Essence of Buddhism

Starting point: Characteristics of existence
Every school of thought, be it a philosophical system, a religious creed or a scientific hypothesis, is almost always based on a few assumptions or definitions on which the theoretical framework is built. The clearer the initial propositions (clear in what they mean, not in the concurrence with or acceptance of what they imply) the easier it is to build on them the body of a doctrine.
Communism begins in the administration of the material resources of a society by a communitarian organization. Christianity begins in “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen…” Classical mechanics initiates with the three laws of motion of Isaac Newton —inertia, acceleration, reciprocal action. Similarly the starting point of Buddhism lies in the three following statements, known as the three characteristics of existence (or of phenomena) and identified respectively as impermanence, (propensity to) suffering and impersonality:

1- Everything changes permanently.
2- Suffering exists and human existence is prone to it.
3- Living beings, in general, and human beings, in particular, lack (or are not connected with) an enduring essence (there are no metaphysical entities associated with living organisms).

These three characteristics go beyond human existence and apply, in the broadest sense, to all the phenomena of the universe. However, the phenomenon of human life and, in particular, the mental phenomenon constitutes the primary interest of the Teachings of the Buddha (and of this site). So, if this is clear to you, even if you disagree with its meaning, you are ready to study Buddhism.

The four noble truths
The presentation of the basic Teachings of the Buddha needs very few pages. Its essence resides in four brief statements which are based on the three characteristics of phenomena and that are known as the four noble truths. Noble is an adjective of both Pali and Sanskrit (the two most important sacred language of Buddhism) that is used to refer to the four truths. As we will see soon, noble is also used in reference to the path of the eight “noble” practices).
Siddhattha presents for the first time his famous noble statements in the discourse known as Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth. Gotama directs this speech to five of his former companions of asceticism in the woods of Maghada, a few weeks after his inner awakening. The speech was delivered at the Deer Park in Sarnath, near Benares, the millenary Indian city located on the banks of the Ganges river.

The depth, simplicity and directness of its content grant this discourse within the Buddhist a level of significance similar to that of the Sermon on the Mount within Christianity. If you avail yourself of only an hour to study the Buddhist doctrine, whatever you find in any encyclopedia and the text of Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth is what you should read. It will leave many opened questions, but it will also provide a few interesting answers. Furthermore, you will understand why for the elimination of suffering, the single most important objective of the Buddha’s Teachings, there is no need to believe—neither not to believe—in any metaphysical entity or being.

The four noble truths can be summarized in the following sentences:

1. There is suffering: Human life is by its very nature prone to such suffering.
2. There is a cause for suffering: suffering originates in the intense desire for things that we do not have and the uncontrolled aversion to things that surround us or that we do have.
3. There is a cessation of suffering: If you uproot intense desires and aversions, suffering disappears.
4. There is a path leading to the cessation of suffering: There are specific practices or factors —the eightfold noble practices or factors—that eradicate intense desires and uncontrolled aversions. When this path is walked, suffering disappears.

The noble path or middle way
The four noble truths are the theory behind the Teachings of Buddha; the elaboration of the fourth truth is the practice. The Perfect called noble path or middle way his prescription for the cessation of suffering. According to the Buddhist tradition, the path represents the balance between the two lifestyles of Gotama during the years leading up to his inner awakening. At one end are the initial twenty-nine years of his pleasurable and luxurious life as crown prince, and at the other the extremely rigorous and heartrending six years of his ascetic period. Siddhattha learns from his own direct experience that neither of these two extremes is appropriate. Says Siddhattha says in his discourse on Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth:

"There are two extremes that cannot be pursued by someone who is in the quest of perfection. The first gives loose rein to the pleasures of the senses and is vulgar, harmful and dissolute. The second is devoted to the severe austerity and it is vulgar, harmful and painful. There is a middle way that I have glimpsed and breaks away from these two extremes, generates knowledge and leads to equanimity, mental emancipation and inner awakening. And what is this middle path? It is the noble path of the eight practices or factors: right opinion, right thought, right speech, right action, a right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right ecstasy."

Later in the same speech, the Sage of Sakya repeats the list of the eight practices when he describes the fourth and last of the noble truths: "And this is the truth of the noble path to the cessation of suffering: the cessation of suffering is the constant march of the noble way of the eight practices." Like many terms of the Pali language, the word “right” presents some complications. As the common adjective of all the eight factors, "right" does not refer to an arbitrary standard or a moral judgement imposed by someone—it is not the opposite of wrong or dishonest. The modifier of the eight noble practices is actually an adverb in Pali (not an adjective) that means "properly, the way it should be." This is the sense with which the word “right” is to be interpreted.