Suffering, Knowledge, & Peace
By: Dzenis Sabljakovic
During the 6th century B.C.E. in a small foothill village under the himalayan mountains,
a monk name Siddhartha Gautama was attempting to reach enlightenment by refraining from
food for many days, eventually realizing the suffering he was inflicting upon himself he
proceeded to eat some food. Upon eating the food and meditating under a tree, he had an
awakening, reaching a place called nirvana where all suffering is understood and the body, soul,
and mind released from it. After this m
oment Gautama became the Buddha, or the Enlightened
one. In doing so he began teaching what he had experienced, introducing the components
necessary to reach this level of peace and joy that nirvana will give you. The three components
he introduced were; all life is suffering(dukkha) and the process you undergo to release yourself
from it(enlightenment). Next he believed in the 4 noble truths(foundation of Buddhism), those
four truths being suffering, craving and ignorance, understanding that suffering does end, and
finally how to end it by embracing the final component which the Buddha called the Eightfold
path, an awakening process consisting of eight steps separated into three divisions, the first one
being discernment, which consists of having the right view and the right resolve towards the way
you go about life. The second division is virtue where the right speech, right action, and right
livelihood will determine the virtue in your character. Finally the third being concentration,
which contains the right effort, right mindfulness, and the right type of concentration if you are
to reach nirvana/enlightenment. Belief in these components are what form the creed that the
majority of Buddhists use to guide them(excluding other offsets of practicing Buddhists).
The creed the Buddhists follow forms the very code they choose to live by.
Understanding of one another creates a certain fellowship that determines the morality of its
people, or community. With a common attitude, shared goals and interests, and similar beliefs,
followers of Buddhism have certainly developed a system of worship that has over the centuries
expanded and turned it into one of the largest religions on the planet. Following the doctrines the
Buddha presented to their ancestors and in turn turning that idea into the religion it is today
shows proof of the cultus aspect of their growth. Similar to the expansion of other religions
Buddhism shares many common components with Islam, preaching peace for the soul can be
achieved through nirvana, where all human suffering would end if we were all to follow the
noble and humble nature of our creator. Living one with the world we have been put on will
bring purity of equanimity and mindfulness to our being, pain and suffering would cease, wars
would end, peace would not just be a hopeful future but a joyful present. Countless wars and
deaths would have never happened if we took the time to consider the drawbacks of our cravings
and ignorance of enlightenment. Once we renounce the things that have been proven to be wrong
throughout history we will be set on the path of righteousness and virtue. If heaven is a place you
can get to just b y being aware of your behavior here on Earth, wouldn’t you be more mindful and
insightful about the way you live your daily life?
The Buddhist faith emphasizes the principle of Karma, which is the good or the bad
actions of someone during their lifetime. This karma the Buddhists believe carries on with you to
your next plane of existence, or quite possibly throughout every plane of existence you might
end up in. Good actions include serving your fellow human being, through generosity and
compassionate actions. While bad actions like stealing, lying, or killing will give you bad karma
and give you an undesired afterlife. Another important aspect to understand in Buddhism, is the
concept of rebirth, or Samsara which is the cycle of death and rebirth. It is said the better you
treat others, the more insightful and aware you are during this life will in turn grant you a rebirth
as a god or a demigod. I realize not everyone believes in karma, or afterlife, or anything spiritual
whatsoever, but the whole point of Buddhism in my opinion isn’t about the “unknown, what
happens next, in the further”, I believe that Buddha was only attempting to make us kinder,
wiser, and more loving human beings who look out for each other like we’re all family. Many
times the Buddha had said I only teach two things; suffering and the cessation of it through
enlightenment in nirvana. The world is full of desire, cravings of the flesh, and is lacking overall
compassion and insight. That lack of insight and compassion, consumed by the greed, lust, and
pleasures of man has perverted our minds with materialistic values. When we die nothing we
own goes with us, just our body resting in our dirt grave. That could be the ultimate reality and
finally destination for us, no soul, no spirit, no afterlife, nothing but dark and isolated infinity.
You could choose to believe in whatever religion, spiritual belief, philosophy, ideology, law,
theory, etc. Choose something that benefits your character, increases your vision, and helps your
fellow human being. I choose to believe in the ending of suffering, I believe peace is an
attainable goal for humanity, but it will take all of us to care for it, and until we make dynamic
changes to the way our world is run by the people who run it, we will never make progress and
instead will live only our life the way we played it out, leaving behind nothing, changing
nothing.
If we want to change the world we must change ourselves first to reflect those values we
wish to teach others, practice what you preach by showing your character through the actions of
compassion, cooperation, and kindness towards others. Be the change you wish to see(Ghandi),
an immortal quote that couldn’t ever be incorrect. Teachings of Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and
other religions of peace all have a common theme of brotherhood. If all life is suffering and there
is a process that can end it and give us the most pleasant and joyful sensation, wouldn’t we all be
interested in such a process? I certainly was when I was studying Buddhism, and what catches
my eye above all else is this idea of good and evil(good or bad), what I mean by this is if sin was
designed by god to test the faith of man, then life is nothing more that a trial of our own soul &
how it relates to sin and how we relate to an eternal(perfect) god. If the sins of man reflect the
aura of an eternal god then the characteristics of such a being would not exhibit sin, as it being
just a test for the righteous to hopefully pass. What traits could such a being possess and do we
innately carry those same traits? My answer to this is yes, absolutely, because to learn is to
evolve, and to understand that balance is the order needed for a supreme creator to exist outside
of our physical existence. The paradox of god to our understanding could be a simple logical
truth on a different plane of existence, that we do not understand, and possibly never will.
Reaching nirvana through Buddha's awakening process says the contrary, that we will obtain all
knowledge and wisdom this Earth has to offer and expand the vitality of our eternal soul in the
next realm of existence.
There’s a reason for all the mystery in our reality, are we following the footsteps of a
cosmic being that has nothing but good intentions for us, are we alone on this journey to our
grave or are there insights to an existence of an afterlife. Number 4 in the Dhammapada says,
“Do not consider the faults of others, or what they have or haven’t done. Consider rather what
you yourself have or haven’t done.” I humbly believe that this saying right here is just one of
many pieces of wisdom that you, me, and everyone on this planet should be taking into
consideration. If we never had war think of the better education our kids could be having because
of better funding, think of the advances in technology and science we’d make it we didn’t spend
billions and trillions of dollars just on new ways of killing one another? It’s ridiculous, and
asinine the decisions the countries on Earth have made for proprietary and monetary gain. If we
are to prosper we must not kill or cause others to kill, we must not repeat evils of the past
because that will only bring more suffering, but if we are to wish and work towards good merit,
it will in turn bring happiness to us all. Education is essential for achieving proper conduct, “He
who learns but does not think is lost. He who thinks but does not learn is in great
danger.”(Confucius)
In Judaism the resurrection of the dead says, “The wicked, even during their lifetimes, are
called dead; the righteous, even during their deaths, are called living.” Similarly in Buddhism
and Hinduism they have Samsara, “the endless round of birth, death, and rebirth to which all
conditioned beings are subject.” The way you live, determines your destination at the end(if there
is one), and this similar concept is found in almost every religion. There must be a correlation
and common theme here, and I believe the Buddha discovered that theme through the meditative
state he achieved through nirvana. We become what we think, if we think of ourselves as
compassionate, kind, and aware then we will be. We as human beings need to start making the
circumstances we wish to see by bettering our characters, because only through our consistent
efforts are results made, and the only limitations we have are the ones that are self-imposed(with
respects to natural laws). What I believe we must do to become a better human race, is first,
change our schemas, which is the mental structure we use to organize & simplify our knowledge
of the world around us. This is key towards becoming better equipped to understand profound
teachings and follow righteous practices. We must change how we notice things, how we
interpret them, we must make/act on decisions, classify things the correct way, predict
happenings(awareness) and assess our fight or flight instinct. The second step we should follow
is that of reframing. A frame, or frame of reference is a complex schema of unquestioned beliefs,
values, and so on. We use them when inferring meanings, if part or the whole frame is
changed(reframing), then the meaning that is inferred may change. When we understand spoken
and unspoken assumptions, including beliefs & schemas being used then we become better
equipped to look at things in different ways. For example; seeing a problem as an opportunity,
seeing weakness as strength, viewing the impossible as possible, and so on and so forth. To
reframe a scheme you must be prepared to be an active listener, a conflict resolver, and a good
manager of possible conflicts. The head on your shoulders must be able to be mindful and
insightful just like the Buddha had to be to reach the higher state of consciousness he reached.
To conclude, the creed, code, cultus, and community exhibited by the followers of
Buddhism are a way of life that I truly believe we could all benefit from, whether you become a
committed follower or just simply use the knowledge given and apply it to your own life, the
result is the same, and that result is being able to view the world in a way that brings about
profound understanding of concepts that better not just you, but possibly the world around you!
The best among us are the ones who are kind and with eyes to see the things many ignore to see.
I respect every life, I cherish every life, and with that compassion we can begin to see that war,
violence, hate, and all evils of the world can be ceased through the actions of the enlightened and
wise. By spreading the word of peace, by exhibiting remarkable human behavior towards others
we will in turn be filled with joy, while on the other hand suffering will be slowly fading away
with all the sorrows and miseries of the past. As above, so below. I leave you with this, all
knowledge is found through the intricate dissections of thoughts, emotions, and logical
questions. So I ask you, have you been asking the right questions? Ending human suffering and
creating peace on this planet is the only path I want to follow, and if we all worked on such a
goal, the results would be heaven on Earth, a physical nirvana we all get to experience, but only
when we all start caring about each other more than we care about ourselves.
