This question is best answered from Siddhartha's encounter of 4 different persons. As a young man, siddhartha met four persons which included an old man, sick man, a corpse, and a holy man. As Siddhartha coincidentally met these people, he had a realization that they represented the reality of old age, sickness, death and the devotion to escape these realities of life. As a price he had never seen such cruelty/suffering and from his perspective, the nature of the world was flawed by disease, old age and death. Moreover, unlike Hinduism, the Buddha rejected the notion of Brahman (ultimate reality). The purpose of life as a Buddhist is to achieve Nirvana (ending of further becoming). Buddha's core teachings are called the four noble truths. These include 1) life is suffering, 2) the cause of suffering is craving, 3) suffering ends when craving ends, which is Nirvana, and 4) one achieves the end of suffering by following the Eightfold Path of Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right …show more content…
From my perspective, much like the meditation of Hinduism, this meditation of Buddhism allowed me to step aside from my online social network/gaming as well as from the burdens of school work. Moreover, following the teachings of the Eight Fold Path, I became more aware of everything happening around me. This growing awareness further reinforced the meaning of dukkha (suffering). Dr. Sure said that the Self, as described by the Buddha, has many layers. The belief of a distinct core of being is what led the Buddha to liberation. The Buddha understood that emptiness was a truth that arose when certain conditions come together and then leave when conditions disperse. The Buddha understood Nirvana as the ending of further becoming in rebirth. Throughout my meditation I would often feel my tanha (craving) to dwindle as I started to regain focus. Because of Mr. Haardt’s suggestion, instead of taking a powernap, I meditated for a little break in between my studies. At first I found it very difficult as I could not stop thinking about the assignment which had been stressing me out throughout the day. However, through the silence I started to realize that I had been drifting off in my mind. Although I was not expecting to be awakened by a couple of meditations, I felt that each day I did meditation a skin of layer had been peeled