Four-Aryan-Truths
The Buddha first taught the four truths to his five disciples at Sarnath. In Buddhism, these are called the four noble truths, the four best truths. All the teachings, precepts, principles, philosophy of the Buddha are centered on these four truths. These four truths are as follows:
(1) Sarvam dukkham:The Buddha believed that suffering is everywhere on this earth. The whole life of man is full of sufferings and suffering predominates in his life. Birth, disease, old age, death are all suffering. When a person does not get what he likes and has to accept what he does not like, he is sad. He is sad when his desires are not fulfilled. There is no creature in the world who is free from these sufferings.
(2) Suffering Samudaya:Samudaya means rise or come out. Dukh samudaya implies that there must be some cause for suffering because there is nothing without a cause. In the Buddha's view, ignorance is the root cause of suffering. Man forms wrong ideas about his nature, that is called ignorance. Man begins to understand his body and mind as his true nature and develops a craving (desire) for material or worldly pleasures. When he becomes subject to his cravings, he becomes caught up in selfish actions and according to these actions he continues to experience pleasure and pain. Thus he remains trapped in the bondage of the world of misery.
(3) Suffering Nirodha:Nirodha means stopping or getting rid of. That is, sufferings can be destroyed. The Buddha said that there can be no action without cause. So if the cause of suffering is removed, suffering will also be removed. When suffering is removed, one will be freed from worldly bondage and attain Nirvana.
Nirvana literally means to go out like a lamp. When a person attains Nirvana, his ego is eliminated. All his cravings and desires come to an end and he is freed from coming and going. The state of Nirvana is blissful and leads to supreme peace.
(4) The path of restraint of suffering:The Buddha explained the three causes of suffering:1. Ignorance, 2. Craving and 3. Karma. He mentioned three ways to prevent these three causes:1. Shila (non-violence, friendship, compassion, etc.), 2. Samadhi (concentration of mind) and 3. Prajna (supernatural knowledge).
According to the Buddha, karma can be destroyed by virtue, i.e., non-violence, kindness, etc., craving can be eliminated by samadhi, i.e. concentration of the mind, and knowledge, i.e. divine knowledge, arises in the mind of the meditating person is destroyed and the ultimate goal is attained.
The Eightfold Path
For the convenience of the masses, the Buddha explained the three paths of restraint of suffering in eight parts called the Ashtanga Path. The eight paths are as follows:
(1) Samyak Drishti:This refers to true belief and attitude. Once one has attained perfect vision, one begins to distinguish between truth and falsehood, sin and virtue and virtue and evil. Through it he also recognizes the four noble truths of suffering, the source of suffering, the restraint of suffering and the path of restraint of suffering.
(2) Samyak Sankalpa:This means true resolution or true thought. A resolution that is free from violence and desire is called a perfect resolution.
(3) Samyak Vak:This means speaking the truth so as not to cause trouble to others. A voice that contains truth, sweetness and humility is called perfect speech.
(4) Samyak Karmanta:It means following virtues like charity, kindness, service to man, non-violence. In short, good deeds are called karmantha.
(5) Samyak Ajiv:Ajiv means livelihood and Samyak Ajiv means that the means of livelihood should be good. he must conform to the rules of virtue.
(6) Proper exercise:Exercise means effort. Proper exercise is effort that is pure and discreet. This means that man should always strive for moral, mental and spiritual advancement.
(7) Samyak Smriti:Samyak Smriti literally means to remember well but in a broad sense it means that man should always remember that he should do all his actions with discrimination and care. He should be well aware of his mental and physical actions and weaknesses so that he does not develop any misconceptions about himself.
(8) Samyak Samadhi:The concentration of the mind is called Samyak Samadhi. Concentrating the mind not only leads to spiritual advancement but also to the development of intellectual and religious knowledge.
The Practical Side of the Buddha’s Teachings
Middle way
The Buddha advised his followers to adopt the middle path. It is called ‘Madhyama Pratipada’ in Buddhism. The Buddha himself followed this path. He lived a luxurious life in his father's palace but was not satisfied with it. He went to the forest and performed severe penance but even that did not benefit him. Therefore, he formulated the doctrine of the middle path in which he advised to stay away from both luxury and rigidity. This was a normal way of living with food and clothing provided for the monks living in the Sangha. The Buddha believed that following this path would lead to the attainment of Nirvana, or salvation.
Good deeds
The Buddha taught us to do good deeds to attain Nirvana. He said that man comes into this world because of karma. He suffers the same fruits as he does and the future life of man is shaped and destroyed according to these actions. Therefore, man's actions should be good.
Virtue
The Buddha placed great emphasis on virtue, or ideal moral conduct. He mentioned 10 simple moral conducts for man:(1) Ahimsa, i.e., not killing living beings, (2) Asteya, i.e., not stealing, (3) Satya bhashan, i.e., not lying, (4) Aparigraha, i.e., not collecting wealth , (5) celibacy, that is, not allowing the senses to indulge in pleasures (6) renunciation of dancing and singing, (7) renunciation of fragrant substances, (8) renunciation of untimely food, (9) renunciation of soft beds and (1 ) The renunciation of Kamini and Kanchan.
In observing these moral practices, the Buddha distinguished between householders and monks. It was compulsory for the householder to observe only the first five customs. There were 10 virtues for a monk. The Buddha placed the greatest emphasis on truth, non-violence and compassion. Not to kill living beings, to speak the truth, to respect teachers, to serve parents.
Generousness and tolerance
The Buddha was very liberal in his religious views. He used to say that if his teachings seemed right, they should be accepted or else abandoned. The Buddha's religion reflects high ideals of intellectual freedom and religious tolerance
Freedom from philosophical concerns
Although the Buddha believed in karma, rebirth and Nirvana, he remained silent about the soul and God. Where does the soul come from, what are its qualities, where does it go after death? Who is God, what are His qualities and nature? What is Moksha! etc. He did not talk much. He also did not talk much about going to the afterlife or attaining salvation after death. In their view, ego is the cause of man's rebirth and egoism arises from worldly desires and cravings. When the ego is destroyed, Nirvana is attained. This was the essence of the Buddha’s teachings.