Buddhism/Richel Albright

What is the human condition? 
The human condition within buddhism stems from the journey of Siddhartha Gautama's enlightenment who eventually becomes Buddha. But the key to this religion is enlightenment, though they say life has no actual "point." There is no Atman as there is in Hinduism, you just live life and eventually hope to be enlightened. The Five Scandas or heaps are the human condition -- no internal soul, we are just made up of materiality, sensations, perceptions, moods and thoughts. 


What is the solution to this condition?
Understanding the Four Noble Truths is how one would find a solution to this condition. The four truths say that life is about enduring suffering which is caused by craving, this all ends when the craving stops and and achieves liberation through the Eight Fold Path which if used correctly can eliminate the bad and negative in life so we may lead a satisfactory life. 


How do we move from problem to solution? 
When coming to grips that you will endure suffering in life to be liberated only then can you practice the Eight Fold Path. This path consists of "right" or "true way" of thinking: views, intent, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration. These eight paths help eliminate negativity. Intent and speech helps grow within wisdom, conduct and livelihood we become more attuned to our bodies, mindfulness and concentration helps find peace to end the suffering. Ways to practice these paths are through chanting or meditation, doing this daily will help bring us at peace with the world. 


How to best live the solution in our own lives? 
Between staying stressfree and not living in a materialistic world will help to live the solution. There is nothing to work towards at the end of life other than enlightenment so you can never lose site of your path. This can be achieved through daily mediation which also helps control stress in life. 


I enjoyed this teaching though, to me, it was a little more confusing than Hinduism but I still enjoyed it. I really loved the quote "zen is like a weeble wobble, you never get knocked off center. This is beyond encouraging and seems that this religion is good at being open-minded and not judgmental of peoples paths because in the end we end up in the same place.