what is the essence of buddhism?
Answers
I spent around 15 years as an armchair Buddhist. This is how I’d sum up my studies in one sentence:To end suffering, which is ultimately caused by wanting things we don't have and having things we don't want, we only need to see that true peace is rooted in extending our circle of compassion to all other beings, thereby subverting the ego that insists I am separate from all else around me.In other words, when you’re able to see that we’re all in this together, that we all have 99 problems, you experience a paradigm shift that takes you from “Why is this happening to me?” to “This happens to all of us, and I can either continue to suffer by struggling to resist things I can’t control, or I can come to terms with what I can’t control and focus instead on changing the things I can, for the good of us all.” In essence, then, Buddhism is the Serenity Prayer without the involvement of a deity.Zen practitioners come up with lots of mind-bending and/or shocking statements that, in their own way, get to the same point. For example: If you see the Buddha on the road, kill him. In other words, don’t let the Buddha become the focus of your work as you walk the Buddhist path. It’s not about him; it’s about his teachings. If you focus on the Buddha, you’ve created another needless attachment. Don’t mistake the finger pointing at the moon (i.e., the Buddha) for the moon itself (i.e., the dharma, or his teachings). Buddhism is unlike many other religions in that its founding figure is not the focal point. If he does become the focal point, well, you’ve missed the point.