What is Buddhism?

Awake-ism

Properly understood, "Buddhism" is not a religion – it's a system of education that can complement, support, or deepen any spiritual, devotional, psychological or scientific worldview. “Buddha” is a Sanskrit word that means “awake”. So when we say “Buddhism,” it’s really like saying “awake-ism” – or a method of study and practice for “becoming awake”. But what is it that we wake up to? The fundamental claim of Buddhist teachings is that it’s possible to awaken completely to the meaning, magic, and purpose of life – to know beyond a shadow of doubt who we really are, where we really come from, where we are going, and why we are here.

Commonality of Preference

Whether or not we believe those things are possible to know, we feel innately that it’s what we want, if we are being honest with ourselves. In other words, we actually don’t want to live in a state of confusion, doubt, or uncertainty about who we are and why we are here – given the choice, we each prefer clarity over confusion. Which leads us to the next point; the Buddhist approach acknowledges that human beings share what’s called “commonality of preference”. We all fundamentally wish for the same type of experience. How do we know this? Just think for a moment. When you wake up in the morning, do you think to yourself, “I hope to have the worst day possible!” Probably not – it’s likely that you wish for the best day possible. Furthermore, would you rather your body be healthy, strong and capable, or sick and weak? Would you rather your mind be sharp, clear, and calm, or dull, confused, and stressed? Would you rather be treated with respect and friendliness or with disrespect and hostility? How many other people do you think would answer the same way as you? If these common preferences are what we really want to experience, doesn’t it seem worthwhile to give it a try – to at least see if it’s possible? Seems like it would beat the alternative of just accepting that life has to suck. That’s what Buddhists think, anyway.

The Insiders

These are the kinds of common sense considerations upon which Buddhism was founded. The original “Buddhists” didn’t even refer to themselves as such – they called themselves “Insiders”. Among other things, this term refers to the turning of one’s attention inward, with the aim of understanding one’s “inner mechanics”. Buddhism wasn't really a "religion" the way we think of that word today; the Insiders were simply interested in understanding the causes and conditions that contribute to happiness versus discontentment in one’s life. But this wasn't just a casual interest – it was a need-to-know kind of thing! The Insiders were committed, in the most profound way possible, to arrive at a scientific understanding of how their minds and bodies worked. Through the most rigorous inquiry, investigation, and testing, the Insiders discovered methods for living with purpose, clarity, and meaning.

The Scientific Method

One of the cool and unique features about Buddhism is that, at its core, it doesn’t require some fanatical belief in obscure cosmologies or dogma for the teachings to work. In fact, those things would be considered hindrances along the path. In authentic settings, the teachings are presented as testable theories – much like modern scientists who use the scientific method, beginning with an observation or question, forming a hypothesis, designing an experiment, analyzing the data, and reporting conclusions. The main difference between "Western" scientists and Buddhist scientists is that while the former are primarily concerned with the sciences of the physical body and the tangible world, the latter are also interested in the sciences of the mind, unseen worlds, and the relationship between different dimensions of our being. However, there is a commonality among all scientific disciplines – whether of Western or Buddhist origin – which is that any valid teacher will invite students not to simply believe something that is said, but to test it out for themselves.

The Wheel of Dharma

The wheel features as a prominent symbol in Buddhist iconography representing “the Dharma,” or the teachings. Despite how ancient this symbol is, we can still connect to it today. Consider the wheels on our cars – when they turn in a clockwise direction, it moves us forward on the road. In the Buddhist tradition, “the turning of the wheel” means that teachings are being given, which represents an opportunity for each of us to “move forward” in an evolutionary sense – to upgrade our ability to move through life (and death) with greater clarity and competence. The Dharma was transmitted through “three turnings of the wheel” as it is called. Each of these three turnings represents a certain stage along the path of evolution. Each stage contains specific instructions that lead us, step-by-step, toward our goal of “becoming awake.” It’s a gradual path that begins by acknowledging four main concepts.

The Famous Four

Step One.

We admit that we are not currently experiencing the kind of life we want to experience – that sometimes, life sucks. We acknowledge "commonality of preference" and wish for something better than we are currently experiencing. Eventually, we have the courage to wish for the very best life we can imagine.

Step Two.

We discover that there are definite reasons why we’re not experiencing the life we want. We learn that there are certain types of causes and conditions that produce experiences we want, and there are other causes and conditions that produce experiences we don’t want. (This means that the universe must follow a certain pattern of orderliness.)

Step Three.

We become convinced that life need not suck. We grapple with the idea that there is such a thing as “the fullest expression of human life.” We learn that such a thing is possible when we inhabit maximum clarity, understand purpose, and express maximum compassion for others.

Step Four.

We are taught that there are certain time-tested methods for implementing the proper causes and conditions to experience the life we want. Step by step, we act methodically to improve our experience.