Concepts and Ideas of Buddhas Teachings Article

Concepts and Ideas of Buddhas Teachings - Article Example Concepts and Ideas of Buddha’s Teachings Buddhism also has several schools and versions that may confuse a non-Buddhist such as Yogacara, Madyamika, Zen and Ch’an. All these have common teachings that is, the non-conceptual, non-dual and non-existent nature of reality. Buddhism is quite unique from other religions and this distinct nature lies in its search for â€Å"Ultimate Truth†, as well as the manner in which this â€Å"Ultimate truth† is found. For Buddhism, Truth is relative, such that, unlike most of world’s thoughts, there is no single, absolute, unchanging ground of being. Most religions from the traditional ones to the most recent ones view the universe as a contingent on a transcendent, ultimate essence of reality and absolute level of being. Moreover, the most skeptical and great philosophers such as Pyrrho and Zenoo, did not refute an ultimate ground of being, but rather stated that it was inconceivable. Other regions also acknowledge that there is an ultimate essence in being and things, but some philosophers declare it to be beyond existence. Nevertheless, they all agree that an â€Å"Ultimate† exists. This uniqueness of Buddhism makes it more confusing and complex to understand, especially for people from other religions. However, several authors present a background introduction into the concepts and ideas of Buddhism that are helpful in understanding Buddhism. The books, What Buddha Though by Walpola Rahula and Buddhism: Its Essence and Development by Edward Conze explicitly lays a foundation for understanding Buddhism. Therefore, this essay compares how the two authors present their themes, ideas and concepts on Buddhism with focus on the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths The two authors, Conze and Rahula explore in their respective books the Four Noble Truths that arte the foundation of Buddhism. They are of the same idea that understanding Buddhism starts with l earning and understand the Four Noble of Truths. However, Rahula presents the Four Noble of Truth plainly as taught by Buddha, while Conze present the Four Noble of Truths and attempts to describe how the different schools of though express these ideas of the Four Noble Truths. The Four noble of Truths are Dukkha, Samudaya, cessation of dukkha and Megga. According to Rahula, accurate account of essential Buddha’s teachings can only be gotten from the study of the Four Noble Truths (Rahula, 1974). The First noble truth is Dukkha also known as â€Å"The Truth of Suffering†. Translated simply, this means that life of human beings is nothing, but suffering, which portrays the idea of Buddhism as pessimistic. However, as Rahula clarifies, this is not true as Buddhism takes a realistic view of the world and that of life by looking at things objectively. The message we get from the First Noble of Truth is that regardless of how we live, human existence and experiences is char acterized by suffering, but as humans we have the capacity and opportunity to function with this suffering. Buddha teaches people not to deny suffering, but to acknowledge and recognize it as the first step of bringing it into the path. This is because denial of suffering does not alleviate it; instead, it hinders human being from seeking liberation. Everything that existence has a character of impermanence and is subject to death, as well as birth, and so suffering is inbuilt in samsaric existence. Rahula (1959) illustrates that Buddha was objective and realistic in his teaching about the truth of