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

by Noah Rasheta

is not necessarily about picking a job with the Red Cross or some other humanitarian cause. It’s about doing what you do with the best intent not to cause harm, regardless of what your job is.

Right effort is what it takes to put into practice all the other parts of the path. It takes effort on our part if we want to experience any kind of positive change in our lives.

Right effort is about dedicating the time and work required to become more mindful and aware of the nature of reality. Without that effort, there can be no awakening or enlightenment.

Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh describes mindfulness like this: “When you have a toothache, the feeling is very unpleasant, and when you do not have a toothache, you usually have a neutral feeling. However, if you can be mindful of the non-toothache, the non-toothache will become a feeling of peace and joy. Mindfulness gives rise to and nourishes happiness.”

In this sense, mindfulness helps us become aware that at any given moment, we are capable of experiencing contentment.

Next time you eat a meal, whether it’s one of your favorite foods or something you think you hate, remind yourself that it’s not “you” who likes or dislikes certain things. It’s your sense organs, along with mental formations and everything else happening in your mind, that leave you with that perception. And perceptions, like a taste for mushrooms, can change.

The Buddha taught that we are made up of five components that come together to create the perception of a distinct, individual “I” or “me.” These five components are called the five skandhas, a Sanskrit word meaning “aggregates” or “heaps.” The five aggregates (and their original Pali titles) are form (rūpa), sensation (vedanā), perception (saññā), mental formations or thoughts (sankhāra), and consciousness (viññāna).

Our sense of self is created by our emotional responses to what we’re perceiving in each moment.

Is our sense of self different than our self?

The most important point he made about these teachings is that the aggregates that combine to make you experience “you” are not actually you. They are temporary, interdependent, conditional phenomena, and the idea of these perceived and experienced aggregates being you is an illusion.

So... These parts make us up... But aren't us? Then who are we? Flesh bots?

1. ABSTAIN FROM TAKING LIFE.

2. ABSTAIN FROM TAKING WHAT IS NOT GIVEN.

Abstaining from taking what is not given seems natural enough, but this precept goes beyond just not stealing. It includes evaluating your own motivations and understanding how your actions will affect others.

3. ABSTAIN FROM SEXUAL MISCONDUCT.

4. ABSTAIN FROM INCORRECT SPEECH.

5. ABSTAIN FROM INTOXICANTS THAT CLOUD THE MIND.

stop making up meaning.

Is creating ourself just creating meaning?

Trying to control our thoughts—or anything else—is actually one of the major contributors to suffering, because we experience suffering the moment we want things to be other than they are.

So the goal of meditation isn’t to control our thoughts; it’s to observe them and become more familiar with the inner workings of our minds.

Habitual thoughts, like “I’m such an idiot”

Am i chanting to stop thinking!