Buddhism in 10 Steps: Basic Buddhist Concepts Explained 

Excited to hear that! 🙏

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Wonderful!

Glad they helped! Did you get the ebook also?

I appreciate that!

Reading this, there were a couple of places my mind went. Take what I say with a grain of salt because I’m still a novice myself. Firstly: Buddhism, as far as I know, doesn’t really concern itself with a creation theory - or at least my tradition doesn’t. So you can still hold belief in evolution, the big bang, aliens, whatever, without issue; and I do. Second: the concept that immediately came to mind was the concept of no-birth/no-death. I’ve always heard it compared by teachers of my tradition to the laws of conservation. In the the same way that nothing is created nor destroyed, and because there is no separate self, no one is truly born nor does one ever truly die. Rather, what makes you (energies, physical materials, etc) simply transforms back into its component parts and goes elsewhere. Whether you’re cremated or your body is returned to the earth in some way, what made you you is given to any plants, animals, or ecosystems that happen by it and your karma is passed on to elsewhere in the world and wider universe. Again, I’m a novice, so there are absolutely sources much more detailed and with deeper understanding than what I have; but I hope this helped and I wish you luck on your path. Be well. 🙏

Thanks for the comment! In short, you'll be disappointed in Buddhism if you're looking at it as a scientific religion. While it gets marketed as that by some Westerners, that's not something that's promoted in Buddhist countries. Buddhist cosmology transcends our current (and mundane world) understanding of things. That's to a point where your eyebrows will raise quite frequently because you won't be able to apply any scientific method or other things to it. There are things that people connect to as being proven in Buddhism with science now that we can understand the Buddha's teachings and that of other teachers, but that doesn't mean it what the Buddha was trying to do. In-fact, he pushed back and even didn't respond to many questions about the universe and other topics. And that dives into one of the biggest things - rebirth - in Buddhism. You're not going to be able to scientifically prove this, but it's the reason Buddhists practice. You're going to find lots of things in Buddhism (especially Mahayana) that, depending on your beliefs, connects with our worldview. This includes life on other planets, dimensions, planes of existence, beings, theories, etc. But again, that's all in the Buddhist conext and wasn't meant to address any scientific questions (although they possibly could). This isn't being said to discourage you at all, but to help with understanding the religion. It is very much worldly based (with of course the cycle of rebirth as part of that) so that we can transform our actions (karma), end the forced cycle of rebirth and the suffering that results, end the illusionary belief in a permanent and unchanging self, and realize our true nature of Nirvana. That's a lot to take in. Let me know if you have any follow-up questions! (Buddhist cosmology video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-08oA2Ov1qSA.html) (Buddhist Superstition? Article: alanpeto.com/buddhism/buddhist-superstition/)

Great question. The "self" we identify with is the illusion, because we apply beliefs about it (that there is some part of it that is unchanging, permanent, and independent of other things). The Buddha said that is the illusion because we are ever changing, impermanent, and dependent on other things to exist. We arise in each existence due to dependent origination ('causes and conditions'), but that conditioned existence (the one you have right now) is impermanent and ever changing - yet it doesn't feel that way. It feels like we have something permanent and unchanging (ego, self, I, soul, beliefs, etc.) but that is due to a very seamless and elaborate process where name/mind and form/body work together giving 'rise' to the idea of this 'self'. This doesn't mean you don't exist right now, you do, it means the illusionary self is not what is 'real'. What continues on after the 'death' of this current existence is our karma. We are the recipient of prior karma as well, and that continues on (if not come to fruition in our life) as well as any karma we create. Now that seems very subjective. If it's just karma, then why does any of this matter? There is one part of us that does continue on, and it's commonly called the 'store consciousness'. It's not the same as a self/soul, but it is the 'thing' that casually connects all prior and future existences and is what carries the karmic 'seeds' and even vows (such as a Bodhisattva vow). We could easily dismiss what 'we' become in a future existence since 'me', as I know myself right now, no longer exists in this current form. With a longer and deeper practice in Buddhism, we begin to realize that what our mind is giving rise to right now, and the karma we create, is an issue. In-fact, it's a big issue. We also break down the idea of 'self' and transcend that worldly and mundane attachment to it. For it is karma (and Buddhist vows) that continue on. It is our only true possessions. This is challenging to explain in a comment reply, but will try and help with any replies you may have to this! (and here is a video on not-self: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Bf5tR6rwAOQ.html).

@@AlanPeto Thank you for your answer. The question had perplexed me. So it seems that karma is viewed as some sort of cosmic law, but wouldn't that mean that our suffering is in some sense a duty? Certainly, regardless of one's beliefs about karma, many find great value in suffering, even in the most secular way of providing a conduit for growth (if not detachment). This is to say, that it seems strange that the avoidance of suffering seems to be the motivating factor in Buddhist practice/teaching. Assuming a similar worldview, wouldn't it also make sense to accept the karmic cycle as something to embrace as opposed to reject? While one continues on, he is able to produce good works (I think this is similar to creating good karma, but I am trying to put the focus off of the effects to "oneself"). Could he not accept the suffering as a sort of duty that he will carry on? One can even respond to sufferings with a sense of detachment so that it doesn't really bother him, etc. I'm sorry if this comes across as too much, but I feel this is central to Buddhism and so I would like to understand the Buddhist point of view on these topics