Buddhism: The Most Relevant Religion

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One of the most influential and prominent religions, Buddhism is quite possibly the most relevant religion in existence. Buddhism is a non-theistic religion, originally founded by Siddhartha Gautama in the late 6th Century BCE, somewhere in North India. My aim will be to provide you with a deeper insight as to why Buddhism is dynamic, living and still profoundly relevant to date. A living and dynamic religion is one which holds it’s original and core beliefs whilst being able to adapt to modern and changing circumstances. This gives adherents the ability to practice their religious beliefs within their own context. Buddhism is a perfect example of a dynamic and living religion due to it's characteristics, adaptability and popularity.

The most paramount and fundamental beliefs of Buddhism are the four noble truths. They are:(http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/Buddhism/bs-s02.htm 2015) Suffering or ‘Dukkha’ is an unavoidable part of everyone’s life, the cause of suffering is human craving, desire and ignorance, suffering can be ended and the key to end suffering is to remove all desire, and lastly, the way to end suffering is to follow the Noble Eightfold path. (http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/8foldpath.htm 2015) The four noble truths and the eightfold path are highly dynamic and living as they all traditionally apply to today’s world. As disheartening as it sounds, it is true that everyone’s life is plagued with suffering, whether it be through physical or mental pain, loss of loved ones, even stresses of modern society. (http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/Religion-and-Spirituality/Buddhism.pg_00.html , http://www.religionfacts.com/Buddhism/fastfacts/differences_theravada_mahayana.htm 2015) The two main types of Buddhism, Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism all hold the same core beliefs, with minor differences such as different festival days pertaining to the country it's in. This shows that Buddhism has spread, and has been interpreted by many different civilisations, and has held it's core beliefs, whilst still being able to be modified to fit the context. Thus proving

They are an integral part of Buddhism and have not changed since it's foundation. The 5 precepts are general rules of Buddhism. They include such things as, avoiding killing living things and refraining from stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and intoxication. The Eightfold path is the path that should be followed to become enlightened, or reach nirvana. Enlightenment is a state free of suffering, where you are not reincarnated. (http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/8foldpath.htm 2015) The eightfold path is a set of 8 rules, to clear your life of suffering. A highly condensed version of these 8 rules is: Perfect Vision, Perfect emotion, whole speech, integral action, proper livelihood, full effort, complete awareness and integral concentration (http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/8foldpath.htm 2015). One of the most important rules of these would be whole speech. This essentially means that you should not lie, and you should have clear and non-harmful communication. Avoiding lying and communicating in an inoffensive manner are extremely useful in modern life and can be adapted and changed to fit any civilisation or time period, manifesting through the social rules of predominately Buddhist countries, thus showing that Buddhism is living and