A lesson in Buddhism

We woke up at 5:45am yesterday morning...to give food to monks traveling by with a cart. I guess they come by every morning, but you don't have to bring them food every morning. It reflects well on you to give them food though. The monks aren't supposed to cook, that is why people give them food. After you give them food, the monk gives you a blessing. After lunch we watched a video by BBC on Buddhism. There was a man, 500 years before Christ, whose goal was to go through pain and suffering to reach nirvana. Buddhism started in India. This man, who was later referred to as The Buddah, thought that the goal in life was to reach peace, happiness, and to achieve a higher mental calm and clarity. He grew up as a prince but wandered out on his own to discover that all actions have consequences (karma). He realized that luxury isn't enough, there was more to this world. Your mind is the center of your being and controls your body and actions.

We need to find peace through meditation and enlightenment. Buddah encountered much suffering outside his palace world and was very distraught by this. He also found his own suffering. People should have freedom from suffering. Buddhism is a religion without God, it deals with a path that lies within us for how we can reach this state of nirvana. The foundations of Buddhism are peace, non-violence, to not steal, lie, kill, to not indulge, and to give up our possessions and selfish desires. (Kind of sounds like Mennonite in a way eh!). There are 5 precepts of Buddhism: 1. to not kill or harm living beings. 2. to not steal. 3. to not have improper sexual conduct or to commit adultery. 4. to not lie, have impolite speach, to not set people against each other, and to not gossip. 5. to not intoxicate yourself on drinks or harmful drugs. A person who is in control of their body and of their verbal actions is a person with Sila, or virtue.

Meditation: is a way to purify your mind from unwholesome thoughts such as hatred, selfish desire, ignorance, mental defilement or impurities. The benefits of meditation are 1. Calming of our minds. With a calm and strong mind we maybe be able to face all kinds of problems and difficulties in our daily lives confidently. 2. It helps us to concentrate better by sharpening our mental faculties. 3. It frees us from all kinds of stress, worries, and anxieties. 4. It improves our mental and physical health. 5. It helps develop a sound mind and body by cleansing impurities. 6. It cultivates loving-kindness, compassion, inner peace and humilty. It prevents hatred, greed, passion, selfishness, and jealousy.

I really like the concepts of Buddhism and meditation. I think we could all learn from that. There are alot of other customs and such that I still have alot of questions about and find a bit odd. Watching this documentary by BBC, it said at the end that because of the type of person that Buddah was, he would not have approved all of these huge statues in his honor or all of the fancy things that now repsent him. It seems Buddhism is also very much about material things, which is something Buddah was opposed to. I'm excited to be able to learn more about Buddhism and meditation. I think there are definitely things to learn.