Buddism
Maha Shivaraatri – De bijzondere nacht van Shiva
"In de schitterende kosmos van het hindoeïsme wordt elke viering doordrenkt met diepte, symboliek en…
Nieuw boek! De 365 Ramayana Quotes
"Stap in de betoverende wereld van de Ramayana, een eeuwenoud epos doordrenkt met tijdloze wijsheid,…
“Zuiver je huis en geest: een eeuwenoude salie ritueel voor spirituele reiniging!”
**Titel: De Spirituele Verrijking van Je Thuis: Een Gids voor Het Uitroken met Spirituele Kruiden**…
Geen producten gevonden in deze categorie.
Origins and Core Ideas of Buddhism
Buddhism began in northern India in the 5th century BCE with Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha—“the awakened one.” After testing extremes of luxury and asceticism, he discovered a middle way and articulated the Four Noble Truths. First: ordinary life contains dukkha—stress or unsatisfactoriness. Second: dukkha arises from craving and clinging, fueled by ignorance about how things actually are. Third: its cessation is possible. Fourth: there is a practical method, the Noble Eightfold Path. The path develops wisdom (right view, right intention), ethics (right speech, action, livelihood), and mental training (right effort, mindfulness, concentration). Three marks of existence frame practice: impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha), and not-self (anattā). Instead of a permanent soul, the person is seen as five aggregates—form, feeling, perception, formations, consciousness—arising dependently. Dependent origination explains how conditions produce experience and how the chain of suffering can be unwound. Karma means intentional action: our intentions shape habits and consequences, influencing character and future experience. Samsara names the ongoing cycle of conditioned, unsatisfactory existence; nirvana is liberation, the “extinguishing” of greed, hatred, and delusion. Canonical sources vary by tradition—the Pāli Canon in Theravāda; Mahāyāna sūtras like the Heart and Lotus in East Asia—but Buddhism consistently presents itself as a path to test in one’s own life. Compassion (karuṇā) and wisdom (prajñā) are twin virtues: insight without kindness grows cold; kindness without insight can be confused. Together they aim at freedom grounded in clarity and care.
Practice, Traditions, and Contemporary Relevance
Buddhist practice cultivates attention, ethics, and insight. Calm-abiding (samatha) stabilizes the mind; insight (vipassanā) investigates impermanence, dissatisfaction, and not-self. Mindfulness (sati) trains receptive awareness of body, feelings, mind states, and patterns, often using the breath. The brahmavihāras—loving-kindness (mettā), compassion (karuṇā), appreciative joy (muditā), equanimity (upekkhā)—develop pro-social emotion. Ethical precepts commonly include refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, harmful speech, and intoxicants; monastics observe extensive discipline. Rituals, chanting, and devotional practices support intention, while visualization and mantra feature in some lineages. Historically, Buddhism diversified as it moved across cultures. Theravāda emphasizes early discourses and the arahant ideal of personal liberation. Mahāyāna articulates the bodhisattva ideal—awakening for the benefit of all beings—and deepens philosophy with emptiness (śūnyatā), the lack of fixed essence. Vajrayāna, associated with Tibetan traditions, adds tantric methods and deity yoga intended to accelerate transformation when grounded in ethics and insight. Zen highlights direct realization through meditation and everyday activity; Pure Land centers devotion to Amitābha; Nichiren focuses on chanting the Lotus Sūtra’s title. In modern contexts, mindfulness has entered healthcare, education, and workplaces. Benefits are real, yet many teachers stress keeping mindfulness linked to ethics and wisdom to avoid reducing it to a productivity tool. Research explores meditation’s effects on attention and emotion regulation, complementing traditional maps of mind. Practically, regular practice can soften reactivity, clarify values, and foster kinder relationships. Socially, Buddhist ethics encourage non-harm, dialogue, and compassionate engagement with systemic suffering.