About Buddhism

"Cease to do evil.
Learn to do good.
Purify the mind.
This is the teaching of the Buddhas."

2500 years ago in northern India, a 35-year-old sage called Siddartha Gautama brought about a radical transformation of his consciousness and became the Buddha ('one who is awake'). In this 'enlightened' state, he perceived profound truths about the human condition. Realising that some people would be receptive to these insights, he embarked on a teaching career that lasted the remaining 45 years of his life. In so doing he founded a spiritual tradition that today has about 350 million followers world-wide.

The realisations that formed the basis for the Buddha's earliest teachings were as follows:

• All aspects of ordinary existence arise in dependence on conditions, and when those conditions cease, they pass away.
• Therefore, all aspects of ordinary experience are impermanent, including our own bodies, personalities and mental states.
• It follows that suffering and dissatisfaction are inherent in ordinary existence; we cannot realise lasting happiness through an ever-changing self in an ever-changing world.
• The cause of our suffering is craving - the desire for things to be other than as they are. When our craving is frustrated, we suffer.
• It is possible to attain a state where craving, and therefore suffering, are eliminated. This is the enlightened state that the Buddha himself attained.
• There are practices one can undertake to reduce craving and move towards the enlightened state - the most basic of these are to lead an ethical life and to practise meditation.

Thus, Buddhism is a practical response to the suffering inherent in the human condition, directed towards the refinement and elevation of consciousness. At the same time, the enlightened, Buddha-mind presents us with the highest spiritual ideal; although inconceivable, it is characterised by inexhaustible creativity, wisdom and compassion.

As well as his own teachings during his lifetime (the 'Dharma'), the Buddha declared that whatever moved one towards enlightenment was his teaching. Over time, a vast portfolio of techniques and practices has been developed to this end; this can sometimes appear daunting or confusing, as they may be directed towards a particular type of person or stage of spiritual development other than one's own.

Intellectual rigour and discrimination are important aspects of Buddhist practice. The Buddha urged his followers not to believe blindly in what he taught, but to test it against their own experience.

The open-endedness of Buddhism and its emphasis on the development of positive emotions such as compassion have resulted in a relatively tolerant attitude to other spiritual traditions. However, although the Buddhist tradition makes reference to a whole variety of gods and other disembodied beings, the notion of a 'Creator God' is not a part of Buddhist practice.

The spiritual community that grew up around the Buddha was known as the 'Sangha' and today, in the widest sense, this refers to all Buddhists world-wide. The 'Noble Sangha' refers to the many practitioners who have succeeded in attaining enlightenment in the Buddha's lifetime and over the centuries since. For practical purposes, the Sangha is those fellow Buddhists with whom one is in regular, meaningful contact.

Buddhism gives us, in the Buddha, a spiritual ideal to which we can aspire; in the Dharma, a path to follow; and in the Sangha, a context in which to practise. These are the 'Three Jewels' of the Buddhist tradition.