Buddha's Three Types Of Suffering

832 Words2 Pages

saw an ascetic that was calm and serene. He then decided to follow the same path as the religious man in order to find an escape from the old age, sickness, and death. Siddharta married his cousin named Yasadora at the age of sixteen, and had a son called Rahula. However, just like the king, yasadora did not want siddharta to follow a religious path as this would mean living her and their newly born baby in the palace. Thus, he escaped from the palace when everybody was asleep after sneaking and staring at his wife and son. Sakyamuni first tried meditation. Altough he believed it was a valuable skill, he abandoned meditation as it could not be extended forever, and as it did not solve problems caused by old age, illness, death, and rebirth. …show more content…

He accepted the reincarnation cycle where life is followed upon life with more suffering. He believed that the true way to end suffering is to accept that it is a fact of life. The Buddha identified three types of suffering: the ordinary suffering known as duhkha (physical and emotional pain), the suffering brought by constant changes as nothing stays forever, and the suffering brought by people’s actions (karma) which implies that everything affects everything else. The second noble truth is the cause of suffering. According to the Buddha, people suffer because of ignorance of how to end suffering, and their craving for life pleasures. The third noble truth is the end of suffering and possibly go to Nirvana. The fourth noble truth is known as the eightfold path. It teaches people the right way to live in order to keep them away from the causes of suffering. The eightfold path are the following: right meditation, right speech, right concentration, right livelihood, right contemplation, right thought, right view, and right action. The Buddha also rejected things such as a soul or self. He believed that it is imaginary, and it is the reason for human’s craving and ignorance. This is known as the doctrine of no-self and he explained through it that we are not an integral, autonomous entity. Moreover, since everything is subject to decay and changes, one should avoid trying to define itself as a ‘’finite

Open Document