First of all there is faith. First you start with a healthy skeptical faith, you try meditation and/or you try chanting and you try to apply the precepts Buddha taught to see if they really do work. After a time, you realize that you are finding more peace and happiness in your world and within your self. This causes you to have more faith. Buddhists split that faith into three parts; faith in Buddha himself who first taught us how to live a life without suffering, second, faith in the teachings themselves. These teachings provide the road map to our own happiness and well being and to overcoming the problems of living in this world where nothing can provide true happiness forever.

Trusting more and more in these teachings allows you to live a peaceful life on this earth no matter how much turmoil surrounds you and to have compassion for those around you who are suffering as much or more than yourself. Lastly, there is faith in your fellow practitioners who are walking the path with you as well as faith in those teachers who are farther along the path than you are. All of them are our teachers and can help us learn valuable lessons about becoming better people.

To be a Buddhist takes mindfulness. The world passes us by so fast that we barely recognize what is really going on around us or within us. We are so busy projecting ourselves into the future of burying ourselves in the past, that being mindful of the present is almost non existent. We're so busy surfing TV channels that we don't notice the moments of our life that are passing by - We don't notice the taste of the home cooked meal in our mouths or the smile on the face of our children or our lover. To truly be one with the world around us - with each and every sentient being, we must first be mindful that they're even there - put down the remote and be present in the moment with them - notice their happiness and their suffering - and notice your own - only by being mindful can you fully appreciate what you have that's good and change the things that need to be changed to help you live happier

To be a Buddhist takes effort to apply the lessons that Buddha taught us in every day life in every situation. By learning to apply these lessons of compassion, mindfulness and learning to understand the world as it truly is and not how we wish it would be, our negative habits and negative thoughts can fall away - we can maintain a happy and peaceful life and we can bring that happiness to all those

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about What it takes to be Buddhist?
We want to hear your view. Write now!