1. BUDDHA is a title, it means 'the Enlightened one' or 'discoverer of the truth of the nature of Reality'

2. BUDDHA is not a name. Buddhism teaches that throughout infinite time there have been many Buddhas.

3. The Buddha was not God. His teachings deny the existence of God in the sense of an eternal personal creator and master.

4. The Buddha was a human being who discovered the Truth.

5. He taught that we too can discover the Truth - we, too, can become Buddhas.

WHAT IS ENLIGHTENMENT?

1. It is beyond anything which we can grasp with the intellect alone.

2. The Buddha largely taught in terms of what is NOT.

3. He said our minds are clouded by Greed, Hatred and Delusion which prevents us from seeing things in their true nature. These are the three mental poisons

4. Enlightenment can be defined negatively as the absence of the three mental poisons.

5. One positive image of Reality is the Net Of Jewels

Imagine a net made of jewels, an infinite net containing an infinite number of jewels. Each one finely cut and polished, each one glittering and each one unique. Each one is reflecting brilliant light. As we look at any of the jewels, we see that it is, in fact reflecting every single one of the other jewels in the net - the infinite number of them. If we look closer, we realise that the jewel in fact consists of the reflections. Without the reflections of the other jewels, it has no independant existence. And yet each jewel is unique in itself.

Buddhism says that the Universe is a bit like this net of jewels. Nothing exists in isolation from everything else. Everything is interdependent - and yet at the same time everything is unique

A PRACTICAL RELIGION

You may study study Buddhism without ever using it, but you can never reach the goal of psychic wholeness it offers without putting its teachings into practice, any more than you can know the flavour of coffee without having tasted it for yourself.

Buddhism is not a set of beliefs but a  way of practice based on the disciplines of Sila (moral discipline and restraint), Dhyana (meditation) and Prajna (insight, wisdom).
There are no commandments, it is a way that each follower must find for himself or herself. In one of the Buddha's discourses (Suttas). the Buddha says 'Do not believe in something because of hearsay, or because it has been handed down or stated on the authority of some teaching or tradition, nor from reflection on and approval of opinion, nor out of respect. But when you know for yourselves something is good, is conducive to Nirvana, then accept it'.

That's clear enough. You must find for yourself.. How? These (coming) practice pages will suggest ways and means. It is for you to decide whether or not you will act on the suggestions.

A TOLERANT RELIGION

At no time in over 2,500 years of Buddhist history has any man or woman been attacked for differing beliefs.
Our response to Buddhism (or those parts of it we choose to study), will depend on many factors, to be found in our birth and education, our type of mind and our previous study, all of which is, in Buddhist terms, part of our personal Karma.
We must learn to be tolerant of others' views, which quite possibly widely differ from our own.

Conclusion

Whatever our way of approach, in theory or practice or both, we will not find Buddhism an easy way out of life's problems. It offers no escape from problems in this life or any other, and we will find no saviour to save us from the consequences of our own past folly in thought or deed.

The road to the end of suffering, and to the passing on of what is found there for the benefit of others, is hard and long, and no magical formula will rapidly affect our circumstances or our mind. Here, however, is a way tested by millions since the Buddha first expounded it, and it awaits our testing.

May all beings be happy!

PRACTICAL WORK

Meditation should begin with the practice of ANAPANASATI, a Pali word meaning Recollection of the Breathing. This meditation practice is not separate from daily life but develops an attitude which is extended into daily life.

Make sure that your surroundings are quiet and that you will not be disturbed. Then sit, either on the floor cross-legged or on a chair, remembering to keep the back comfortably straight. Place your hands, palms uppermost, in your lap, right in left, and cross the feet if sitting in a chair. Be comfortable but alert, any sense of strain should be absent. A cushion under the buttocks is a help to those sitting on the floor as it will throw the weight forward onto the crossed legs, making a firm triangular base. Dip your head slightly and close your eyes if you wish.

Fix the attention on the nostrils or nose tip, at the area where it is most sensitive to the air passing over it. Be aware of the breath going into the body at that point, and then of it leaving the body at that point. If you find it helps to say to yourself 'The breath enters the body, the breath leaves the body', do so. If the attention strays away from the nose tip - as it invariably does, many times to begin with - acknowledge that this has happened and what it was that caused it, such as: 'The attention wandered and anger, fear, lust, greed, the shopping list, the children, work etc., arose (in the mind)'. Then gently return the attention to the breath at the nose tip. Always be gentle. Do the practice for ten minutes to begin with, gradually increasing until you can do twenty, then half an hour. Do not increase the time beyond this for now, and under no circumstances go beyond a time that you can comfortably manage.. Do not force!

If you have a Buddha figure (Rupa), it is a good idea to face it in your practice, making it the last thing you see before you close your eyes in practice and the first thing you see when you open them. This is merely to remind you that the Buddha did it, and so can you. Use incense if it helps in creating the right atmosphere.