What is Buddhism?
What is Buddhism?
Buddhism is the practice of Buddha’s teachings or ‘Dharma’ which means ‘protection’. By practising Buddha’s teachings, we can find permanent protection from suffering and the supreme happiness of enlightenment.
The founder of Buddhism is Buddha Shakyamuni, who showed the manner of accomplishing the ultimate goal of living beings - the attainment of enlightenment - at Bodh Gaya in India in BC 589. At the request of his followers, Buddha then began to expound his profound teachings, or ‘turned the Wheel of Dharma’. Buddha gave eighty-four thousand teachings, and from these precious teachings Buddhism has developed around the world.
Today we can see many different forms of Buddhism, such as Zen and Theravada Buddhism. All these different aspects are practices of Buddha’s teachings, and all are equally precious; they are just different presentations.
At Compassion Kadampa Buddhist Centre Buddhism is taught according to the New Kadampa Tradition. Teachings are given with the purpose of leading us all to gain realisations through which we can solve all our daily problems of painful minds - delusions - and accomplish the real meaning of our human life.
One of the principle practices of Buddhism is meditation, which you can read more about here.
We need to practise Buddha’s teachings because there is no other real method to solve human problems. Although we want to be happy all the time we do not know how to do this, and we are always destroying our own happiness by developing anger, negative views and negative intentions.
Buddha’s teachings are scientific methods to solve the problems of all living beings permanently. By putting his teachings into practice we shall be able to control our attachment, and because of this we shall be permanently free from all our suffering and problems. From this alone we can understand how precious and important his teachings, the Dharma, are for everyone.
