The most ancient of all existing world religions is Buddhism. The main ideas of this religion are part of the worldview of many peoples living in the territory from Japan to India.
The foundations of Buddhism were laid by Siddhartha Gautama, who went down in world history under the name of Buddha. He was the son and heir to the king of the Shakya tribe and from childhood was surrounded by luxury and all kinds of benefits. According to the generally accepted version, once Siddhartha left the territory of the palace and first encountered a harsh reality in the person of a sick person, an old man and a funeral procession. For him, this was a complete discovery, because the heir did not even know about the existence of diseases, old age and death. Shocked by what he saw, Siddhartha flees from the palace and, already a 29-year-old man, joins wandering hermits.
After 6 years of wandering, Siddhartha learned many techniques and states of yoga, but he came to the conclusion that it is impossible to achieve them through enlightenment. He chose the path of reflection and prayer, motionless meditation, which led him to enlightenment.
Buddhism was originally a protest against orthodox brahmanas and their teachings on the sacredness of the existing estate-varna system of society. At the same time, Buddhism learned many of the principles from the Vedas, abandoning their ritualism, the law of karma, and some other norms. Buddhism arose as a purification of an existing religion, and eventually resulted in a religion that proved capable of constant self-purification and renewal.
Buddhism: basic ideas
Buddhism is based on four basic truths:
1. Spirit (suffering).
2. The cause of suffering.
3. Suffering may be terminated.
4. There is a path leading to the cessation of suffering.
Thus, suffering is the main idea that Buddhism contains. The main provisions of this religion indicate that suffering can be not only physical, but also mental. Birth itself is suffering. And illness, and death, and even unsatisfied desire. Suffering is a constant component of human life, and rather, even a form of human existence. However, suffering is unnatural, and therefore you need to get rid of it.
Another idea of Buddhism follows from this: in order to get rid of suffering, it is necessary to understand the reasons for its occurrence. Buddhism, the main ideas of which is the desire for enlightenment and self-knowledge, believes that the cause of suffering is ignorance. It is ignorance that serves as the impetus for the chain of events that lead to suffering. And ignorance is a misconception about your own "I".
One of the key theories of Buddhism is the denial of the individual self. This theory says: it is impossible to understand what our personality is (ie, “I”), because our feelings, intellect, and interests are impermanent. And our “I” is a complex of various states, without which the soul does not exist. Buddha does not give any answer to the question of the existence of the soul, which allowed representatives of different schools of Buddhism to draw completely opposite conclusions in this regard.
The so-called “middle path” leads to cognition, which means liberation from suffering (nirvana). The essence of the "middle way" is to avoid any extremes, to get higher than opposites, to look at the problem as a whole. Thus, a person achieves liberation by renouncing any opinions and inclinations, renouncing his "I".
As a result, it turns out that Buddhism, the basic ideas of which are based on suffering, suggests that all life is suffering, and therefore, clinging to and cherishing life is wrong. A person who seeks to prolong his life (i.e., suffering) is an ignoramus. In order to avoid ignorance, it is necessary to destroy any desire, and this is possible only by eliminating ignorance, which consists in the separation of self. So, we come to the conclusion that the essence of Buddhism is the rejection of one's self.