The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism

In search of Nirvana..

Siddartha Buddha and the quest to enlightenment;

The cessation of prajna or suffering.

Understanding the vital place suffering has on oneself and the whole. 

At the start of his journey in his younger years, the Buddha was plagued with an overindulgence of pleasure. Satisfying every taste, to excess and back again. In the northern parts of India, he dwelled as a worthy prince for almost 15 years. 

As he aged he begged the question: what was the purpose of suffering in the world, as he had never experienced it before in his lusts for a pleasure filled life. 

So he set out on a journey and came across three different types of people. He first came across an old person and asked the question of the reason for aging. What's the point of getting old. What happens when a person ages? At such a young age, he has not encountered the visual appearance of aging. He is escorted by his guards and fellow friends all over a down trotted town.

His second encounter is that of a sick person. Plagued with disease. Inevitably going to die. The Buddha has never seen a person in such a weak condition in his young life. So he asks why this happens. Why do people fall ill? Why must people suffer in this way?

His guards explain to him that disease and suffering is a natural part of life. Eventually we all become ill and eventually die. Curious as to what this all means and how the persons life will end. Little does he know that this will one day be his fate.

Lastly, the Buddha and his guards come across this third and final encounter, that of the dead body. The corpse that the Buddha is so swiftly repulsed by. How can man allow this to be his eventual fate? The suffering of man cannot be undone. Life is suffering, without suffering there would be no life. Therefore, the Buddha teaches to accept this suffering. Minimize it by removing oneself from all worldly attachments. Become one with yourself and the universe. Through extensive meditation, one can achieve enlightening. To expose the Atman to achieve the ultimate self of the Brahman.

To acquire such a heightened self, one must find the light within them self and know how to turn it on. 

The Buddha now begins his quest to enlightenment and embarks on a great journey to find himself, nature, and the universe as one.

So after 15, the Buddha comes to realize he must leave his old life. Fresh to the world of pain and suffering. Searching for an immunity, an enlightened state where he could reside:

It was under the famed and mythological lore of the Bodhi tree where he gained this immense understanding of reality and perception. While sitting under the Bodhi Tree, the Buddha had an epiphany once an apple had dropped onto his head. There was no tree, no him, and no apple. All was one and one was all. The meditative state one could accomplish was the realization that the universe of all is the same as the one of the universe. To transcend space and time and the feeble barriers that our bodies present, easily harmed by the harsh reality of suffering. Suffering that wears the body down, until eventual death. But to possess the Brahman, one fingers death and all of its inhibitions. Gaining enlightenment is the far reaches of the mind, but close in proximity to the soul. 

The Buddha found through his Djarma that the purpose of life is not to achieve a great deal of material possessions and monetary gain, but to rather experience life in the moment. To be one with yourself and nature. The realization that time is non linear and that time will never fade. This conscious life experience is just one among infinity. An infinity to find oneself, to understand your place within the universe.

Author: Justin B. Voydik

09-10-2022