Buddhism: Enlightenment in a Busy World

By Issac Chander

Book Overview
Below you’ll find a brief synopsis of each one of the nine chapters presented in this book. In the end, you’re going to find that they all build on one another, ultimately allowing you to soak in the Buddhist culture to the best of your ability.

Chapter 1is going to provide you with a brief introduction to Buddhism before teaching you the more in-depth material. Here we will go over all of the basic and fundamental principles associated with the Buddhism culture.

Chapter 2 is going to dive deep into the beautiful and rich history associated with the Buddhism culture. Even some modern-day practitioners of this religion know little to nothing about its history. Fortunately for you, you will begin your Buddhist experience with a strong core understanding about where and how Buddhism originated, and how it has evolved over the years.

In chapter 3 readers are going to find relevant information on how they can dive into the Buddhism culture and start practicing the lifestyle right away. This chapter covers need-to-know concepts for getting acquainted with this unique culture. If you’re interested in learning the fundamentals associated with meditation, then be sure to check it out.

Chapter 4 Meditation is a quintessential part of Buddhism that you need to practice and hopefully one-day master if you want to learn how to think more clearly and experience peace.

Chapter 5 is going to be fully devoted to walking you through a day in the life of a Buddhist. Sometimes, reading about Buddhism isn’t enough - you need to experience the culture to fully appreciate and learn from it. This chapter will show you how Buddhists lead their lives on a daily basis.

Chapter 6 We’ve all heard of enlightenment, but how many of us actually understands what it means? Despite what you might believe, it isn’t as difficult as some people make it out to be. Anyone can experience enlightenment, regardless of your background or cultural history.

Chapter 7 will show you further techniques and strategies for helping you master your mind. Mastering your mind involves dedication, persistence, and patience, and this chapter is going to teach you how mind mastery can be achieved in no time at all.

Chapter 8 is going to teach you some practical ways that practicing Buddhism can change your life today. Not only is Buddhism a beautiful religion, but it is a very practical lifestyle that can help turn your life around in many positive ways.

Chapter 9 is going to take a quick look at many of the misconceptions people have about Buddhism. For example, did you know that not all Buddhists wear robes, or that not all Buddhists meditate? Read this chapter to learn more about the truth of what people might think and say about Buddhism.

As human beings, we all share the need to become happy as well as lead a more meaningful life. Unfortunately, most people don’t know how to go about doing this by themselves. The teachings in this book are going to show you a few helpful tips for experience the timeless happiness for the rest of your life.

Buddhism is all about opening up your mind, body, and spirit, as well as achieving mental tranquility on a daily basis. Throughout this book, we are going to show you a series of techniques that can be used to achieve any level of enlightenment. These techniques come in many forms, ranging from meditation to visualization and more. With these techniques, you’ll be able to learn how to let go of regret, eliminate your anxiety, and stop holding grudges with people that you care about in life.

Spiritual Awakening Has Finally Come

You don’t need to be religious, or even spiritual for that matter, to embrace the teachings. These techniques can be learned by anyone, anywhere, and at any point in life. Spiritual awakening, if that’s what you want to call it, doesn’t have a preference. It’s available for anyone who is willing to take the time to experien

• Language: English
• Publisher: PCI Publications
• Release date: Mar 16, 2016
• ISBN: 9780995093201

Book preview

Buddhism

Enlightenment in a Busy World

By: Issac Chander

Copyright © 2015 by PCI Publications

All Rights Reserved

Smashwords Edition

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Ch 1: The Basics of Buddhism

Ch 2: The History of Buddhism

Ch 3: Diving into the Buddhism Culture

Ch 4: Everything You Need to Know About Meditation

Ch 5: A Day in the Life of a Buddhist

Ch 6: How to Experience Enlightenment

Ch 7: A Buddhist’s Guide to Mastering the Mind

Ch 8: Practical Ways That Buddhism Can Affect Your Life

Ch 9: Common Misconceptions about Buddhism

Conclusion

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Introduction

Becoming a Buddhist, or, at least, partaking of Buddhist tradition and culture, can open up your eyes to a world of enlightenment and peace. By taking refuge in this beautiful religion, you’ll not only experience more freedom and openness, you’ll see the world from an entirely new point of view.

Learn How to Master Your Mind

Buddhism revolves primarily around being able to harness your thoughts in a way that you’ve never experienced before. If you can master your thoughts, you can master your actions, which will ultimately allow you to experience better things in life. Buddhism utilizes a variety of techniques and strategies for achieving this ability, ranging from meditation to visualization and more.

Is Becoming a Buddhist Difficult?

Many people think that by becoming a Buddhist, they automatically condemn themselves to wear a robe and meditating for 12 hours a day on a mountain. But this couldn’t be further from the truth! Granted, some Buddhists do take this approach, but you’ll find that many don’t. In fact, only a small percentage do. Overall, you’ll find that becoming Buddhist and learning about the Buddhist culture will be a lot of fun!

What does it take to become a Buddhist?

You don’t really need to do anything in order to become a Buddhist. The term Buddhist is just a term used to describe someone who wants to experience greater peace of mind. A Buddhist can also be someone who follows and believes in the history of the religion. As long as you’re willing to meditate, visualize, and focus on action-friendly thoughts, you can incorporate Buddhism into your own life very easily.

What You’ll Learn About in This Book

In this book, we are going to cover every aspect of Buddhism, from its history to enlightenment and more. You’ll learn about the fundamental groundwork associated with Buddhism, followed by where it originated as well as where it is today. The book will discuss how Buddhists lead their lives on a daily basis and will even demonstrate various techniques that you can use to decrease negative thinking and master your thought patterns.

The concepts in this book are not only easy to understand, but they are also well-suited for both beginner and intermediate level Buddhists alike. The information is relevant, up-to-date, and can be followed by virtually anyone. So sit back, relax, and prepare to experience a journey through the Buddhist culture and learn about what you can do to start incorporating it into your own life today!

Back to Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Basics of Buddhism

Buddhism is a unique and widespread religion, with anywhere from 350-550 million practitioners worldwide, the exact number being hard to determine due to the different approaches of many practitioners and the wide variety of Buddhist schools and beliefs. It is also one of the world’s fastest-growing religions, but it is still one that many people do not understand, or only understand incompletely. This chapter will seek to explain the basics of Buddhist beliefs, history, practice, and ethics to potential Buddhist practitioners or those simply seeking to understand the religion more thoroughly.

The Central Tenets of Buddhism and Their Origins

Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, also known simply as the Buddha, which means Awakened One or Enlightened One (although in many schools of Buddhism there are multiple Buddhas and bodhisattvas, as well as other figures and deities, whenever this article and most Buddhist theorists and practitioners refer to The Buddha, they mean Siddhartha Gautama). In schools in which multiple Buddhas/bodhisattvas are important to practice and belief, he is also referred to as Shakyamuni or the Shakyamuni Buddha.

Gautama was born on the Indian subcontinent sometime in the fifth or sixth centuries BCE, though there is scholarly, archeological, and religious debate about his exact lifespan. Although this same debate goes on about the exact facts of his life, Buddhist scriptures teach that he was born a prince or other high-ranking political figure and that his father kept him in places where material wealth was commonplace and the signs of human suffering, as well as the practice of religion, were hidden.

After living in this beautiful but limited world for twenty-nine years, marrying, and having a child, he set out to meet his subjects and discovered an old man, an ill man, and a corpse. Having never encountered such suffering, he was shocked and saddened that life must take these wretched turns. He then met with a religious ascetic and decided to undertake asceticism himself in order to overcome the sufferings of this world.

His ascetic practices under various teachers and with several disciples of his own eventually brought him to extremes such as self-mutilation and starvation. Eventually, he realized that this type of religious practice was as meaningless and fruitless as the aestheticism and hedonism behind the palace walls. An entire life cannot be made of suffering, as an entire life cannot be made of pleasure.

Thus, he came to discover what is now known as The Middle Way or The Eightfold Path, upon which almost all of his later teachings are based. He eschewed both hedonistic practices and extremes of self-denial and used moderate but determined meditation to attempt to understand the world. He sat beneath the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya (present-day India) and vowed he would not leave until he had grasped the truth. When he rose, reportedly after forty-nine days of meditation, he had become awakened.

When he set out into the world again, it was to teach people the Four Noble Truths he had discovered while meditating beneath the tree, which would explain the causes of suffering and the way to overcome it. The Four Noble Truths are as follows:

1−There is dukkha – suffering, unease – in the world and in all beings. This is further broken down into the everyday struggles with aging, illness, and impending death, the anxiety associated with trying to maintain stability in a world that is not stable, and a lack of satisfaction with life that is inherent in all beings due to the unstable nature of the world.

2−The root of dukkha is desire and an ignorance or denial of the ever-changing nature of the world.

3−Dukkha can be overcome.

4−The Fourth Noble truth concerns itself with the path to the cessation of dukkha; this path and its variants and offshoots