Basic Principles
Four Noble Truths
Buddha taught that life contains suffering, suffering has a cause, suffering can be overcome, and there is a path to overcoming suffering.
Eightfold Path
A practical path including, for example, ethical conduct, meditation, and development of wisdom.
Karma
Our actions have consequences - positive actions bring positive results, negative actions bring negative results.
Meditation
A key practice for calming the mind and deepening insight into the true nature of mind and reality.
Why Buddhism Today?
Buddhism offers, among other things, practical methods for managing everyday stress, developing inner peace, and greater contentment. It teaches us how to:
- Better understand our own mind
- Cultivate compassion, kindness, and other positive qualities
- Find serenity and wisdom even in today's hectic world
- Live in the present moment
- Integrate all aspects of our life into our personal and spiritual development
- Heal our emotions - reduce negative emotions and increase positive ones
How to Begin
The best way to become acquainted with Buddhism is through your own experience. Simply try with an open mind what this ancient, yet very relevant philosophy and its methods can offer you.
Some of the concepts you may come across in Buddhism
Buddha nature
The innate potential that all beings have to achieve perfect enlightenment. From this perspective, the spiritual path consists of eliminating everything that obstructs this natural state in order to recognize it in all its splendor, wisdom, and power, and thus achieve our enlightenment, awakening.
Four Noble Truths
Four noble truths were taught by Buddha Shakyamuni as the central theme of the so-called first turning of the wheel of the Dharma (the first, essential cycle of his teaching) after his attainment of Awakening. They are:
- the truth of suffering which is to be understood,
- the truth of the origin of the suffering which is to be abandoned,
- the truth of cessation (of causes of suffering) which is to be actualized
- and the truth of the path which is to be relied upon, to practice.
Two Truths
All phenomena have absolute and relative aspects. The absolute or ultimate aspect is the true nature of everything - how things really are. The conventional or relative is how things appear. In Buddhism, these are known as "two truths - absolute and relative truth," but they should not be understood as two separate dimensions, but rather as two aspects of one reality depending on the view.
Four Immeasurables
The Four Immeasurables are the basis for generating of bodhichitta.
- The first is loving kindness, which is the wish that living beings may have happiness and its causes.
- The second is compassion, which is the wish that living beings may be free from suffering and its causes.
- The third is joy, which is the wish that living beings may remain happy and their happiness may increase further.
- And the fourth is equanimity, when we consider not only all beings, but also all phenomena (eg. pleasant and unpleasant) as equal.
Bodhicitta
There are two kinds of bodhicitta - relative and absolute.
Relative bodhicitta is the desire to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all beings, and to practice methods to achieve this goal.
Absolute bodhicitta is a direct insight into the absolute nature of phenomena, primordial wisdom.
Refuge
Taking refuge is the foundation of, and entrance to all buddhist practices. It is the basis of all vows. The essence of taking refuge is the acceptance of the Three Jewels - Buddha, Dharma, the Buddha' teaching, and Sangha, the community of followers, as one's own refuge. The reasons for taking refuge are fear of one's own suffering in samsara, compassion for the suffering of others, and faith in the Three Jewels. We consider the Buddha as our guide and teacher, the Dharma as our path, and the Sangha as our companions on the path. By taking refuge, we formally become Buddhists.
Refuge Vows and Bodhisattva Vows
Refuge is the foundation of all Buddhist practices. The refuge vow needs to be taken if you want to become a Buddhist. You promise to consider Buddha as your teacher, dharma as the path you will follow, and sangha as your companions on the path. After taking refuge, you should not harm beings. Taking refuge is a prerequisite for taking the bodhisattva vows.
Bodhisattva vows are essentially a commitment to become a bodhisattva, i.e., one who wants to achieve buddhahood for the benefit of all beings. We promise not to be selfish, i.e. to consider others more important than ourselves, and to practice this.
According to the great Indian scholar Shantideva, it is very important and beneficial to take the bodhisattva vows because, unlike other virtues, the virtues associated with the bodhisattva vows never exhaust themselves, and thanks to these vows, we accumulate virtues, for example, even while sleeping.
Six paramitas
The six paramitas or 'transcendent perfections' are the main practice of Mahayana Buddhism, they comprise the training of a bodhisattva. They are:
- generosity: the attitude that we need to give others what we have to help them,
- moral discipline: refraining from negative actions, performing positive actions and helping others,
- patience: abandoning anger, the ability to endure wrongs, hardships as well as profound truth,
- joyful diligence: to find joy in what is virtuous, positive or wholesome,
- meditative concentration: ability to rest in virtue, without distraction and with ease,
- wisdom: wisdom of perfect discrimination of all phenomena and primordial, transcendent wisdom.
The first five paramitas correspond to the accumulation of merit and are the cause of the sixth paramita, which corresponds to the accumulation of wisdom.
Sutrayana and Vajrayana
Sutrayana encompasses the teachings of Theravada and Mahayana. It is also known as the "causal path," since practitioners focus on the causes of achieving enlightenment, such as the six perfections (paramitas), thirty-seven factors of enlightenment, and various ethical and intellectual disciplines. Buddhahood appears as a result when all these causes are completed.
The teachings and practices of Vajrayana, or the "path of secret mantra," belong to the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. They contain many effective methods, such as visualizations, recitation of mantras, etc., enabling rapid achievement of direct realization of buddha nature. It is important to realize that all these methods are merely skillful means, not the goal itself. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama says: "Buddhism is not about rituals, mantras, or visualizations. They may be part of it, but the fundamental point of Buddhism is the transformation of the mind."
Tantric Empowerment
A tantric empowerment or initiation is a sacred ceremony in which we receive the blessing of a Buddha manifesting in different forms, awakening the enlightened qualities inherent in our Buddha nature and empowering us to nurture them through transformative meditations and practices.
This blessing is transmitted through an unbroken lineage that traces back to the Buddha himself, passed down from master to disciple over generations.
During the ceremony, the master provides guidance, leading participants through visualizations and prayers essential for receiving the initiation. Upon completion, participants not only establish a profound karmic connection with the master and the Buddha of initiation but also gain the empowerment needed to engage in meditation and spiritual practices that lead to enlightenment.
Tantric Commitments - Samayas
In tantra, besides the refuge vows and bodhisattva vows, there are other commitments that can be summarized in basic principles: it is necessary to have respect for other beings, not to harm anyone, and instead try to help.
