How to Become a Hindu

BUDDHIST BELIEFS

1. I believe that the Supreme is completely transcendent and can be described as Sūnya, a void or state of nonbeing.§

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2. I believe in the Four Noble Truths: 1. that suffering is universal; 2. that desire is the cause of suffering; 3. that suffering may be ended by the annihilation of desire; 4. that to end desire one must follow the Eight-Fold Path.§

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3. I believe in the Eight-Fold Path of right belief, right aims, right speech, right actions, right occupation, right endeavor, right mindfulness and right meditation.§

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4. I believe that life’s aim is to end suffering through the annihilation of individual existence and absorption into nirvāṇa, the Real. §

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5. I believe in the “Middle Path,” living moderately, avoiding extremes of luxury and asceticism.§

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6. I believe in the greatness of self-giving love and compassion toward all creatures that live, for these contain merit exceeding the giving of offerings to the Gods.§

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7. I believe in the sanctity of the Buddha and in the sacred scriptures of Buddhism: the Tripitaka (Three Baskets of Wisdom) and/or the Mahāyāna Sūtras.§

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8. I believe that man’s true nature is divine and eternal, yet his individuality is subject to the change that affects all forms and is therefore transient, dissolving at liberation into nirvāṇa.§

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9. I believe in dharma (the Way), karma (cause and effect), reincarnation, the saṅga (brotherhood of seekers) and the passage on Earth as an opportunity to end the cycle of birth and death.§

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