In the past, how did they explain Samsara without the “getting stuck at a certain level in a video game” analogy? When I was turning away from my Christian heritage I briefly thought about Buddhism and how one lives one life would be fed into future lives, like generational trauma, only with one person. But the idea of repeating ones existence, paying for flaws from previous efforts but without the benefit of consciously knowing those previous efforts felt like another no-win religious scenario. I also had a problem with reducing existence to suffering and the goal of existence was to avoid suffering… yeah, that was way too simplistic and very much uninformed on my part. 

Given my ignorance of Buddhism, this video was very info/content heavy. I get a sense that you have to be pretty good doing the “list thing” to follow this faith. Let’s see, there’s Samsara, that talks about the cycle of life that one is trying to escape. There’s the Three Jewels: Buddha (the enlightened one), Sangha (the community) and Dharma (the practice). 

There’s the Four Sights:

  • Old Age
  • Sickness
  • Death 
  • Asceticism

Then there’s the Middle Way, living between a life of luxury and asceticism, navigating the Four Noble Truths: 

  1. There is suffering
  2. There is a cause to suffering
  3. There is an end to suffering
  4. There is a path that leads to the end of suffering

Thus one may defeat the Three Poisons: 

  1. Greed
  2. Hatred
  3. Ignorance

Then there’s the eightfold path:

  1. Right view
  2. Right intention
  3. Right speech
  4. Right action
  5. Right livelihood
  6. Right effort
  7. Right mindfulness
  8. Right concentration.

Okay, it’s all still about seeking an end to human suffering, but not in an individualistic/selfish way. I have so much to learn (in my one lifetime). 

Here’s a bonus video by Dr. Andrew Henry/Religion for Breakfast on Buddhism:

Sources:

Tags: Crash Course Religions, karma, religion for breakfast, Religious Studies, video Wednesdays 

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