The Buddha
"The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The mean man has pride without a dignified ease."
Confucius
"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive."
Dalai Lama
The Five Precepts
No killing is benevolence
No theft is righteousness
No sexual misconduct is propriety
No consumption of intoxicants is wisdom
No lying is sincerity
The Seven Factors of Awakening
Mindfulness - maintain awareness of reality Investigation - of the nature of reality
Energy - determination, effort
Joy - or rapture
Relaxation - of both body and mind
Concentration - a calm, one-pointed state of mind
Equanimity - accept reality as-it-is
The 4 Noble Truths
The First Truth identifies the presence of suffering. The Second Truth, seeks to determine the cause of suffering. Desire and ignorance lie at the root of suffering. By desire, craving pleasure, material goods, and immortality, all of which are wants that can never be satisfied. As a result, desiring them can only bring suffering. Ignorance, in comparison, relates to not seeing the world as it actually is. Without the capacity for mental concentration and insight, one's mind is left undeveloped, unable to grasp the true nature of things. Vices, such as greed, envy, hatred and anger, derive from this ignorance.
The Third Truth, the truth of the end of suffering, has dual meaning the end of suffering in this life, on earth, and in the spiritual life, through achieving Nirvana. When one has achieved Nirvana, which is a transcendent state free from suffering and our worldly cycle of birth and rebirth, spiritual enlightenment has been reached. The Fourth truth charts the method for attaining the end of suffering, known as the Noble Eightfold Path. The steps of the Noble Eightfold Path are Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. Moreover, there are three themes into which the Path is divided: good moral conduct (Understanding, Thought, Speech); meditation and mental development (Action, Livelihood, Effort), and wisdom or insight (Mindfulness and Concentration).
Karma
Karma refers to good or bad actions a person takes during his or her lifetime. Good actions, which involve either the absence of bad actions, or actual positive acts, such as generosity, righteousness, and meditation, bring about happiness in the long run. Bad actions, such as lying, stealing or killing, bring about unhappiness in the long run. The weight that actions carry is determined by five conditions: frequent, repetitive action; determined, intentional action; action performed without regret; action against extraordinary persons; and action toward those who have helped one in the past.
