We are in the middle of mercury retrograde and eclipse season. I have felt these sudden shifts to my core. Ever since I began my spiritual awakening, I have began paying close attention to certain things. One of them being eclipse season and what it clears for me. I had quite the realization of some pretty heavy shit I still need to work through and clear. That my friends, is the beauty of life.…
*disclaimer I am a Theravada Buddhist. I have not read the majority of the discourse, nor have I worn the cloth. I am writing this from the perspective of a lifelong Buddhist in the Burmese/Chinese traditions who has some formal religious education and has formal been a yogi in the past. Also I might be an atheist? Idk. I’m still figuring things out.
“There is no God in Buddhism” is true-ish. There is no notion of a supreme deity that either created the world, controls it, or has the power to do so. Depending on your cultural practices there may be spirits, ghosts, deities, etc. For example, many Buddhists in Myanmar believe in Nat, also called devi in Pali, who inhabit our world as powerful but unseen spirits or deities.
We hold as sacred Buddha, his teachings (Dharma), and the monks and nuns (sangha).
One of the main things we are taught are the Four Noble Truths, and about karma, and meditation.
The Four Noble Truths are that (1) life brings suffering, (2) suffering is a part of life, (3) it is possible to end suffering, (4) there is a path to ending suffering (aka reaching Enlightenment), namely Buddhism.
Karma is a highly misunderstood, possibly the most highly misunderstood, aspect of Buddhism. The law of karma is literally the notion of cause and effect. For example, you study hard for a test, then you get a good grade on a test. Bam! Good karma. You did something good, and the result was good. Or on a larger scale, you convince the US government to stop funding Israel, and less Palestinians are murdered 5 years from now. Also good karma. You did something good,and the result was good. It is not the notion that Buddha or the universe is rewarding you.
Meditation is super important. It is a major part of the path to enlightenment. Meditation is meant to help a person realize the universal truths of the world, and realizing these truths cease their sufferings. Basically that nothing is permanent of either our consciousness or our bodies, only our karma (our actions and their results) carry over to future lives. Therefore, to end suffering we must be good, so good that our karma does not effect the world in a negative way.
The whole multiple lives thing is also a mess in Western understandings. Because your physical being and consciousness are impermanent, the only thing that continues on is your karma. So what is reincarnated into new lives is the results of whatever you did in this life. For example, you are a doctor who saved the life of a woman who eventually goes on to give birth to a child who died two days after saving the woman. What you did for that woman did not stop with your death. That energy is partially reborn in that child.
There are three ways of attaining bodhi or Enlightenment, according to the ability and capacity of each individual: namely as a disciple (sraavaka), as a Pratyeka-Buddha and as a Samyak-sam-Buddha (perfectly and Fully Enlightened Buddha). We accept it as the highest, noblest, and most heroic to follow the career of a Bodhisattva and to become a Samyak-sam-Buddha in order to save others.
