Buddhist Teachings (Dharma/Dhamma)

The basic concern shared by all beings – humans, animals, and insects alike – is a desire to be happy and to avoid suffering.  Essentially the Buddha recognised this and taught a more skilful approach to life, which leads to more lasting happiness.  Buddhism points to the underlying causes of our day-to-day problems and teaches a graduated path to liberate us from suffering.  This is known as the Noble Eight-Fold Path.  Buddhist teachings are therefore about reducing the causes of suffering and increasing the causes of happiness.

We normally see our problems as “out there”, but Buddhism teaches that it’s actually all about our perception of the world.  Seeing clearly where our difficulties originate is the first step to overcoming them.  The paradox is that most of us find ourselves unknowingly creating conditions that lead us back to the dissatisfaction we so desperately seek to eliminate.

What the Buddha taught cannot be absorbed by intellectual understanding alone, it needs to be realised through direct experience.  How does meditation fit in?  The aim of Buddhist teachings is to develop the capacity to recognise that the ever changing, inter-connected universe follows the law of cause and effect.  In order to realise this, not just intellectually but experientially, it is necessary to learn how to rest the mind in meditation.

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