Teachings Of Buddha

The birth of Siddhartha Gautam, or the Buddha, as he is known, has changed the world for the better. Like every year since time immemorial, his 2566th birth anniversary was marked across the world on a grand scale on Monday. This begs a question: why is a man born more than 2500 years ago is so revered even today?  The answer to this question lies in his teachings. He basically taught the mankind to attain enlightenment – the liberation from the shackles of sufferings created by the human mind. Every human being, whether in rich developed world or in the poor undeveloped world, suffers. Before we start, we need to make a distinction between physical suffering and psychological suffering. Buddha’s teachings are related to the latter. Mankind has made a remarkable progress in alleviating physical suffering to a great degree. But can the same be said about the mental suffering? We don’t think so. 

Craving so many things is the nature of the mind. As long as these cravings remain out of reach, we suffer. We also suffer even after having those cravings fulfilled. That’s because soon after that, we crave for more. And there is no end to this cycle of self-gratification. In the process, we become attached to so many people or material things. When these connections start slipping away from us, which surely will one day sooner or later, our attachment takes a hit, leading us to even more miserable state.   Ignorant human mind normally operates in egoist mode. All cravings originate from this mode, whose actions are heavily self-centred. Most relationships it establishes with others are ego trips, meaning ego perpetually wants to enhance itself. This nature of mind is so powerful that, many a times, it overrides all other drives. 

Buddha taught that so long as our actions are driven by ego, there can be no end to suffering. He taught that illusion gives rise to such a state of mind. And that illusion is the result of ignorance. Enlightenment is the end of ignorance. He urged people to see this illusionary process through self-awareness and prevent oneself from falling for the transitory things. Once we see impermanence in everything and everywhere as a law of nature and life, we don’t cling to it. We simply let it go when they seek to part from us. In doing so, we liberate ourselves from the suffering. When neuroscientists researching brain in the early 2000s in the US sought human ego, the sense of self, in the brain region, it was nowhere to be found. All the seats of our impulses and emotions – fear, anxiety, love, lust among many other drives – were identified and linked there, though. 

What it means is that, there is no such a thing as ‘self’ in physical existence. So, when ego runs our life, we live in ignorance, in illusion. Until and unless that illusion melts away, there can never be real happiness. The Buddha taught us to seek abiding peace and fulfillment by understanding the ingrained habits of mind and stay vigilant about its traps. Once the self-inflicted sufferings are gone, compassion for all sentient beings, which is fundamental to our existence, is revealed. When we have compassion for others, we never seek to harm them.