The Buddha was a philosopher, meditator, spiritual teacher, and religious leader who is credited
as the founder of Buddhism.
He was born as Siddhartha Gautama in India in 566 BC into an aristocratic family and
when he was twenty-nine years old, he left the comforts of his home to seek the meaning
of the suffering he saw around him.
After six years of arduous yogic training, he abandoned the way of self-mortification
and instead sat in mindful meditation beneath a bodhi tree.
On the full moon of May, with the rising of the morning star, Siddhartha Gautama became
the Buddha, the awakened one.
The Buddha wandered the plains of northeastern India for 45 years more, teaching the path
or Dharma he had realized in that moment.
Around him developed a community of people, drawn from every tribe and caste, devoted
to practicing this path.
Nowadays, he is worshiped by most Buddhist schools as the enlightened one who has escaped
the cycle of birth and rebirth, transcending Karma.
Their main teachings focus on their insight into duhkha meaning “suffering” and into
Nirvana, which means the end of suffering.
He had a huge influence not only in Asia, but all around the world, and so here are
the 10 life lessons we can learn from Buddha:
Practice the Middle Way The Buddha says “The root of suffering is
desire.”
Siddharta Gautama spent the rest of their life reflecting on the Four Noble Truths:
1.
There is suffering.
2.
The cause of suffering is our desires.
3.
The solution to our suffering, then, is to release ourselves from our desires.
4.
The Noble Eightfold Path that leads to our release from suffering.
He realized that life was far from perfect and people often try to distract themselves
from realities by seeking material attachments like wealth, fame, and honor.
He had the chance to experience this first hand, being born in a very wealthy family.
Before his enlightenment, he walked out of their palace for the first time and saw the
three harsh realities - poverty, sickness, and death.
Embracing asceticism, he later tried to escape the internal sufferings by depriving himself
of any material comfort and need.
With this, he grew very ill, and realized that their asceticism did not spare him from
their desires and suffering.
Hence he tells us that we must strive for the “Middle Way” - the life between luxury
and extreme poverty, a balance between overindulging and depriving ourselves of the things we desire.
To practice the Middle Way, one must free oneself of one’s desires.
We must celebrate the idea of “just enough” and embrace a more balanced, sustainable lifestyle
that embraces the pleasures of existence rather than those of consumption.
Nurse Bronnie Ware, an Australian nurse who focused on caring for terminally-ill people,
says that one of the common regrets of a dying person is “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”
We tend to lose too much of our time chasing things that are easily disposable - getting
the latest gadgets, wanting to get a new position, wanting to make five digits in our bank account.
But after getting all of these things, we still find ourselves wanting more, or sadly,
that we do not seem happy with it.
When we equate our happiness with getting what we desire, we will never be happy and
will suffer every day.
Adopt the right view
According to The Buddha, “Do not get upset with people or situations, both are powerless
without your reaction.”
The Buddha is asking us to adopt the right view – to be more “philosophical” about
the opinions we hold, to become aware of what we think, and then to inquire more deeply
into why we think what we think.
Only then can we know if our thoughts are true, false, or confused.
Our thoughts affect our daily decisions and relationships deeply, and we would make better
decisions in all aspects of our lives if we were clearer about the foundations of our
own thinking.
The problem with us is that we tend to react quickly to things that happen around us.
Stephen Covey, in his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” calls this the
90-10 Rule of Life: Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.
Imagine that before going to work, you trip on your child’s bike in the driveway.
Your child runs to help you, apologizing, but instead you yell at him, say bad words
enough to be heard by your wife, who storms outside and tells you to watch your mouth.
You start an argument with your wife that ends up with you either missing your morning
bus or almost getting in an accident for driving too fast on the road.
Then, when you arrive at work 15 minutes late, you become unproductive for the day because
you are still angry.
Your team leader reprimands you, and because of what happened in the morning, you yell
back at him.
You come home with probationary suspension, a cold treatment from your family, and a sour
day.
Imagine alternately that when you tripped, you stood up, breathed slowly, then forgave
your child and said, “Be careful next time; remember to keep your bike inside the garage.”
You won’t be starting an unnecessary argument that cannot solve what happened, you won’t
miss the bus or hurry through traffic, and you will take control of your day.
We can be happy if we become proactive, not reactive to what is happening to us.
We need to have a Right View of things - that we can always choose not to be affected by
what is happening around us, but to use what we have around us towards our own growth.
Create good karma In the words of the Buddha “It is mental
volition, O monks, that I call karma.
Having willed, one acts through body, speech or mind.”
In Buddhism, karma means only actions of one’s own volition, not all actions.
As volitions can be relatively good or bad, so the resulting karma will be good or bad.
Good karma will lead to good outcomes and bad karma to bad outcomes in life.
Volition is a more complex concept in Eastern philosophies than in Western ones, which defines
will as a faculty independent of emotions and reason.
In Eastern philosophies, volition is the most significant factor in determining the karma,
it is what determines the ethical quality of the action.
It is a mental impulse, an urge, pushing us in the direction of a particular experience.
Volition is something at the cross-roads between emotion and reason.
A bad volition is based on a bad attitude or a bad intention and to avoid having a bad
karma, we have to align our actions to positive attitudes and intentions, in other words,
we have to work firstly on our attitudes and intentions, to be clean in our thoughts and
feelings.
Our intentions will lead to our actions and they can have great consequences in our life.
We need to work on ourselves in the present in order to build a better future for ourselves.
As what we did in the past has echoes in the present, what we do now will have echoes in
the future.
If we don’t study well for an exam, we may fail.
If we sleep through our deadlines and delay doing our tasks, we may be late.
If we eat too much, we may suffer from sickness in the future.
If we indulge in smoking and alcohol, we may struggle to give them up in the years to come.
But remember, if we choose to give more effort today, then we are sure to go beyond our past
mistakes.
If we, for example, choose to study better starting now, we still can achieve our dream
job or graduate in the course we love - even if that would take longer than we planned.
If we choose to make a schedule, plan how we will balance our priorities and our workload,
then we can still finish and be better in our job.
If we choose to start exercising, we can still live more healthily than we are now.
Nothing is written in stone.
Our past does not define us, and what we do today can shape our present and our future.
However, to make the right changes takes effort and this effort will not have everlasting
effects unless it comes from a good attitude and good intentions, or, in other words, from
a deep compassion towards ourselves and others.
Live every day like it is your last The Buddha says, “Ardently, do today what
must be done.
Who knows?
Tomorrow death comes.”
Buddhism believes that life is a cycle of birth and rebirth - and our goal should be
to liberate ourselves from that cycle of suffering.
The problem is we tend to think that we have all the time in the world.
We put all our efforts into a tomorrow that may not come - “I’ll start exercising
tomorrow.
I’ll finish my work tomorrow.
I’ll call my mom tomorrow.
I’ll ask for forgiveness tomorrow.”
And that is a reality we need to face.
If we learn to see that everyday can be our last, we will live ardently each day, making
peace with everyone, doing what we can do today, and sleep peacefully at night knowing
that we lived our day to the fullest.
That is why it is important to start your day right - by practicing mindfulness meditation
- for example, when you focus on breathing in and breathing out, you have a direct experience
of impermanence - when you meditate on your painful and sad stories, you have a direct
experience of suffering.
It motivates you to live in the moment.
When you are eating, eat.
When you are reading, read.
When you are doing your job or at school, do your tasks with focus.
When you are driving your car, drive your car.
When you are with someone, spend that moment with them.
This allows you to step away from the past and future and live in the present moment,
to be where you are right now.
Great things are the results of small good habits
The Buddha teaches us “Drop by drop is the water pot filled.
Likewise, the fool, gathering it little by little, fills himself with evil … Likewise,
the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.”
The Buddhist approach to goodness and evil is very practical.
Evil may, for a time, lead us to happiness, but all our bad actions together will eventually
ripen and lead us to illness and bad experiences.
So while we may suffer from time-to-time, even if we are good, all our good actions
will eventually ripen and lead us to true happiness and goodness.
According to the European Journal of Social Psychology, it takes 18-254 days of constant
exercise and practice to develop a new habit.
On whatever skill you wish to learn, you can always start today.
You can’t exercise for one day and immediately assume that you will be healthier all of the
sudden.
Starting with small things, like switching to healthier alternatives of food, brisk walking,
or waking up early in the morning to stretch.
In the same way, whatever bad habit you wish to change, you can always start small.
Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse, suggests that the
first step is to become more aware of your habits so you can develop strategies to change
them.
You may start by avoiding the places that can trigger your vice - like lessening your
time in pubs - or try switching to healthier alternatives - choosing unsalted popcorn over
a bag of potato chips, or chewing gum over reaching for a cigarette.
It doesn’t matter if you fail sometimes - that is part of learning.
Show your wisdom in silence The Buddha tells us “Know from the rivers
in clefts and in crevices; those in small channels flow noisily, the great flow silent.
Whatever’s not full makes noise.
Whatever is full is quiet.”
He believed that there is always a time to speak and to listen.
If one is to talk, he must talk only when he means-well, and is just, endearing, and
true.
But one must learn to listen more, acknowledging that we do not know everything.
He goes against useless chatter or those who judge arbitrarily and with their biases.
In today’s digital information, whenever we scroll through social media, it is easy
for us to fall for fake news.
Sometimes, we even justify our wrong beliefs with one youtube video or a single article.
Little knowledge is dangerous because we assume that there’s an easy answer, that every
other question is invalid, that we are the only ones that know the truth.
It is called the “wisdom paradox”.
Take for example the great Albert Einstein when he said “The more you learn, the more
you are exposed to what you don't know”.
Buddha reminds us that those who are wise know to listen, because they acknowledge that
there are things that they do not know.
A little knowledge is dangerous, because you might be so convinced with your opinion that
you fail to look at the truth because you easily dismiss other people.
One can share wisdom and also learn from another by listening and engaging in healthy dialogue.
If in a conflict, choose compassion According to the Buddha “Hatred is never
appeased by hatred in this world.
By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased.”
Even Siddharta Gautma experienced discrimination and suffering, he was sometimes abused and
he had to go through a hard journey to build his legacy.
Also, other famous leaders, like Martin Luther King Jr and Mahatma Gandhi, who had both advocated
nonviolent action that led to societal changes in their corresponding countries, were victims
of evil words, discrimination, and disbelief.
Buddhism teaches us that the cycle of violence, of hatred, of abuse, of revenge can never
be stopped with hatred.
When someone insults you, and you insult back, sometimes they come back worse.
When someone punches and we punch back, we go home with more bruises and wounds.
Nonviolence is not just letting yourself be harassed or assaulted, it is a way to protect
yourself from even greater evils.
Take for example, when you are bullied by a classmate or a colleague, as long as you
don’t feel physically threatened, empower yourself first.
Remind yourself of your goodness, that their words can never hurt you, and that you may
make mistakes, you can keep trying.
Remember, the bully wants you to feel angry and powerless because they are also experiencing
something bad in their own life.
Some practical solutions include - when a bully is approaching you, count from 1 to
100 to relax yourself - or maybe you can just walk away - or if he insults you, join in
- insult yourself and laugh with him then walk away - or you can look at them with compassion
and be nice to them.
Do something about it: do not keep it in, do not hide from it.
Maybe asking help from authorities would help, especially if the bullying becomes serious
or involves physical assault or abuse.
Meditating on your own giftedness lets you see that you are more than what they say.
Choose friends for quality over quantity According to the Buddha, “Admirable friendship,
admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the holy life.
When a monk has admirable people as friends, companions, & comrades, he can be expected
to develop & pursue the noble eightfold path.”
The Buddha reminds us that it is better to seek fellowship with noble men than to associate
with evil companions.
The Buddha acknowledges that life is not a solitary journey.
Along the way, we encounter a lot of people, but not every one of these people are good
influences for us.
Some bad habits are developed because of negative peer pressure.
In our experiences, when we are rich or in prosperity, when we are famous or well-known,
people like to be around us.
But when we are in need of support, we find fewer friends to go to.
We can make the decision to choose the people who can influence us to be better.
Good friends are those who lead you to goodness, to virtue, to develop good habits - and not
those who let you go astray, those who push you to vices.
It is better to have few friends who support and care for you truly, and who work with
you towards a better life.
Be generous
In the words of the Buddha “Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and
the life of the candle will not be shortened.
Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
Buddha has always emphasized how generosity and helping each other can create great change
in the world.
According to various research, there is a ripple effect of kindness.
Just as anger or fear can be passed on to others, so does a simple act of kindness.
A simple smile to someone can inspire them to work better.
A gesture of compassion can be passed on to another person.
When you help someone carry their groceries, they might be inspired to open a door for
a stranger.
That stranger would be inspired to pass on that act of kindness by giving a lunch to
a coworker, or assisting an elderly person cross the street.
A lot of things can spring forth from that simple act of kindness.
Buddha, however, first asks us to take care of ourselves.
You cannot give what you do not have.
You may really want to help people to the point of you exhausting yourself or breaking
down your boundaries or not giving yourself time to eat, or sleep - and then you get sick
or burnt-out - then you would not be able to offer help to anyone else.
It is important to take care of yourself, to live healthily, to give yourself time for
meditation, to ask for support from other people, because only then can you give the
strength and love you have within you.
You can be a Buddha too In our final quote for this video, the Buddha
says, “You yourself must strive.
The Buddhas only point the way.”
All these life lessons given to us by Buddha are meant to teach us that we can be a Buddha
too - we can also be enlightened - but only if we choose to live out these Buddhism teachings
daily.
The Buddhas that came after him and developed Buddhism can be a source of inspiration and
a guide to all of us.
Right now, we may feel like life is hopeless - we may find ourselves in debt, unhappy in
our job, having fights with our family and friends.
We may feel like life is too hard on us already.
Buddha reminds us that change starts with us.
We should take control of our lives and not leave it up to fate or the heavens.
Struggle well and do not give up easily.
Each of the Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Resolve, Right Speech, Right Action,
Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration: is something we can
start cultivating more by the habits we build.
We can always read more - research more - and we hope together to achieve liberation from
the life of suffering, or Nirvana, that the Buddha guides us to.
So, if you enjoyed this video, please do make sure to check out the full Philosophies for
Life channel and for more videos to help you find success and happiness using ancient philosophical
wisdom, don’t forget to subscribe.
Thanks so much for watching.