The teachings of Buddha

When Buddha dies it is up to his disciples to carry on his teachings. Buddha taught that the most important thing was to avoid rebirth after death. Instead one was to try to reach the peaceful state of Nirvana. He had found four truths. To live is to suffer.

Suffering is caused by desire and attachment to life. Suffering can be overcome. The Noble Eightfold Path is the solution to suffering. Buddhists call these The Four Noble Truths. But that last one...

The Noble Eightfold Path. What's that? As Buddha had been born a prince he had tried living a rich life - but that had not made him happy. He had also tried living in poverty when he starved himself as an Ascetic - and that didn't work either. These were two extreme ways of living.

Buddha meant that one should choose something between these extremes: Follow the middle way. And how do you follow that? Well, by following 8 rules - or principles - and it's these principles that are called the Noble Eightfold Path. Principle 1 is to reach the Correct View: To understand Buddha's teachings. That means the Four Noble Truths that we just discussed.

2 is Correct Resolve. To be free of desires, and not to crave after anything. These two principles are related. They both deal with how to reach the truth about life. In other words: Wisdom.

Principle 3 is Correct Speech. To not lie, not speak badly of others nor use harsh words. 4 is Correct Action. You are not to kill, steal, lie or be unfaithful. Number 5: Correct Livelihood.

To not work with anything that hurts other beings. Here the interpretations differ between different Buddhist schools. It's really not that easy to determine in which professions you might hurt someone. These three principles are all about how to live your life and how to treat others. They are ethical rules.

Buddhists believe that what you do in this life will affect what you are reborn - reincarnated as. If you've done bad things you are reborn to a worse life next time and then it becomes even harder to reach Nirvana. This, that your actions affect your next life, is called Karma. If you have behaved in really evil ways and gained very bad karma, you might not even become a human in your next life. Principle 6 is Correct Effort.

This means that you are supposed to always think about how to do the good thing and not the bad. 7 is Correct Mindfulness. To be mindful of one's emotions and desires to make it possible to restrain them. Now we have reached the last principle. The eighth: Correct Concentration.

To meditate in the right way: in the way Buddha taught. These last three principles actually all deal with meditation. By focusing during meditation you become aware of your feelings and desires. In this way you may be able to study them quietly, and out of that realise how to behave in the best way. After the death of Buddha it was time for his disciples to bring his teachings to the world.

Let's get the wheel rolling. But hold on. What is this wheel actually? It's a common symbol for Buddhism and the noble eightfold path. In the Indian language that Buddha spoke, principles or rules are called Dharma.

So this wheel is called the Dharma-wheel. So finally, now we can set the dharma-wheel in motion and if you are a Buddhist this might be a good time to meditate.