I think, Siddhartha Gautama’s quest to find enlightenment is not a question of noble action or sacred call, but, it is the understanding of one’s convictions. Siddhartha Gautama left everything he had for the sake of humanity and for the betterment of humanity. The great one left his family in good hands and with great wealth. Leaving one’s family might be considered bad in today’s culture, but, the great one sacrificed his family and his preaching lead to the happiness of many families for thousands of years.
The Four Noble Truths
The Four Noble Truths were the immediate teachings given by Buddha after attaining enlightenment. The Four Noble Truths taught by Buddha were: 1. Dukkha, 2. Samudaya, 3. Nirodha and 4. Marga. Dukkha says life is filled with suffering and in according to my thoughts, I completely agree that life is filled with suffering. We can have many examples of suffering everyday and I think life has to be accepted with different types of sufferings which a person cannot escape from. Samudaya says all the sufferings have a specific cause. I completely agree suffering is due to cause, which we can avoid if we non ignorant. Nirodha says about a state of mind which is free from suffering. I cannot agree on this Noble Truth fully because, for a mind to be free from suffering, requires a person to be secluded from the entire society and everything that has been a part of the person’s life. Hence, Nirodha cannot be totally agreed as it can only be attained by Monks. Marga says about the ways to end suffering. The ways to end suffering are again called as The Eightfold Path. Marga is a way mental and ethical development of a person with the primary goal as becoming free from attachments and cravings. I agree with Marga completely because, being free from attachments and cravings needs a good way and path which if not followed may lead to the person being out of control.
The Eightfold Path
The Eightfold Path is a part of Marga. They convey the ways to end suffering. The Eightfold Path includes 1. Right View, 2. Right Intention, 3. Right Speech, 4. Right Action, 5. Right Livelihood, 6. Right Effort, 7. Right Mindfulness and 8. Right Concentration. I agree with Right View according to which if we view things can have a negative side and think in that way, any outcome would turnout to be positive and would make a person happy. I agree according to Right Intention, which says, if we have good commitment and good morals, it would help us in our moderation. Right Speech is also what I agree with because it says a person should speak in a way which is non hurtful to anyone and not exaggerated in any way. I agree with Right Action as it says doing half actions or not doing anything completely would harm a person. Right Livelihood is absolutely correct and should be followed because many people think they earn a good living by not harming others directly but a person making weapons and selling them would be indirectly harming someone else. I agree with Right Effort as it says a person can improve if the person tries to make an effort to improve. A person can always be a better one if the person makes various different efforts in improving oneself. Right Mindfulness is not something I totally agree with because a person cannot always have the mental ability to fully understand and see things for their originality. A person cannot have the full consciousness in understanding the things in an exact manner as they are to be seen. I agree with Right Concentration because a person can attain self control and knowledge with great concentration.
References
Ajahn Sumedho. The Four Noble Truths, 12-69.
Bhikkhu Bodhi (1999). The Noble Eightfold Path The Way to End Suffering, 1-109.
