l in the spiritual self. The Buddha also teaches that violence is evil and is strongly against it. (Rahula) “He who harms the harmless [. . .] He shall rise in hell” (Byrom 50). Buddha’s beliefs of the spiritual heaven and hells came from Hindu Gods and Goddesses. (Carmody) Since, the Hindu Gods and Goddesses were worshiped, Buddha looked it at as karma by the individual. Buddha’s spiritual realm is not as to worship a God but to achieve Nirvana. People do not need to experience another form of reality non-existent to Earth but to achieve freedom from desire to achieve enlightenment. Buddha was not to be worshiped, but his way of life and practices given consideration. He taught people because he wanted to help people and rid the world of feeling pain and suffering. (Carmody)The Four Noble Truths are his main practices. The First Noble Truth is that all life is suffering. “People have been mislead into regarding Buddhism as pessimistic” (Rahula 16). The Buddha teaches neither pessimism nor optimism. He teaches truth objectively, desire is the reason for suffering. The Second Noble Truth is just this. Desire is the cause of suffering. (Rahula) “If you are filled with desire Your sorrows swell” (Byrom 128). This truth is plural in a way that peoples desires are all relative. The Third Noble Truth is to eliminate and be free from the suffering by not desiring anything. To know absolute Truth, material things are all experienced by the sensual body. Once an individual can deny desire, they are able to experience Nirvana. (Rahula) “Human language is too poor to express the real nature of the Absolute Truth [. . .] which is Nirvana” (Rahula 35). The Fourth Noble Truth is the way of the Eightfold path. Also known as the Middle Path, it teaches truth about nature, beauty, and insight to lead one to Enlightenment. This path and truth was the main and most im...
