Buddhism - Hank Pruett

           Buddhism at its core feels like less of a religion than a practical philosophy. To live in the moment and to practice compassion are its most basic tenants. Principals which are meant to improve the life you are living now and not the after. Furthermore, to find truth while in this life is the goal of the practicing Buddhist. Through conditioning your mind to realize that you are what you are, you relieve the self of the human condition, which to Buddhists, is to suffer

Plainly the four main principles in Buddhism are:
Dukkha - all of life is suffering, the suffering in physical pain and emotional pain and the suffering of death and rebirth. We as humans are all trapped in a cycle of suffering.

Trishna - We are all driven by desire. It is the craving for all things (wealth, food, love, success, happiness, etc.) that leads us to suffer.

Nirvana - The end of suffering. This is the state at which our suffering of life can end while we are still human; the mental state in which we strive for.  

The 8fold path is the only way to obtain nirvana. 

Buddhists believe that they are temporary vessels in this world and that until they attain  enlightenment or Buddhahood, they do not know their own self or soul. They believe that this world is an illusion and that as a result, one can not know one’s true nature.

            Like Hindus, Buddhist believe that after the death of your current self you are reincarnated into a different life form. However, unlike Hindus, there is no continuous self that is transferred from life to life. There are four basic elements that make up a being. These separate at our death and none of them individually can be described as you from then on.

                 One of the Tibetan Monks said this of life and death in the film we watched:
 When we come into this world, we come crying while people around us are full of joy. When we leave this world, we leave with relief and resolution while those around us feel pain and sadness. 
         
            That seemed to stick with me. What seems odd though is that we all feel this but don't realize it of eachother.