750 words essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

750 words - Essay Example Buddhism summarizes a spiritual life in four tenets. This entails the truth of suffering, the truth of the reason for suffering, the truth of suffering’s end, the truth of the path that leads towards enlightenment. The first tenet means that life must always possess suffering. In turn, suffering is an inalienable part of life that individuals should not hold as strange. Acceptance of suffering does not connote nihilism, but acceptance of the world as it occurs. In such a pragmatic frame, the individual learns how one can rectify the problem of suffering. The religion does not deny the concept of pleasure, but classifies the same as a fleeting value (Ganeri 67). This also applies to happiness, which is a monetary feeling. In the end, sickness, aging, and death are the only inevitable elements. The second truth deals with the cause of suffering. The Buddha states that desire and ignorance are the two main causes of suffering. Desire relates to pursuit for pleasure, material thin gs, and immortality. Since these wants are insatiable, desiring them fuels suffering in people. Ignorance, on the other hand, refers to not perceiving the world as it occurs. When an individual lacks insight and foresight, the mind remains static since it is unable to perceive the true nature of life. Buddhism emphasizes on the mind as the principal precept for attaining Nirvana. This is because the mind is essential in controlling desires and emotions. The texts liken this principle to the act of herding an ox such that it does not stray into other people’s farms. Buddhism recognizes that the senses may become uncontrollable if the individual does not chain them with one’s mind. In this view, indulgence in desires and limited application of the mind in life suffocates the spirituality of a person. Buddhism emphasizes on the need for learning in order to achieve enlightenment. When a person is born,