No one exists on purpose. We are all pushed into an existence of suffering without any precautions or preparations. We all live our early lives ignorant about the true nature of  the reality we exist in and the hardships we are about to face. The philosophy and religion of Buddhism just like the myth
of The Buddha is all about confronting this suffering. The Buddha was the son of a wealthy king in Nepal who ruled parts of India 2500  years ago. It was prophesied that he will either become a saint or follow his fathers footsteps and become the emperor of India. His father desperate to keep his son bear his legacy kept the child in isolated from rest of the world. The intention was to bathe Gautama in as much luxury as possible so he would naturally gravitate to a life of wealth and power.

“a white sunshade was held over me day and night to protect me from cold, heat, dust, dirt, and dew”- Buddha

For 29 years Gautama lived isolated from any sort of misfortune of the world out side the castle. Than for the very first time in his life, Gautama stepped outside of the luxurious palace and went on short excursions. Riddled, fascinated and shaken by a world he never knew before, first he saw a sick man, then an aging man, and then a man dying. Aspects of the human condition he was isolated from but which were not just common but inevitable. He was quick to realize that these misfortunes would one day also be his. Finally Gautama made a fourth excursion and encountered for the first a man who seem to be somehow free from all this suffering while being in the midst of it all. A man who seeks spiritual life, a holy man. One night Gautama left his sleeping wife and son and went on a quest to find the same enlightenment, the holy man seemed to posses.

First he joined the ascetics who had striped them selves of all earthly delights. He sat under a tree starving himself from food an water for an extensive period of time. But as one would expect  this did not eliminate his concerns instead he found himself in more unnecessary suffering. Failing to find the answers he craved he left the ascetics. Then he remembered a particular moment form his childhood: sitting by the river he’d notice that when the grass was cut, the insects and their eggs were trampled and destroyed. He would feel a deep sense of compassion for the tiny critters after witnessing their tragic fate.

Recollecting this memory, Gautama awoke.

It was “suffering”. As all of creation inevitably suffers. It is the very thing that unites everything. Predators and prey, rich and poor, friends and foe, us and them we all are tied to the strings of suffering. Feeling a profound sense of peace through his compassion towards anything and everything that suffers Gautama reached “Nirvana”, which simply means “Awakening”. Hence The Buddha (The awakened one) was born.


The Buddha found the answers he was looking for. One should not bathe in luxury, his early life filled with jewels, servants, lotus ponds and dancing women could not fend away his suffering. But one must not  abstain from food and comforts altogether either. His attempt to find enlightenment
by becoming an ascetic led to him no where but more suffering. Instead one must cultivate as much compassion as one can. Only a life lived in moderation allows maximal cultivation of compassion and enlightenment. The Buddha called this way of life “the middle way”.Next, the Buddha revealed “the four noble truths”.
The four noble truths are unquestionable facts about the human condition. These axioms were basically the answers the buddha was looking for regarding suffering and how to transcend it. The first truth is “Life is difficult and brief and bound up with suffering”. Nowadays we find ourselves in an age of toxic optimism, “Everything is gonna be okay”, “everything happens for a reason”, “pera nai, chill!” are the slogans of the modern man. If we are to stand a chance against the suffering of our existence we must first acknowledge it. We must accept the fact that “to live is to suffer”.The logical step after the the first noble truth is that our suffering is caused by out desires! “Attachment is the root of all suffering.” stated by the second noble truth. We somehow fail to notice this as we dive deeper into the ever lasting depths of consumerism. We want and we keep wanting more, our desires never satisfied. A high paying secure job, a partner who would be a passionate lover also an intellectual soulmate, expensive cars, luxurious holidays or maybe successful offsprings would be the key to our happiness. The third truth is that we can transcend suffering by removing or managing these desires. The buddha thus made the remarkable calim that we must change our outlook, not our circumstances. We are unhappy not because we don’t have a raise or a lover or enough followers but because we are greedy, vain, and insecure. We can grow to be content if we just re-orient our minds.

The fourth and last of the noble truths are “the eightfold path”. The eightfold path is basically an way to cultivate habits which would manage our desires and help keep suffering at bay. These habits aren’t actually religious obligations instead logical plans which describe why and how to act in a certain way that minimizes our suffering. Right view, right speech, right action, eight livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.

“The Eightfold Paths” can be extracted into three short axioms:
    1. 1.Cease to do evil.
    2. 2.Learn to do good
    3. 3.Purify your own mind
       To take control of the inner self individuals must learn to order their outer lives. According to The buddhist scholar H.Saddhatissa the first axiom “Cease to do evil” can be realized by following five precepts as “clearing away of the weeds from the soil”. This precepts are (1)Refrain from harming living things. This precept results in various philosophical and epistemological dilemmas when questioned further. But its essence helps one develop a new sense of respect for self and all living beings. The second precept (2) “Refrain from taking what is not given” is a profound advice that forces the follower to give inanimate objects the same respect given to living beings by the first precept. Taming the inner beast of greed and consumption, replacing the “I want” dictum with patience for waiting until things are offered to us. (3) “Refrain from misuse of the senses” is the third and most relevant precept for the modern individual. In an age of consumerism and excess, this is an invaluable advice. Advising us to not to act on our primal lust, gluttony and admonishing abuse of substances. But its important to know that the third precept in no shape or form tells us to be ascetics. It advises us to follow the “Madhayam-pratha” or the “middle way”. As for the fourth precept “Refrain from wrong speech” urges us not to dwell on lying, slander, gossip, spread misinformation or propaganda, violation of secrets etc. In contemporary society when use of the internet and social media is ingrained in our lives, this precept is much sought after remedy of an array of problems that plagues the modern age. According to this moral principal one must never spread misinformation, hate, propaganda on the internet. We as individuals and as a collective (companies and corporations) should value privacy. One must try their best to uphold the sanctity of the promises they make, words they speak and secrets they are trusted with. (5) “Refrain from actions and substances that cloud the mind”. Again another moral principal highly relevant for modern times. At an age when every industry is trying to make their products more addictive and widespread addiction this is an much needed advice. From sugar to nicotine, video games to social media, porn to addictive substances in food products we are rapidly turning into a population of addicts. This precept urges to abstain from actions and substances that cloud are mind and fill our lives with chaos taking us further away from enlightenment (“nirvana”).


What surprises an critical observer is the idea that wisdom is a habit and not merely an intellectual realization. Anyone can get wiser through practice. In present times when ignorance and even suffering (hard work) is celebrated. Buddhism is an helpful and necessary guide towards much needed enlightenment.