Buddhism/ Caleb Hoey

In Buddhism, the human condition is suffering. Our minds crave objects in the material world and this causes us our pain. This is what the first two of the Four Noble Truths deal with. The first states that life is suffering and the second states that suffering comes from our obsessions or cravings. We go through life concerned about our worldly possessions and not our state of mind. Buddhism goes deeper into the human condition by correlating it directly to our state of mind. As you gain higher and higher consciousness, the human condition begins to disappear. This is where the second two of the Four Noble Truths start to apply. One states that nirvana is a plane of consciousness where you become enlightened to the nature of life and your mind and is a state of eternal bliss. The fourth says that the path to nirvana is through the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path preaches to identify life’s correct problem, make up your mind completely, choose your words and actions correctly, put forth complete effort, use your mind correctly, and correct medtation. If you follow the steps of the Eightfold Path, it will solve our human condition of suffering. It requires great mental discipline and people usually spend hours and hours on end meditating. Nirvana is the solution to the human condition. When someone reaches nirvana, they discover the reality of their mind and their ego and the insignificance of this world. The Buddha reached Nirvana after prolonged intense meditation that brought him to the edge of death. He had been a prince who renounced all his wealth to go and find the nature of the world. He then taught how to reach nirvana. To be in nirvana and live with the solution to our condition, we acknowledge the material world and do enough to survive, but never get attached enough to be in pain when you don’t get something. You must realize that your ego is not a necessary part of your mind and can be thrown away. You have to be in tune with the infiniteness of your mind and use that to sustain your life. Buddhism has many tenants that I can agree with. I understand the novelty of this world, in much the same way as Hinduism describes it. I also agree with the Eightfold Path in terms of a path to a clear mind. It tries to get all facets of your psyche focused on the infinite light that is enlightenment. The constant practice of meditation also seems to me to be a good way to attain your spiritual goal. Buddhism is also like Hinduism in that way, where they both rely on extended meditation that leads to heightened consciousness. They both have many similarities, seeing as how the Buddha was raised in Hinduism, and he roamed the Indian subcontinent on his spiritual quest. He was bound to be influenced by Hinduism. Where I differ from Buddhism is where I differ from Hinduism, as well, on the notion of reincarnation. I don’t think that our souls our spirits go on and on until we inhabit a body that finds salvation. Instead a most basic idea of the Atman, where we are not separate souls in a cycle, but we are the same soul at the same time and are not different in any way.