How to navigate life? – A Buddhist approach

How to navigate life? – A Buddhist approach

This is a common question that comes up in each and every person as we struggle to make sense of the world around. We are regularly bothering on what to do, how to behave and search for happiness everywhere. Moreover we are one confused lot about what truly makes us happy. If you go around people and ask what makes you happy he would say that being with friends makes him/her happy, some other person will say that being with family makes him happy and so on.

Now if we ask the same question to the same people after few days/years his or her answer will change as he would have experienced troubles from the people whom he loved and at that time he may say that a different thing as the source of his happiness. Finally with lots of ups and downs in his life he will come to a gradual conclusion that life is filled with dyads (pleasure and pain etc) and hence there is no point in expecting happiness from others as they are bound to change and it is a cycle of ups and down which is never ending till we die.

The point what I’m trying to make is that people invest their emotion on people and objects as the source of happiness and convince themselves that they cannot live without them and they keep changing their mind the source of their happiness and jump from one thing to another to be happy. This is a vicious cycle which starts with happiness ends with sadness and that leads to happiness and to sadness, so on, this is the nature of life that we are now experiencing.

So this problem of life is put up in Buddhism very clearly by dividing the life problems and its solutions in four basic steps, these are called as 4 noble truths, they are as below

1. The truth of suffering (Dukkha)
2. The truth of the origin of suffering (Samudāya)
3. The truth of the cessation of suffering (Nirodha)
4. The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (Magga)

 Basically what the above four points convey is a very simple and profound meaning as below in line with 4 points above

1. There is suffering in life
2. The cause of suffering is desire
3. This desire needs and can be destroyed
4. By following the 8 fold path (Explained below)

The eight fold path are briefly explained below

a)     Right understanding: Understand that 4 noble truths are true and valid.

b)     Right thought: Have determination and resolve to follow the doctrines of Buddhism/knowledge prescribed in the faith.

c)     Right speech: Avoiding slander, gossip, lying, and all forms of untrue and abusive speech.

d)     Right conduct: Following Ahimsa (non-violence) and refraining from any form of stealing or sexual misconduct, it is basically moral living.

e)     Right means of making a living: Earn you living ethically.

f)      Right mental attitude or effort: Avoiding negative thoughts and emotions, such as anger, hatred and jealousy etc.

g)     Right mindfulness: Having a clear sense of one’s mental state and bodily health and feelings. Mindful is nothing but being aware of what is happening within you, to you and around you, so that you will become an observer. It’s like this when we eat something we do it mechanically, but when you are mindful you will observe the color of the food, the taste and how you feel about it as an observer. This method helps us to respond to a situation than react.

h)     Right concentration: Using meditation to reach the highest level of enlightenment. In Buddhist philosophy the highest state is call Sunya (Nothingness).

I’m not well versed in Buddhism this is more of collection of teachings from various teachers of this philosophy