Buddhism/ Emma Egli

What is the human condition?

In Buddhism, our human bodies are thought of as heaps - diseased and frail vessels that only age. We go through life suffering, forever living in a false sense of existence and being slaves to our desires. The world is a place of rejection, failure and pain and our suffering is caused by our attachment. The problem is that everything is changing and nothing is permanent. This suffering therefore motivates us to seek liberation. 

What is the solution to this condition?

If we release ourselves from attachment, we can can be released from suffering. It's best to realize the Four Noble Truths: 1. Suffering happens 2. The cause of this is our desire 3. Realize there is a cure 4. The cure is to seek liberation and reach nirvana. One way to seek liberation is to follow the no-self doctrine. But the main way out of this suffering is to follow the Eightfold path. Buddha taught this method because it leads away from a life of self-sustained suffering toward a more enlightened and compassionate life. 

How do we move from problem to solution?

By following the eight pursuits: the right speech, right action, right livelihood, right concentration, right mindfulness, right effort, right understanding and right thought. Through the pursuit of morality, meditation and wisdom, we can reach nirvana - a reality beyond meaning and meaninglessness, beyond knowing, beyond self and beyond suffering. 

How best to live the solution in our own lives?

I definitely agree with the idea that we are ultimately the cause of our own suffering. And if we continue asking the questions "Is there a God? Do we continue living after death? Is there an ultimate meaning to life?" over and over again, we are just wasting our time. Like Buddha first taught, we must first remove the poisoned arrow from our consciousness. We have the ability to counteract the habits that poison our minds - we are born with the potential for knowing this. I also find appealing the idea that Buddhism encourages you to direct love, kindness, progressiveness and love to those close to you, complete strangers and even those who have wronged you. While there is no heaven or hell in Buddhism and their idea of karma is much different than in Hinduism, I still like that regardless of the ultimate consequences, you should always wish well onto others. I also like that nirvana is not really heaven, but more of a cessation - from passion, ignorance, strife and the struggle to prove our existence to the world. Seems like an awesome ultimate goal to me.