Misunderstood

(This is expected to appear on the new Faith page of the Washington Square News on February 13th)

Christianity has its priests and nuns; Islam has its imams; Buddhism has its monks. These are the people who devote their lives to understanding and, in many cases, teaching, the traditions and philosophies of their religion. As anyone who practices any of these can tell you, however, these people are a small percentage of those who belong to each faith. If I say “Christian,” you are likely to picture a churchgoer or perhaps a famous person of that religion. If I say “Muslim,” it is unlikely that you will picture an imam. But, for some reason, if I say “Buddhist,” you are likely to picture a monk.

Just as in the other religions, these people are somewhat of a misrepresentation of what Buddhism entails. Most Buddhists are normal, everyday people just like you and me. It is possible to lead a completely normal life (if anyone’s life can really be called “normal”) and be a Buddhist. This idea is only one of the abounding misconceptions about Buddhism.

Something that Christianity and Islam have in common, along with most religions of the world, is the belief in a “God” or other Supreme Being. Buddhism (although some people have tried to apply such beliefs to it) is not inherently theological in this sense. Many people think that when there is a statue of Buddha present, people are there to worship him, with Buddha being a sort of God. In reality, these people are paying respect to the “Great Buddha,” the man whose beliefs and philosophies are the basis for the religion.

The Great Buddha was a man names Siddhartha Gautama who, after spending a great deal of his life searching for answers about life, sat down to meditate, staying there for 49 days. When he got up, he had come to a few conclusions about the world. The first was that life is filled with discontent (anyone familiar with the philosophies will know that I am taking some liberties with the translations, as the statements can be interpreted in many ways). The second was that the root of this discontent is desire. The third is that there is a way to stop discontent: his fourth point, a set of ideas that he referred to as the “Noble Eightfold Path.” These four main points were called the “Four Noble Truths,” and are the foundation of Buddhist thought.

The Noble Eightfold Path is somewhat analogous to the Ten Commandments in Judaism and Christianity; it is a sort of moral code and set of ideas on how a person should behave in order to reach “nirvana,” a state where discontentment ceases. A person in this state is generally described by deep understanding, happiness, and heightened awareness. Anyone who reaches nirvana can be called a “Buddha,” which literally means “Enlightened One.” This is the goal for a Buddhist. The Noble Eightfold Path is not even that complicated—the eight points are: Right Speech, Right Actions, Right Livelihood, Right Understanding, Right Thoughts, Right Effort/Exercise, Right Mindfulness/Awareness, and Right Concentration/Meditation.

Meditation itself (although Yoga is helping change this) tends also to be misunderstood. Meditation is all about understanding, both inward and outward. It is intended to help you know who you are and what you think, as well as heighten your awareness of things around you. Although this is not necessarily a direct goal, it also tends to be very relaxing. It’s easy to start-you can meditate anywhere, anytime, and in any position (within reason). People tend to picture the cross-legged meditation where someone is chanting “Om.” Although this is actually one type of practice, you can meditate in many ways—including just sitting down in a chair. All you have to do is focus on one thing (generally your own breathing) and try to clear your mind of all other thoughts.

Of course, meditation and Buddhism are a little more complicated than this, but pretty much every element of both can be derived from these basic ideas. If you’ve read up to this point and still want to know more, stop by a Buddhist Student Association meeting sometime. You do not have to be Buddhist or know anything about meditation to attend a meeting. We get together in Kimmel 910 on Tuesdays at 8:30 pm. Meetings can usually last an hour to two hours, spent meditating for ten to fifteen minutes and then discussing some chosen topic and how it relates to Buddhism. If you’re unsure, but know you’re curious, stop on by. We’d love to clear things up for you.