Becoming Truly Wise: 4 Buddhist Principles That Will Help Fundamentally Change Your Life

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The principles of Buddhism are simple and straightforward. If you follow them every day, you can be calm and even happy in times of turbulence and total uncertainty. Perhaps you may be called a pofigist, but the fact is that you are simply following the principles of Buddhism. What are they and what steps will it take to get on this path?

1. Accept the impermanence of everything

The Buddha believed that the world we live in is based on impermanence. This means that everything created will be destroyed sooner or later. We are born and we die. We cannot live forever. The ones we love will have to be broken up with sooner or later.

Everything in life is constantly changing. The body grows, grows old and gets sick. A beautiful woman eventually becomes old, her features lose their attractiveness. A child gradually turns into an adult and then into an old man.

Our partner’s habits and desires change, his mind and moods do too. Accepting such impermanence is the wisdom of Buddhism and the path to happiness.

“All things pass, and this will pass ” is a key phrase that helps us not toда бъде sad when things go wrong, and not to rejoicetoo much when thingsgo very well. Neutrality in reactions and acceptance of what is happening is the basis of everything. This helps you adapt to a rapidly changing reality.

2- Realize that suffering is the foundation of this world

In Buddhism, even joys are considered suffering, because they too will pass. Delight will be followed by calm, disappointment and sadness.

Suffering can be related to our physical body. It becomes sick, injured, and old. But there is also mental anguish. We suffer setbacks in our careers and personal lives. We can lose our jobs, our possessions, our loved ones. It is impossible to avoid such changes.

Also suffering is connected with our feelings and sensations. For example, when we eat delicious food, we feel pleasure. Of course, we want to prolong it, so the process of eating continues, but… We overeat, heaviness appears. We get sick.

3. Stop craving

One of the main ideas of Buddhism is that human beings suffer because of their desires. We constantly want something and get frustrated that we can’t get it. The most unpleasant thing is that it is an endless series of torments: having become the owner of what we want, we begin to want something else.

This is the principle of seasonal collections in stores. This approach makes people buy something all the time: a new bag, shoes, perfume. This is also how Tinder works. Opening it, we see a lot of photos of people, have the opportunity to leaf, choose, like and communicate. People in this case are perceived as objects that one wants to possess. And it’s a deliberate move. We are made to want more and more.

The main cause of suffering is attachment to desires and pleasures. Therefore, people who seek to possess and endlessly enjoy are doomed to them. They devalue what they get and begin to want something else. The fairy tale of the Goldfish is an example of human insatiability and suffering from irrepressible ambition.

Nirvana, which the Buddha attained, means the complete cessation of desires and the suffering associated with them.

“My life is already over. The sufferings and desires of this world have been uprooted. And I know that I will not be reincarnated in this world again,” was the Buddha’s words.

4. Understand the laws of karma and improve it

Karma is one of the main principles of Buddhism. The essence is simple: everything we have done will be the cause of subsequent events and will return to us. Either in this life or the next. That is why we come into this world with different “inputs”.

Someone is born into a poor family, and someone is born into a rich one. Someone tries to succeed all his life, but nothing works out for him, and someone gets everything without labor. The latter are people with good karma. The option is pumpable.

To create good karma, it is important to follow a number of Buddhist principles.

1. “Do not do anything destructive, honorably realize the constructive, completely humble your own mind.”

This means avoiding negative thoughts, emotions and actions towards anyone. It is important not to harm yourself and others. We create most of our reality in our minds. Our states of mind and emotions affect what we do, say and think, as well as – interact with others.

It’s important to stop judging ourselves. Thinking that we are bad and our actions are terrible. We need to track the process of catastrophizing or projecting. It’s about when one failure makes you look at the future without optimism. For example, if a relationship doesn’t work out now, a person decides that they will never find a new partner.

One must realize that what seems real is actually like a dream, an illusion. It is not as solid as it seems and will soon disappear. Everything passes, and that’s why new opportunities arise all the time.

2. “In the presence of others, may I be able to constantly check my speech. When alone, may I constantly check my mind.”

This means that when we are interacting with others, we need to watch how we speak. It’s not just the words that are important, but the tone, the emotion, the state of mind. If you find yourself speaking with hostility or arrogance, you should notice it and correct yourself. The same is true of our minds.

It is important to monitor what you think about yourself and other people. Bad thoughts need to be corrected. They are the ones that create negative events later on.

3. “Why be sad when you can fix everything? And if you can’t fix anything, how can a bad mood help?”

This principle is similar to the Orthodox prayer of the Optina elders: “Lord, give me the strength to change what I can. Give me the patience to accept what I cannot change. And give me the wisdom to distinguish one thing from another.”

When we find ourselves in a difficult situation, we assess what we can do and implement it. When nothing can be done, we simply accept things as they are. For example, if your luggage is lost and you don’t receive it immediately after arrival, a miracle may happen in a few days. Yes, it’s unpleasant, but there’s no point in getting angry and freaking out – it won’t do anything. You just have to accept reality.

“Everything passes, and this will pass,” – just remember the wise phrase and live on.