What is the foundation of Buddhism?

Favorite Answer

The Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path.

Buddhism emerged from Hindu culture. It was developed by Siddhartha Gautama and I personally think of it as the philosophy extracted from Hinduism, minus the religious elements (gods and such), then refined to a concise philosophy.


The Four Noble Truths
1-all life is suffering, pain, and misery, also known as dukkha.
2-suffering has a cause, also known as tanha, or selfish craving and personal desire.
3-selfish craving can be overcome.
4-to overcome this misery is through the Eightfold Path.


The Eightfold Path
1. Right Knowledge or the knowledge of the Four Noble Truths.
2. Right Aspiration means that you are working towards the Path to Enlightenment.
3. Right Speech means speaking without hurting others, and taking care and caution in each word.
4. Right Behavior means acting appropriately. There are also five basic laws of behavior: do not kill, steal, lie, drink intoxicants, or commit sexual offenses. However, some Buddhists, including Western Buddhists, occasionally smoke.
5. Right Livelihood, this mean choosing a career that does not lead you off the path. You want a path that promotes life and well being not money.
6. Right Effort means training one’s self to be obedient and following the path toward Enlightenment.
7. Right Mindfulness means to always be self aware and continually examine oneself.
8. Right Concentration means to be completely absorbed into a state of Nirvana.


The Tao is similar philosophy but even more concise in it's teaching, which is why *some* Buddhists identify with both philosophies,.. such as myself....Show more

Kiowarose777 and others have given you very good answers to your question.

Another way you might think about the foundation of Buddhism goes like this:

- Every person experiences a great deal of suffering

- This suffering occurs because our minds engage in certain kinds of thoughts, feelings, impulses that are guaranteed to produce suffering

- Of course, we don't need to have these thoughts, feelings and impulses - they're optional

- Buddhist training clarifies how the mind works and how to stop the afflictive thoughts

These four principles formed the core of Buddha's teaching. He repeatedly said over the 45 years that he taught, "I teach only two things. The causes of suffering and how to end suffering."

All the rest of Buddhism is simply an elaboration of these four principles.

If you're interested in a short introductory book on Buddhism, you might consider "It's Easier Than You Think" by Sylvia Boorstein. This warm, witty, and wise book shows how the basic principles of Buddhism come alive in modern society. It's free of jargon and sectarian bias.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000H2MEGY?tag=oxher-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=B000H2MEGY&adid=027ES72NXV2WJY7ZNM7G&

Best wishes in your (re)search!...Show more

The Four Noble Truths.

They can be found here, with full explanation:

http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/fourtruths.html

In addition, there is the Eightfold Path and the Precepts.They are also on that site. Links are to the left....Show more

Many great answers above. Yeap. The Four Noble Truths are the foundation of Buddhism.

Anyway, there're a couple of good Buddhist websites you may want to have a look.

http://www.bswa.org/modules/mydownloads/viewcat.php?cid=4
http://www.bswa.org/
http://tenzinpalmo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=20&Itemid=36
http://www.jhanagrove.org.au/content/view/13/41/
http://www.tara.org/jetsunma-ahkon-lhamo/
http://www.thubtenchodron.org/ForThoseNewToBuddhism/index.html
http://www.mountainman.com.au/buddha/
http://dhammafriends.net/Sub%20pages/Dhamma_Audio.html
http://www.buddhanet.net./e-learning/index.htm
http://www.vipassanadhura.com/dhammatalks.htm...Show more

Good grief.
Please, Oh Please don't pay any attention to the idiot above me.
And I realize that's an insult to idiots everywhere.
The foundation of Buddhism, simply put, is kindness.
If you wish to learn more I encourage you to check out http://www.buddhanet.net
Thank you for being caring and open minded.
om mani padme hum...Show more