Buddhism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Buddhism - Essay Example Buddhism is a philosophy, which originated in India and was developed by Siddhartha Gautama (Buddah). He was an Indian prince who left his wealth and power in order to search for enlightenment. Buddah returned after he had spent many days in deep meditation in order to preach and help his followers reach enlightenment and thus break the cycle of death and rebirth (reincarnation). Essential to the philosophy of Buddhism is what Buddah named the Four Noble Truths. This was his foundation in which he based Buddhism so that a person could go on to achieve nirvana. The first was that life leads to suffering in some form or another. He termed this suffering dukka. The second was craving is what causes this suffering. The craving we feel is that we are clinging to a materialistic or some important construct in our physical world in which we derive pleasure from. Third, once a state of enlightenment is achieved, the cravings stop so causally the suffering ceases. Lastly, the fourth noble truth is that in order to achieve enlightenment, one must follow the path that Buddah has laid out. In a sense, Gautama gives his followers a set of instructions and conditions in which a person can achieve nirvana (Matthews, 103-144).