What Is Buddhism?

The basic belief system of Buddhism revolves around the Four Noble Truths (Jacob’s lecture). The First Noble Truths is that life is marked by suffering. In Hinduism, suffering is known as “dukkha” (Prothero, 177). Prothero expands this meaning by saying “Yet each of us, no matter how rich or poor or powerful or weak, is going to get sick, grow old, and die” (182). The Second Noble Truth is that suffering has an origin (Jacob’s lecture). That origin is the human themselves (Jacob’s lecture). Prothero further explains this by saying, “We pretend that changing things are unchanging. And we desperately desire the world and the people who populate it to be as we imagine it to be” (182). The Third Noble Truth is that suffering can be eliminated (Jacob’s lecture). Suffering can be eliminated by achieving Nirvana, which means to achieve enlightenment (Jacob’s lecture). The Fourth Noble Truth says that the ultimate way to achieving Nirvana is to follow the Eightfold Path (Jacob’s …show more content…
One thing that is important to Buddhism is meditation and learning to follow your breath (Jacob’s lecture). Another form of meditation is Vipassana (Jacob’s lecture). The Vipassana is the insight of mindfulness, which means to be present in what is happening (Jacob’s lecture). The final form of meditation is Metta, which means loving kindness and learning to love and accept oneself (Jacob’s lecture). One form of Buddhism is the Mahayana (Jacob’s lecture). The Mahayana form of Buddhism “is the most popular Buddhist school” (Prothero 187). The Mahayana is the form of Buddhism that is best for an average person to achieve Nirvana (Jacob’s lecture). The next form is the Theravada (Jacob’s lecture). The Theravada form of Buddhism is most known as the monastic tradition (Jacob’s lecture). The final form of Buddhism is the Vajarara (Jacob’s lecture). The Vajarara form of Buddhism is also known as Tibetan Buddhism (Jacob’s