Buddhists Perspective on Nature

Buddhists Perspective on Nature

1. It is in our nature to have an Attman - a separate entity to the body

2. We are dualists

   • The body and mind are separate
     • The Attman attaches itself to a new life form in reincarnation. You become further away from suffering when you do good deeds, this also reduces bad karma. If you perform good actions, you will be rewarded in your next life by moving up into another realm.
       • Heaven, the home of the gods (devas): this is a realm of enjoyment inhabited by blissful, long-lived beings. It is subdivided by later sources into 26 levels of increasing happiness
         • The realm of humanity: although humans suffer, this is considered the most fortunate state because humans have the greatest chance of enlightenment
           • The realm of the Titans or angry gods (asuras): these are warlike beings who are at the mercy of angry impulses
             • The realm of the hungry ghosts (pretas): these unhappy beings are bound to the fringes of human existence, unable to leave because of particularly strong attachments. They are unable to satisfy their craving, symbolised by their depiction with huge bellies and tiny mouths
               • The animal realm: this is undesirable because animals are exploited by human beings, and do not have the necessary self-awareness to achieve liberation
                 • Hell realms: people here are horribly tortured in many creative ways, but not for ever - only until their bad karma is worked off

3. It is in our nature to have 5 elements of Human Existence

   • FORM (RUPA) - The aggregate of form corresponds to what we would call material or physical factors. It includes our own bodies, and material objects as well. Specifically the 5 senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body)
     • SENSATION (VEDANA) - The aggregate of sensation or feeling is of three kinds - pleasant, unpleasant and indifferent. When an object is experienced, that experience takes on one of these emotional tones, the tone of pleasure, the tone of displeasure, or the tone of indifference.
       • PERCEPTION (SANNA) - The function of perception is to turn an indefinite experience into a definite, recognised and identified experience. It is the formulation of a conception of an idea about a particular object of experience.
         • MENTAL FORMATIONS (SANKHARA) - The aggregate of mental formation may be described as a conditioned response to the object of experience. It is not just the impression created by previous actions from former lives, but also the responses of the present life. Mental formation has a moral dimension.
           • CONSCIOUSNESS (VINNANA) - Consciousness is awareness, or sensitivity to an object. When the physical factors of experience, e.g. the eyes and visible objects come in contact, and when consciousness also becomes associated with the physical factors of experience, visual consciousness arises. For the mind, the corresponding object is not a physical one, but are ideas - Dharma. The mind consciousness plays an important role in all mental activities.

4. It is in our nature to crave and desire things. This causes suffering, therefore we must free ourselves from attachment to materialistic things

   • To relieve ourselves from attachment, we must reach enlightenment. This is the state of Nirvana (peace and satisfaction) which is permanent, so reincarnation does not happen anymore.

5. It is in our nature to want to reach enlightenment.

   • To do this, we must follow The Four Noble Truths:
     • NOBLE TRUTH OF SUFFERING (DUKKHA) - Life is not ideal: it frequently fails to live up to our expectations. Human beings are subject to desires and cravings, but even when we are able to satisfy these desires, the satisfaction is only temporary. Pleasure does not last; or if it does, it becomes repetitive. Even when we are not suffering - we are unfulfilled, unsatisfied. This is the truth of suffering.
       • NOBLE TRUTH OF THE ORIGIN OF SUFFERING - the Buddha claimed to have found the cause of all suffering - DESIRE., This comes in three forms: the Three Roots of Evil, or the Three Fires, or the Three Poisons. Greed and desire, represented in art by a rooster Ignorance or delusion, represented by a pig Hatred and destructive urges, represented by a snake
         • NOBLE TRUTH OF THE ENDING OF SUFFERING - The Buddha taught that the way to extinguish desire, which causes suffering, is to liberate oneself from attachment. The possibility of liberation. Nirvana is beyond conception and intellectual understanding. Complete understanding only comes from being in 'the state.'
           • NOBLE TRUTH OF THE PATH THAT LEADS TO AWAKENING - The path is a conditioned thing that is said to help you to the unconditioned. This is the Buddha's instructions for the end of suffering. This is a set of principles called the Eightfold Path.