• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Buddhism - Belief

None of the Buddha's teaching is of great significance than the doctrine of Karma. The wheel, one of the earliest Buddhist symbols, stands for the unending cycle of existence through which life goes on by birth and rebirth. According to the doctrine of Karma the sum total of a person's good or bad actions, comprising thoughts, words and deeds, determines his specific destiny in the next rebirth in the unending cycle of life.

Buddha taught that "All beings have karma as their portion: they are heirs of their karma; they are sprung from their karma; their karma is their kinsman; their karma is their refuge; karma allots beings to meanness or to greatness." While Hinduism holds a similar belief in reincarnation, the wheel of existence and karma, Buddhism differs in that Buddha taught that there is no self, therefore, no actual transmigration of the soul or continuity of the individual. Buddha said, "Therefore abandon all thought of self. But since there are deeds and since deeds continue, be careful with your deeds."

The individual is likened to the waves of the sea, separate, but part of the whole sea to which they return without identity. Men remerge with the whole of being or into the total universe. In fact Buddhists technically prefer the term "demise" to death as they assert there is no death as life is not confined to one's body, but that the life force experiences a series of rebirth. In popular Buddhism, the adherent tends to think of himself as a candidate for rebirth. As a man determines his Karma by his actions, he has made himself. This force, Karma, is held to be the motive power for the round of rebirths and deaths endured until one has freed himself from its effects and escapes from the Wheel of Existence.

The state to which the Buddhist aspires is Nirvana. It is a state of being freed from the cycle of rebirth or the Wheel of Existence. It is the final release from Karma and can be achieved only by long, laborious effort, self-denial, good deeds, thoughts, and purification through successive lives. An exact definition of Nirvana seems unobtainable since Buddha refrained from describing this state. He called it the summit of existence, the enlightenment of mind and heart, the city of peace, the lake of ambrosia and peace, perfect, eternal and absolute. It is the state in which Buddha's followers believe him to be now as a result of the Enlightenment which he achieved. It was the lack of a clear definition of Nirvana that caused the Great Buddhist schism into two main sects (Mahayana and Theravada or Hinayana ).

Buddhism focuses not so much on a set of doctrines as a course of action. Buddhism is concerned with alleviating suffering through right living and mental, moral and spiritual discipline. The basic Buddhist teachings are summarized in the Four Noble Truths.

1. The Noble Truth of Dukkha (often translated as Suffering) Existence is characterized by dukkha; dukkha is universal.
2. The Noble Truth of the Cause of Dukkha - Dukkha is caused by attachment, craving, and clinging to things and ideas that are inherently impermanent and limited.
3. The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Dukkha - People can work toward the alleviation of dukkha by reducing our attachment to things and ideas.
4. The Noble Truth of the Eightfold Path - People become less attached to things and ideas through diligent practice of the Eightfold Path.
   1. right (or skillful) understanding or view;
   2. right thought;
   3. right speech;
   4. right action (following the precepts);
   5. right livelihood;
   6. right effort;
   7. right mindfulness or attentiveness and
   8. right concentration through meditation.

In its balance between study and action, austerity and regular daily activities, the Eightfold Path is often known as the Middle Way. While all the steps are essential, different schools of Buddhism tend to emphasize different steps of path.

There are three key concepts to understand in Buddhism, and that understanding is essential to the first step of the Eightfold Path, Right View. These are: impermanence (Annica), suffering (Dukkha) and the absence of permanent soul or self (Anatta). Some authorities list the Three-fold Understanding as Anicca, Nirvana and Anatta. Nirvana is the end of suffering, the goal of Buddhist practice.

1. Anicca (impermanence) is easily observable, everything changes. People grow old and die, seasons change. It is not possible to keep anything static.
2. Dukkha (suffering) is not the same as pain, sorrow, loss or anything usually thought of as suffering. It refers instead to the discontent felt when pain, sorrow, loss and so on is experienced. Things rarely are exactly to ones liking, and when they are they do not stay that way, since everything is impermanent.
3. Anatta (no-self) does not mean our body and sense of self are not real. It means that ideas about them are not the whole picture. People do not exist apart from the rest of existence, but are completely interdependent on everything else, and people usually ignore this truth as they go about their daily lives. This is probably the most difficult Buddhist concept to understand, as the sense of a separate and distinct selfhood is so tenacious.

Through practicing the Eightfold Path, the Buddhist practitioner can eventually reach Nirvana, a state in which all craving, hatred and ignorance (known as the three poisons) have been extinguished. For this reason it is sometimes listed as the third understanding instead of dukkha. The work of Buddhism is to liberate humans and all sentient beings from these poisons through a deep understanding of the Four Noble Truths and diligent practice of the Eightfold Path. Release from dukkha, an awakening, can only be experienced through sincere and diligent practice.