Friday, February 8, 2013

Life Lessons from Buddha




Life lessons from Buddha are generated to help people understand life better and meaningfully. Siddhartha Gautama is an Indian spiritual leader who established Buddhism. He was considered ‘the enlightened one’ or ‘the awakened one’ and his teachings became the foundations of life of the people in Buddhism. Buddha was a wise man and as a Supreme Buddha, he introduced life teachings that even people outside Buddhism can reflect on and use as a guide in going through the difficult path of life. Today, I am going to share the important life lessons from Buddha so people can also live in a way that is full of positivity regardless of the religion one has. Pick great life teachings from these life lessons from Buddha and you will be ready to go through your life meaningfully.
1. Life is never easy
As Buddhism states “A jug fills drop by drop,” it implicates that life must be full of patience and in order to succeed. As jugs are filled one second at a time, people also attain success one step at a time. Those who are willing to start small will end up filling their jugs and harvesting the fruits of their labor. All people start from drops in their jugs and without patience and sacrifice, they can never see their jugs fill up. So Buddha inculcates in people’s minds that patience is a virtue in this world where life never starts from success, but begins small.
2. Our thoughts shape our reality
Buddha said in his teachings that the mind is everything. “What you think you become.” So if you want to create your reality as a positive one, you must fill your thoughts with good things. As they say, if a man speaks or acts evil, pain follows him. But if a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows. What you think of dictates your actions and your actions dictates the outcomes. Everything that starts from right thinking ends up in a favourable outcome. Buddha also states that “all wrong-doing arises because of mind.” So to live happily and productively, leave all those negative thoughts behind and start filling your mind with positive ones.
3. Learn to forgive and forget
Anger is like a fire that slowly burns you down unless you learn to forgive. Those who hold grudges in their hearts are captivated in their own prison. You can never move on and experience life fully if you are held in that darkness. In this line, learn to let go of your anger and exercise or embrace forgiveness because it is only in this way that you get out of the prison that you and only you has created.
4. Actions speak louder than words
Buddha was also the one who popularized this saying. What good do holy words do if you do not act upon these words? Words are powerful, but they won’t do anything unless you enact them. If you want to achieve progress, you must act quickly because it is only in these acts that you can achieve something.
5. Understand others
People always seek to be understood, yet they fail to understand others. When you are in conflict with another person, never allow anger to set in unless you have sought to understand the person. Understanding others is also a key to happiness and happiness is more important than being right. So instead of seeking understanding from other people, start in yourself and understand others in their capacity.
6. Seek peace within
People equate peace to a new house, new car, new job, and even new relationships, but true peace emanates from within us and not from others. Peace is a perspective that you are living your life happily and peacefully so instead of seeking things to give you peace, reflect and find peace within you.
7. Surmount yourself
Winning a thousand battles may be the goal of many, but the battle against your own self is the greatest victory of all. Conquering yourself means taking control over your thinking and it is in this way that you can control whatever actions you may be doing. People may say that is very difficult to control thoughts. Well, liken this to stopping a bird build a nest in your head. You may not stop the board from flying towards you, but you certainly can stop whatever nest the bird may be doing on top of you. Never allow thoughts that are in contrast to your desires take control over you.
8. Show gratitude
No matter how small you had today, being thankful shows how contented you are and contentment is synonymous to happiness. If you didn’t learn a lot today, at least you learned a little that will get you through life. If you lost one of your material things, at least you didn’t lose your life. There are always things to be thankful for everyday and all you need to do is look into these things with a positive attitude and recognize that the things you have in life are worth thanking for.
9. Material things won’t give you true happiness
I have learned this life lesson from Buddha after realizing that all those gadgets, money, designer clothes and even the most expensive car won’t make you happy for long. Material things lead to more cravings and these cravings are the root of sufferings and bitterness. Learn to leave all those material things for a day and you will learn that those things that cannot be counted and held are more important in life.
10. Nothing in this world is permanent
All things don’t last forever. Your sufferings and even your successes don’t come with you forever. Well, this explains that we should always take advantage of whatever we have now because they won’t be with us for long. This life lesson from Buddha is also very comforting in times of sorrows and failures as nothing in this world is permanent. We can always go through all of these heartaches as long as we take actions and view life positively.
All these life lessons from Buddha are important guides for people in all religious sects and nationalities as life experiences are universal. Buddha has made a lot of great teachings that if we use in our daily encounters, we may find peace, joy, contentment and true happiness within us.

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