boredom, stress, frustration or discomfort. Dukkha relates to the idea that life is imperfect and we, as humans, will experience these negative feelings and situations due to nothing in life being perfect.

Anatta is a slightly different expression, referring to the idea that we do not have a soul and our sense of self is fixed. The Buddhist teachings also argue that this fixed state of self - an entity that is not everlasting - is caused due to the ever-changing nature of life as well.

The final mark of existence or sign of being is anicca, which relates to the nature of impermanence. This links to anatta - the idea that we do not have a soul that will continue into the afterlife - as it also focuses on how nothing is everlasting and that time will change everything in this world.

The Four Noble Truths

Now let’s take a look at The Four Noble Truths. This is said to be the heart of the Buddhist teachings and consists of the dukkha (which also comes under the three signs of being as mentioned above), the nirodha (relating to the idea of overcoming suffering and achieving contentment by letting go of the dukkha), the samudaya (meaning suffering that is created by craving and desire) and finally, the magga (which relates to the Noble Eightfold Path that we mentioned earlier). The Noble Eightfold path is a set of guiding principles that can lead to enlightenment and the end of suffering for the individual.

The Noble Eightfold Path

The Noble Eightfold Path is arguably a teaching in itself despite being made up of eight separate actions split into three categories. These categories are ethics, meditation and wisdom. Under ethics, there are three points: Right action (meaning to behave in a manner that does not harm others), right speech (being honest and speaking in an honest way) and right livelihood (which is to earn a living in a way that does not bring harm or suffering to others).

With meditation, there are also three points: Right mindfulness (taking note of and being aware of your own emotions as well as the emotions of those around you), right effort (making the effort to be a positive person and focus on your meditation) and right concentration (channelling that focus so that you can meditate more effectively). Lastly, wisdom only has two points: Right view/understanding (being able to see that there are consequences to actions and acting accordingly) and right intention (clearly and concisely following the path of Buddhism).

The Guidelines to Figuring Out Yourself

Is it cheating to argue that the entirety of the Noble Eightfold Path could be a teaching that will well and truly tell you about yourself? Probably, but that is what we are going to argue anyway! These eight guidelines are excellent ways to teach self-discipline and instill an inherent kindness within you and your actions. If you make the effort to follow them, the guidelines of the Noble Eightfold Path are sure to teach you a lot about yourself. If the teachings of Buddhism are of interest to you, make sure to show off your interest with a Buddha T-Shirt such as the ones you can find on powsym.com.