“No one saves us but ourselves.
No one can and no one may.
We ourselves must walk our own path.”
- The Buddha
Born into a world of monotheism, finding a peace with myself was beyond difficult. The rules one must adhere to were enough to confine one in a state of weakness and mental sickness. I admit Christianity was never going to work out for me although, as an eight year old, I was immature and unable to express my own opinions on the subject of religion and beliefs. However, as I grew older I felt the need to prove myself worthy of such opinions and so my academic determination put my life on hold completely.
It was not until the beginning of the following stage of my life that I slowly began to edge away from having this drive to do …show more content…
So many new theories and values were to confuse me and yet interest me to the point of excitement. These new thoughts would stick with me and allow me to finally find myself. And so, for the last two years, and likely for the rest of my life, I have allowed this path to lead me into a new world, a new me and a new view on life, death and whatever else comes between. The Three Jewels – the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha – were to immediately become of great importance to me. Following that, the Four Noble Truths impacted on my lifestyle in ways unimaginable. The first noble truth revolves around the truth of suffering, Dukkha. Second is the truth of the origin of suffering, Samudaya. Third is the the truth of the cessation of suffering, Nirodha. Fourth is the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering, Magga. With these four principles engraved in my brain, I learned more and more about freeing myself from the negativity of these sufferings – old age, sickness and death. Subject to desire and cravings, as humans we struggle to free ourselves from the firm grasp that suffering has and always has had on our beings. Suffering does not stop at bereavement or illness, it travels much deeper into our hearts as we suffer from loss of ourselves and being unfulfilled, unsatisfied with our lives. This is what the second noble truth teaches – the root of all our suffering is Tanha, desire. The three …show more content…
I may have an incredibly long road ahead and I may not feel ready to continue but I know I must try not to let my human qualities destroy this new self I have managed over time to develop. Now, I spend my days working and learning about myself and the world. I learned that I enjoy the stillness of the leaves when the breeze dies on a cool autumn morning and the 4am wake-up call nature decides is a good idea. Instead of being forced to go to church I spend my time in my room, meditating and looking inside of myself. Questions unanswerable remain floating around my head but now I do not look for the answers. I allow the answers to find me. My life has changed in ways unimaginable to the average person. The relationship I have achieved with myself, although still developing, has allowed me to work to make myself a better person. On top of the work I have done in regards to myself, the affect this ‘conversion’ has had on my family and friends is what drives me to continue to do what I am doing. My goal is to finally reach that feeling of enlightenment whether I am eighteen or eighty. Only then will I allow death to take me from my skin and bones as I know I will have lived
No one can and no one may.
We ourselves must walk our own path.”
- The Buddha
Born into a world of monotheism, finding a peace with myself was beyond difficult. The rules one must adhere to were enough to confine one in a state of weakness and mental sickness. I admit Christianity was never going to work out for me although, as an eight year old, I was immature and unable to express my own opinions on the subject of religion and beliefs. However, as I grew older I felt the need to prove myself worthy of such opinions and so my academic determination put my life on hold completely.
It was not until the beginning of the following stage of my life that I slowly began to edge away from having this drive to do …show more content…
So many new theories and values were to confuse me and yet interest me to the point of excitement. These new thoughts would stick with me and allow me to finally find myself. And so, for the last two years, and likely for the rest of my life, I have allowed this path to lead me into a new world, a new me and a new view on life, death and whatever else comes between. The Three Jewels – the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha – were to immediately become of great importance to me. Following that, the Four Noble Truths impacted on my lifestyle in ways unimaginable. The first noble truth revolves around the truth of suffering, Dukkha. Second is the truth of the origin of suffering, Samudaya. Third is the the truth of the cessation of suffering, Nirodha. Fourth is the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering, Magga. With these four principles engraved in my brain, I learned more and more about freeing myself from the negativity of these sufferings – old age, sickness and death. Subject to desire and cravings, as humans we struggle to free ourselves from the firm grasp that suffering has and always has had on our beings. Suffering does not stop at bereavement or illness, it travels much deeper into our hearts as we suffer from loss of ourselves and being unfulfilled, unsatisfied with our lives. This is what the second noble truth teaches – the root of all our suffering is Tanha, desire. The three …show more content…
I may have an incredibly long road ahead and I may not feel ready to continue but I know I must try not to let my human qualities destroy this new self I have managed over time to develop. Now, I spend my days working and learning about myself and the world. I learned that I enjoy the stillness of the leaves when the breeze dies on a cool autumn morning and the 4am wake-up call nature decides is a good idea. Instead of being forced to go to church I spend my time in my room, meditating and looking inside of myself. Questions unanswerable remain floating around my head but now I do not look for the answers. I allow the answers to find me. My life has changed in ways unimaginable to the average person. The relationship I have achieved with myself, although still developing, has allowed me to work to make myself a better person. On top of the work I have done in regards to myself, the affect this ‘conversion’ has had on my family and friends is what drives me to continue to do what I am doing. My goal is to finally reach that feeling of enlightenment whether I am eighteen or eighty. Only then will I allow death to take me from my skin and bones as I know I will have lived