The things that Buddhism taught me

 　

    It has been more than ten years since I started to learn Buddhism. I found that I changed a lot. With the change of concepts, my daily life also changed a lot. I think this is the power of Buddhism. It allows people to move step by step towards the goal of getting away from suffering and obtaining happiness. Here are a few things that Buddhism taught me:

　

1. Live in a low-key way

　

    Before learning Buddhism, I always hoped to attract the attention of others, and hope that my achievements can be seen and affirmed by others; when I have the opportunity to express myself, I never know how to hide. After learning Buddhism, I slowly realized that in this chaotic world of the end of the Buddhist Dharma, to live in a low-key way is the way to protect oneself. Therefore, I now live a semi-reclusive life, with almost no social activities, and life is very quiet, which is conducive to spiritual practice.

　

2. Modesty

　

    Roughly speaking, I'm a little clever, so no matter what I do, I can quickly grasp the know-how and seem to be a little better than others. Before learning Buddhism, I always have a sense of pride in my ability and intelligence. I feel that others are inferior to myself. I despise all things of the world, thinking that as long as I want to do anything, I can easily succeed. After learning Buddhism, I realized that everything is illusionary and the "self" that I am proud of does not actually exist. To overly emphasize on the “self” will bring suffering and annoyance.

　

3. Let go

　

    In the past, I always cared about other people’s evaluations. I hope that I will be very good in the impression of others —— study excellently, have good grades, have a cordial personality, be cheerful, polite, patient, have a high IQ, be knowledgeable in every field, and be good at everything...... No matter in what field, I hope I can beat others. After learning Buddhism, I slowly learned to let go, be free from attachments, and no longer asking myself to be top in everything. I Understood that other people’s evaluations are like moving clouds in the sky. It is good for one person to live comfortably with a peaceful mind and live stably. We don’t need attach to the praise or deny of others. And we don't have to always want to show that we are capable.

　

4. Less desire and being contented

　

    Before learning Buddhism, when I saw other people's achievements, I always thought: I will do better than them in the future. As a result, the things that I want to achieve in my life become more and more; I constantly hope that I will also be able to achieve success and achieve fame in the future. After learning Buddhism, I realized that desire is the root of all annoyances and sufferings; the desire for success often makes oneself unable to be happy; when oneself succeeds in something, desire will push oneself to set more difficult goals because our desires will never be contented. Only with an attitude of being contented and less desires can there be a way to ease our endless chasing a little bit.

　

5. Middle way

　

    There are so many things in life that we need to make choices. Many people like to push themselves to the limit. They think that only by doing so can one develop his greatest potential. After learning the middle way of Buddhism, I understood that living the life in the middle way is the most appropriate choice. For example, we don’t have to make ourselves poor and neither we have to make a lot of money or accumulate very much fortune. It is all right when our money is just enough. About diet, we don’t let ourselves be hungry, neither we  have to eat very well, or very expensive food. It is all right when the food is nutritious and healthy. We don't let our life accomplish nothing, neither we have to be very successful and famous.It is all right when we don’t feel ashamed or guilty. The best way to live a peaceful life is the “middle way”, which does not going to extremes in everything.

　

6. Compassion and tolerance

　

    After learning Buddhism, I learned to treat sentient beings with compassion. Everyone lives in the world that is full of annoyances and everyone wants to get away from suffering and obtain happiness, but they can’t find a way and they can do nothing. People are always firmly bound by various kinds of annoyances and unable to be relieved. Therefore, when I see sentient beings do evil things that will make them more painful, I will treat them with compassion and tolerance, and will not regenerate anger or fury.

　

7. The meaning of life

　

    With that I gradually understand the Buddhist doctrine deeper and deeper, my understanding of the meaning of life also becomes more and more profound. The value of life does not lie in how much achievement we can achieve, but in helping sentient beings to stay away from suffering and obtain happiness. The life that transcends self-interest and aims at the happiness of sentient beings is the most glorious aspect of human nature, and this is also what I expects of myself.

　

　

    The deeper we understand and practice the Buddhist Dharma, the more confident we are in the correctness and practicability of the Dharma. More than 2,000 years ago, according to the Reality that the Buddha himself enlightened after his diligent serching, he spent more than forty years teaching the way to become a Buddha to all sentient beings and leaving many precious Buddhist sutras. Although Buddhism is so ancient, after the verifying of many Chinese and foreign great virtues in ancient and modern era, it proves that Buddhism can indeed enable sentient beings to enlighten the truth and get away from suffering and obtain happiness. Even in the 21st century, in which the technology is advanced, Buddhism can still provide modern people with the effective way of living happily.