Buddhist beliefs

Buddhist Beliefs: The Four Noble Truths

 

The Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path are fundamental teachings in Buddhism. They are considered equally important among all the Buddhist schools and are central to the core of Buddhist beliefs. Sometimes Buddhists are criticized for always talking about suffering (because of the First Noble Truth); yet the majority of Buddhist teachers I’ve come across, if not all, are the most peaceful and joyous people I’ve ever met. So surely, there is more to Buddhism than just suffering.

In this video I explain how the Buddha taught the 4 Noble Truths to show us how we can move from a state of unrest to attaining an everlasting peace and happiness, known as nirvana or nibbana. But first, like any good physician, before prescribing the medicine, the Buddha had to diagnose our problems and show us why we feel less than one hundred percent happy most of the time, and what we can do to fix this.
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4 Key Characteristics about Buddhism

 
From the conversations the Buddha had with his followers we are able to learn some important aspects about Buddhism and the reason why the Buddha taught what he did. In this video I introduce some sutras that highlight four key characteristics of the Buddha’s teachings. In particular this video investigates whether blind faith is the order of the day in Buddhism or whether there is room for logical analysis and personal investigation, whether we need to expand our theoretical knowledge before we begin any sort of practice, and whether Buddhism is something that we should or shouldn’t become attached to.
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