No-Nonsense Buddhism for Beginners: Clear Answers to Burning Questions About Core Buddhist Teachings

by Noah Rasheta

As long as you think there is a gate, you will not be able to enter the awakened state. You enter it by realizing there is no gate; you’ve been in that awakened state all along. You arrive there by realizing there is no “there” there.

In a way, you become awakened the moment you realize you don’t need to become awakened—everything you need to know is already present within you.

Material things can be nice to have for a time, but the happiness and fulfillment we seek is not found in external sources.

Ignorance is a poison because it prevents us from seeing things as they are, which is necessary to reach enlightenment.

But in reality, there’s no need to fear death, because while it may be the end of the song, it’s not the end of music.

Ardently do today what must be done. Who knows? Tomorrow, death comes.

The Four Noble Truths are: the truth of suffering (dukkha), the truth of the cause of suffering (samudaya), the truth of the end of suffering (nirodha), and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering (magga).

They’re meant to be four tasks we do rather than four truths we believe.