Q.9 ‘Buddha emancipates the entire humanity from suffering’ comment on the basis of Buddhist philosophy.
Ans. Buddhist philosophy, founded by Gautama Buddha, offers a path to liberation from suffering (Dukkha) through the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, aiming to emancipate humanity from the cycle of pain and desire.
Buddhist Philosophy on Emancipation from Suffering
- Four Noble Truths: Identify suffering and its causes. Example: Desire (Tanha) as the root of suffering.
- Dukkha: The truth of suffering
- Samudaya: The truth of the cause of suffering
- Nirodha: The truth of the end of suffering
- Magga: The truth of the path to the end of suffering
- Eightfold Path: Provides a practical guide to end suffering. Example: Right Action promotes ethical living.
- Right Vision
- Right Resolve
- Right Speech.
- Right Conduct
- Right Means of Livelihood
- Right Effort.
- Right Mindfulness
- Right Concentration
- Middle Way: Advocates balance, avoiding extremes. Example: Rejecting both luxury and self-mortification.
- Impermanence (Anicca): Teaches acceptance of change. Example: Letting go of attachment to material possessions.
- Compassion (Karuna): Encourages empathy for all beings. Example: Bodhisattvas vow to help others achieve enlightenment.
- Nirvana: Ultimate liberation from suffering. Example: Buddha’s enlightenment under the Bodhi tree.
Buddha’s teachings provide a universal framework to transcend suffering, emphasizing self-awareness, ethical living, and compassion, offering hope and liberation to humanity.
| Source: NIOS:Chapter-RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY IN ANCIENT INDIA : |
| Keywords:Buddha, suffering, Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, Nirvana, compassion. |
| Extra Info: Eight-fold Path to Liberation (Nirvana) Right Vision.One can attain right vision by removing ignorance. Ignorance creates a wrong idea of the relationship between the world and the self. It is on account of wrong understanding of man that he takes the non-permanent world as permanent. Thus, the right view of the world and its objects is the right vision.Right Resolve. It is the strong will-power to destroy thoughts and desires that harm others. It includes sacrifice, sympathy and kindness towards others.Right Speech. Man should control his speech by right resolve. It means to avoid false or unpleasant words by criticizing othersRight Conduct. It is to avoid activities which harm life. It means to be away from theft, excessive eating, the use of artificial means of beauty, jewellery, comfortable beds, gold etc.Right Means of Livelihood. Right livelihood means to earn one’s bread and butter by right means. It is never right to earn money by unfair means like fraud, bribery, theft, etc.Right Effort. It is also necessary to avoid bad feelings and bad impressions. It includes self-control, stopping or negation of sensuality and bad thoughts, and awakening of good thoughts.Right Mindfulness. It means to keep one’s body, heart and mind in their real form. Bad thoughts occupy the mind when their form is forgotten. When actions take place according to the bad thoughts, one has to experience pain.Right Concentration. If a person pursues the above seven Rights, he will be able to concentrate properly and rightly. One can attain nirvana by right concentration (meditation). |