Important doctrines explained - the ten fact about Buddhism

The Buddhist doctrine is a vast field for study. Ten fact about Buddhism (in no particular order of importance) are as follows:

1) Be lamps unto yourself – Buddhism stresses experiential understanding and transformation. Hence it stresses self-effort and testing out teachings through personal experience.

Before he passed away, the Buddha’s last words were:“ Therefore O Ananda! Be ye lamps unto yourselves. Betake yourself to no external refuge. Hold fast to the Truth as a lamp. Hold fast to the Truth as a refuge.”

In fact the Buddha went so far as to say that his own teaching should be tested on the basis of experience. The Buddha wanted his teachings to be experimented with and accepted as true only if they (the teachings) yielded the results that were promised.

So this is an important one of the ten fact about Buddhism.

2) Silence on metaphysical questions – The Buddha absolutely refused to discuss philosophical and metaphysical questions about the nature of the universe, the existence of God, the nature of the experience of Nirvana and so forth. He held such speculations to be a complete waste of time and absolutely discouraged it.

A story is told by the Buddha to illustrate the reason. A man is wounded by a poisoned arrow and his family brings a physician to cure him. But the man says,” First I want knowledge of the man who wounded me, whether he was tall or short or of medium build, what village he came from, which family does he belong to, what sort of bow was he using” and so on.

Such a man, the Buddha said, would die before he learned all these things. Similarly the Buddha urges us not to waste time on philosophical pursuits but to walk the path to the end of suffering.

So this is another of the important ten fact about Buddhism.

That which is emphasized in Buddhism: suffering

So this fact amongst the ten fact about Buddhism needs to be noticed.

If you look at the Hindu Upanishads there suffering of the human condition is admitted as well. But also the bliss and joy of experiencing the Union with the Infinite is also stressed. The Buddhist doctrine differs only in emphasis from the Upanishads.

So this is one point of difference between Hinduism and Buddhism: suffering and the stress laid on it.

The Middle Path or the Middle Way

However the Buddha spoke from personal experience and this gave his teachings an authority and power that the Hindu texts of his day did not have.

The Buddha had enjoyed extreme indulgence and enjoyment as a prince and had also practiced extreme austerities. It was only when he forsake both that he became enlightened.

So this is another of the important ten fact about Buddhism.

This message of the Middle Path is also contained in the Hindu texts the difference being only one of emphasis. In the Bhagavad Gita Sri Krishna says:

“Yoga is not for him who eats too much on does not eat at all, nor sleeps too much or does not sleep at all.”

“But yoga becomes the discipline for the destruction of sorrow for him who is moderate in eating and recreation, moderate in work and sleep and waking.”

So Buddhism and Hinduism both mention the Middle way but emphasize it differently.

The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism

a) There is suffering in this world, in all our individual lives.

b) This suffering has a cause: The cause is trishna (or craving) and avidya (ignorance)

c) There is the possibility that you can overcome suffering.

d) The way to the end of suffering is the Noble Eight fold path. This path leads to the cessation of ignorance and desire and thus to Nirvana

6) The Noble Eightfold path: This is the essential teaching of the Buddha and it stresses on moral and spiritual endeavor.

For more on this subject please refer this article on The Noble Eightfold Path
This method or doctrine is amongst the most important ten fact about Buddhism.

Again as to the teaching that suffering was caused by ignorance and desire there is nothing that was not already contained in the Upanishads. There is a difference – a great deal of difference – in the way certain points were stressed or developed on ignored in the two teachings.

For example Buddha laid stress on the subject of suffering, He also explained the path to Nirvana in full detail. He completely discouraged philosophical pursuits. There are the matters he stressed on. These are important facts amongst the ten fact about Buddhism.

The Hindu Upanishads on the other hand recognize the fact of suffering but do not give special stress on it. They (the Upanishads) lay stress on the state of bliss that transcends suffering and proclaim that as the true nature of man.

7) The peaceful spread of Buddhism – this is another thing that I wish to emphasize in this article on the ten fact about Buddhism. There has never been a war fought because of the Buddhist religion – not one.

The Buddha himself emphasized that his teaching were no more that a finger pointing to the moon. In other words the teaching itself is not important; what is important is the experience of Nirvana, the experiential understanding, the state of mind that arises from following these teachings.

In another place the Buddha compared his teaching to a raft, which is used to cross over from one side of the river to the other side. Once you have crossed over to the other shore you leave the raft behind. You do not carry it on your head with you.

Due to this stress on the utility and proper place and use of the Buddhist teachings there has never been a single war fought over difference in doctrine - within Buddhism and with other faiths.

This is in comparison with Islam and Christianity for example which have fought many wars over points of theology although they have so much in common.

This is one of the most important ten fact about Buddhism.

A comparison of Buddhism and Hinduism

i) Buddhism stresses on suffering common to the life of man. Suffering is inevitable due to our being subject to desire and ignorance.

ii) The Hindu Upanishads also acknowledge the fact of suffering but they also emphasize the state of bliss, which is man’s true nature (the experiencing of the Brahman). So here – in Hinduism and Buddhism a comparison – we can understand this point.

iii) The Buddhist approach is a severely practical one. It explains the nature of suffering, explains why it is a inevitable (because of desire and ignorance) and explains in detail the path leading to the end of suffering. It wastes no time and specifically discourages philosophical pursuits.Hinduism on the other hand contains detailed descriptions of the nature of the Brahman. Philosophical questions about God and the nature of the universe are discussed in great detail.

iv) Buddhism thus is more of a collection of skillful means (upayas) to attain enlightenment rather than being a doctrine on philosophy. I have discussed the question of Buddhism being a dialogue on this page on Buddhism outline

v) Hinduism contains a philosophy, accepts prayer as a way to the Absolute and is a more complete and exhaustive doctrine

So, these - in brief – are the points, which make up Hinduism and Buddhism a comparison - another important fact amongst the ten fact about Buddhism.

For more details on this subject please refer this page on Hinduism and Buddhism

9) The point that we need to work towards an experiential understanding of Nirvana (instead of losing ourselves in philosophical pursuits) is mentioned in both faiths but is more emphatically stressed in Buddhism.

10) The Buddha’s last message – In one of his last discourses the Buddha summarized his teaching as under,

“All conditioned things are subject to decay. Strive diligently to work out your own perfection.”

These two points also I want to emphasize in this article on ten fact about Buddhism. The fact that all forms - tangible or intangible – that make up our world are transient. Hence there is no lasting happiness to be found by craving or grasping of satisfying our desires by using any of these forms.

The second point is an emphasis on self-effort. Buddhism places all responsibility on self-effort to attain Nirvana.

These comments about the ten fact about Buddhism above, apply to Theravada Buddhism and all of them may not apply to the Mahayana & Zen traditions.

For a complete list and links to all the articles please refer this page on Buddhism

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