indiguru

The words of the Buddha form the core of Buddhism,and from it are all the teachings derived,the Words of the Buddha are from the ancient teachings of the Buddha,and were translated by Paul Carus,a German-American Professor of philosophy.   These texts were derived by Paul Carus from the ancient texts available to him which date back to 500 BC.These texts are in the public Domain and i have put them here for the benefit of all. THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS FIRST TRUTH -THE NOBLE TRUTH OF SUFFERING THE SECOND TRUTH-THE NOBLE  TRUTH OF THE ORIGIN OF SUFFERING THIRD TRUTH- THE NOBLE TRUTH OF THE EXT... FOURTH TRUTH-THE NOBLE TRUTH OF THE PATH THE EIGHTFOLD FIRST STEP- RIGHT UNDERSTANDING SECOND STEP-RIGHT MINDEDNESS THIRD STEP-RIGHT SPEECH FOURTH STEP-RIGHT ACTIONS FIFTH STEP-RIGHT LIVING SIXTH STEP-RIGHT EFFORTS SEVENTH STEP-RIGHT ATTENTIVENESS EIGHTH STEP-RIGHT CONCENTRATION DEVELOPMENT OF THE EIGHTFOLD PATH IN THE DISCIPLE

CONFIDENCE AND RIGHT-MINDEDNESS (2Nd Step)  SUPPOSE a householder, or his son, or someone reborn in any family, hears the law; and after hearing the law he is filled with confidence in the Perfect One. And filled with this confidence, he thinks: "Full of hindrances is household life, a refuse heap; but pilgrim life is like the open air. Not easy is it, when one lives at home, to fulfill in all points the rules of the holy life. How, if now I were to cut off hair and beard, put on the yellow robe and go forth from home to the homeless life?" And in a short time, having given up his more or less extensive possessions , having forsaken a smaller or larger circle of relations, he cuts off hair and beard,puts on the yellow robe, and goes forth from home to the homeless life. MORALITY (3rd, 4Th, 5Th Step) Having thus left the world, he fulfills the rules of the monks. He avoids the killing of living beings and abstains from it. Without stick or sword, conscientious, full of s

THE NOBLE TRUTH OF THE ORIGIN OF SUFFERING   WHAT, now, is the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering? It is that craving which gives rise to fresh rebirth, and, bound up with pleasure and lust, now here, now there, finds ever fresh delight. [In the absolute sense, it is no real being, no self-determined,unchangeable, Ego-entity that is reborn. Moreover, there is nothing that remains the same even for two consecutive moments; for the Five Khandhas, or Groups of Existence, are in a state of perpetual change, of continual dissolution and renewal. They die every moment,and every moment new ones are born. Hence it follows that there is no such thing as a real existence, or "being" (Latin esse), but only as it were an endless process, a continuous change, a "becoming,"consisting in a "producing," and in a "being produced"; in a"process of action," and in a "process of reaction," or "rebirth." This process of perpetual &q

RIGHT CONCENTRATION WHAT, now, is Right Concentration? Fixing the mind to a single object ("One-pointedness of mind"): this is concentration. The four Fundamentals of Attentiveness (seventh step): these are the objects of concentration. The four Great Efforts (sixth step): these are the requisites for concentration. The practicing, developing and cultivating of these things: this is the "Development" of concentration. [Right Concentration has two degrees of development: 1."Neighborhood-Concentration," which approaches the first trance,without however attaining it; 2. "Attainment Concentration," which is the concentration present in the four trances. The attainment of the trances, however, is not a requisite for the realization of the Four Ultra mundane Paths of Holiness; and neither Neighborhood-Concentration nor Attainment-Concentration, as such, in any way possesses the power of conferring entry into the Four Ultra mundane Paths; hence, in th

RIGHT ATTENTIVENESS WHAT, now, is Right Attentiveness? The only way that leads to the attainment of purity, to the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation,to the end of pain and grief, to the entering upon the right path and the realization of Nirvana, is the "Four Fundamentals of Attentiveness." And which are these four? In them, the disciple dwell in contemplation of the Body, in contemplation of Feeling, in contemplation of the Mind, in contemplation of the Mind-objects,ardent, clearly conscious and attentive, after putting away worldly greed and grief. CONTEMPLATION OF THE BODY But, how does the disciple dwell in contemplation of the body?There, the disciple retires to the forest, to the foot of a tree, or to a solitary place, sits himself down, with legs crossed, body erect,and with attentiveness fixed before him. With attentive mind he breathes in, with attentive mind he breathes out. When making a long inhalation, he knows: "I make along inhalation"; when m