Beings are owners of their actions (karma), heirs of their actions; they originate from their actions, are related to their actions, and have their actions as their refuge. It is action that distinguishes beings as inferior and superior. - The Buddha
By oneself is evil done, by oneself is one defiled. By oneself is evil left undone, by oneself is one purified. Purity and impurity depend on oneself—no one can purify another. (The Dhammapada, 165)
What we do, say, and think - leaves traces. Those traces don't disappear. They shape what comes next, sometimes in ways we don't remember, but that still echoes in this life.
My actions (karma) are my only true belongings, the only genuine belongings that endure and act as the basis (seed) for a subsequent existence via rebirth. - Edward Rim
Karma (Sanskrit: कर्म, meaning "action" or "deed") is a Buddhist concept that refers to the universal principle of cause and effect. It dictates that an individual's intentions (thoughts) and actions, both good and bad, influence their future circumstances in the current life and in future lives through rebirth (not reincarnation).
The Three Poisons (three defilements, three unwholesome roots) are Greed (or Attachment/Desire), Hatred (or Aversion/Anger), and Ignorance (or Delusion/Confusion) – the core mental states causing suffering (dukkha) and keeping beings trapped in the cycle of rebirth (samsara).
The Five Precepts
1. No Killing
2. No Stealing
3. No Sexual Misconduct
4. No Lying/False Speech
5. No Intoxicants
Tilakkhana refers to the three fundamental characteristics (marks) of all existence.
The Three Marks:
(1) Anicca (무상, Impermanence): The understanding that all conditioned things, from physical objects to mental states, are in a constant state of flux and decay; nothing lasts forever, all things being subject to change and disappearance (death).
(2) Dukkha (고, 苦, Suffering/Unsatisfactoriness): Life, when attached to impermanent things, is inherently marked by pain, stress, and dissatisfaction, not just overt suffering, but a deeper unease. Nothing is completely satisfactory: dukkha, conventionally rendered 'suffering,' has the wide meaning of 'not satisfying,' 'frustrating,' or 'painful' to whatever degree. Even pleasant things come to an end or cease to attract.
(3) Anatta (무아, Non-self): The realization that there is no permanent, unchanging "soul" or "self" in any being or phenomenon; everything is a composite of interdependent parts. The five khandhas, or aggregates, the various parts that make up our empirical personality, do not constitute a self, either individually or collectively.
The Five Aggregates (Skandhas) are the five interdependent components that constitute a sentient being: Form (Rupa) (physical body/matter), Feeling (Vedana) (sensations, pleasant/unpleasant/neutral), Perception (Sanna/Samjna) (recognizing/labeling experiences), Mental Formations (Sankhara) (thoughts, intentions, volitions), and Consciousness (Vinnana/Vijnana) (awareness).
The five aggregates, along with the law of dependent origination, are a core concept that explains anatta (Non-Self, 무아,無我), showing that all existence is made up of the interaction of the five aggregates and that there is no fixed, unchanging entity.
- Ignorance (avidya, 無明): The root cause of suffering, leading to the cycle of rebirth.
- Volitional Activities (sankhara,行): Actions and intentions arising from ignorance.
- Consciousness (vijnana,識): The mind that perceives and experiences.
- Name and Form (nama-rupa, 名色): The body and mind, arising from consciousness.
- Six Sense Bases (sadayatana, 六入): The six senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, mind).
- Contact (sparsa,觸,촉): The interaction between the senses and the external world.
- Feeling (vedana,受,수): The experience of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral sensations.
- Craving (tanha,愛): Attachment and desire arising from feeling.
- Clinging (upadana,取,취): Holding onto things, thoughts, and experiences.
- Existence (bhava,有): The cycle of rebirth and becoming.
- Birth (jati,生): The process of being reborn.
- Aging, Suffering, and Death (jara-marana,老死): The inevitable end of life.
The Four Noble Truths
(1). Dukkha (고성제, 苦聖諦, Suffering) is an innate characteristic of transient existence; nothing is permanent, and that is suffering. The first truth, suffering, is an impermanent characteristic of existence in the realm of continuous rebirth, called samsara (wandering).
(2). Samudaya (집성제, 集聖諦, Cause of Suffering): together with this transient world and its suffering, there is also thirst, craving for, and attachment to this transient, unsatisfactory existence. To end suffering, the four noble truths tell us, one needs to know how and why suffering arises. The second noble truth explains that suffering arises because of craving, desire, and attachment.
(3). Nirodha(멸성제, 滅聖諦 Severance of Suffering): the attachment to this transient world and its suffering can be severed or contained by the controlling or letting go of this craving. If the cause of suffering is desire and attachment to various transient things, then the way to end suffering is to eliminate such craving, desire, and attachment.
(4). Marga (도성제, 道聖諦, Ways to Extinguish Suffering): the Noble Eightfold Path is the path leading to the extinguishing of this desire (craving) and attachment, and therefore release from dukkha, suffering.
The Noble Eightfold Path
Buddhists must adhere to the Noble Eightfold Path to reach the ultimate liberation, nirvana. What is The Noble Eightfold Path? Buddha’s Guide To Enlightenment
