The Teachings of Buddhism

Buddha contemplated whom he should preach first after his enlightenment. There were the
five ascetics who followed Buddha. However, they doubt the fact that Bodhisattva can’t gain
enlightenment when they see Bodhisattva having food after six years of extreme practice.
That is why Buddha wanted to give his first sermon to them. In his first sermon, he preached
that the man should take the middle road which leads to peace and avoid two extremes: the
one which is connected with lust through sensuous pleasures and the other which is
connected with asceticism, and the four noble truths had been revealed. Whether Buddha
appears in the world or not, the four noble truths exist. However, Buddha is needed to reveal
them, bring them to light and teach them to the “deceived” world. As formulated by the
Buddha, the four noble truths are central and universal events regardless of time and space.
https://my.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%80%82%E1%80%B1%E1%80%AB
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These are: (1) All beings experience pain and misery (dukkha) during their lifetime:
“Birth is pain, old age is pain, sickness is pain, death is pain; sorrow, grief, and anxiety is
pain. Contact with the unpleasant is pain. Separating from the pleasant is pain. Not getting
what one wants is pain. In short, the five assemblies of mind and matter that are subject to
attachment are pain “. (2) The origin (samudaya) of pain and misery is due to a specific
cause: “It is the desire that leads to rebirth, accompanied by pleasure and passion, seeking
pleasure here and there; that is, the desire for pleasures, the desire for existence, the desire for
non-existence “. (3) The cessation (nirodha) of pain and misery can be achieved as follows:
“With the complete non-passion and cessation of this very desire, with its abandonment and
renunciation, with its liberation and detachment from it “. (4)The method we must follow to
stop pain and misery is that of the Noble Eight-fold path.
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.16.1-6.vaji.html

The eight duties can be divided into three parts:(1) Wisdom(prajna), (2) Moral
virtue(sila) and (3) Meditation(samadhi). Right View and Right Thought are two Wisdoms.
Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration are three Moralities. Right Speech,
Right Action and Right Livelihood are three Samadhi. This Noble Eightfold Path is one of
the principal summaries of the Buddhist teachings, taught to lead to Arhatship.
In Mahayana Buddhism, this path is contrasted with the Bodhisattvas path, which is believed
to go beyond Arhatship to full Buddhahood. Buddha claimed only to be a guide, a teacher of
the Way. In the Buddha’s teaching, no one purifies another, hence, a man must work out his
own salvation without the help of a Savior. However, in Mahayana Buddhism, the believers
have a belief that the Buddha assume the role of saviors, and in Theravada Buddhism, the
worshipper in the daily chant says, ‘I take refuge in the Buddha.’
https://www.theravada.gr/en/about-buddhism/the-noble-eightfold-path/

In Buddha’s teachings, the combination of physical (solidity, heat and movement) and
mental (sensations of sight, hearing and touch) forces create an illusion that there is a
‘person’, when in fact there is no permanent self. This illusion creates the idea of ‘I’, ‘me’,
‘mine’, and this produces desire, hatred, pride and all other negative thoughts and evils. All
this is what suffering means, and in order to cure all the evils in the world, a person must try
to get rid of the false idea of the self. This is called anatta which is the belief that a human
person is no-soul. Buddha also taught about the law of Karma which is the law of cause and
effect. Life will continue as long as there is desire, and a being encounters birth after birth
which is called samsara. In proportion to good and bad deeds, a person may be born as an
animal, a human and may undergo sufferings and enjoy pleasure. In Buddha’s teachings, a
way to put an end to all this sufferings or samsara is to get nirvana. Everyone is able to
experience the joy of nirvana if he follows the Middle Way which consists of the eight steps
or Noble Eightfold path.
David A.Brown
The Buddha once said that Enlightenment consisted of freedom from ten ‘fetters’,
which bind us to samsara. These ten fetters are:1. Views 2. Doubt of Buddha’s Teachings 3.
Mere Rules and Rituals attachment 4. Sensual Lust of Desire 5. Anger 6. Conceit or
Arrogance 7. Lust or Desire for Existence 8. Jealousy 9. Greed 10. Ignorance. According to
Buddha’s teaching, if a person perseveres in the Noble Eightfold Pathe, he will pass through
‘Four Stages of Holiness’ wherein he will, step by step, gain freedom from the ‘Ten Fetters’
which bind people to the existence of suffering. The person who has attained to the First
Stage can be freed from the first three fetters and forever freed from rebirth. He is called
‘Stream-Winner’. When the person is in the Second Stage, he is almost but not quite, freed
form the power of the next two ‘fetters’. Such a person may be reborn as a man after
becoming a being in one of the heavens. He is called ‘Once-Returner’. The person who has
attained the Third Stage can be freed form the fourth and fifth fetters, and he can never be
reborn on earth. However, he will pass to the highest heaven until he reaches nirvana. He is
called ‘Non-Returner’. The person who has attained the Fourth Stage is freed from the last
five fetters and from any rebirth. He has attained nirvana, and he is called ‘Holy One’.
Source: https://www.originalbuddhas.com/blog/fetters-of-buddhism
David A.Brown