Buddhism in China

Buddhism started in South Asia with the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. The Buddha realized that there was no true meaning to life and that life was a continuous cycle of life, death, and reincarnation. He stated that the only way to reach an enlightened state was to escape this cycle. This led him to preach his first sermon on the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths, basically, stated that life is full of suffering and the only way to end our suffering is to separate ourselves from all of our attachments and desires. If one is successful in doing so, he or she will have reached the level of enlightenment known as nirvana and will escape the endless cycle of reincarnation.

It is debatable whether or not this way of thinking leads to a positive outlook on life or a negative one, but I like to believe it leads to a positive outlook on life. The main thing I take away from the Four Noble Truths, is the idea of detachment. I think of it as not letting things get to you or hold you back from moving on from your past. To me, that is a positive way to live life. Also, the idea of reincarnation does not seem as bad as it sounds. As the Buddha described it, when we are reincarnated we do not have any memories of our past lives, but how we live our lives effects the lives we are given in the future. So, because we cannot recollect our past lives, the never-ending cycle of reincarnation does not seem so bad. As long as we live a good life, our future lives should only get better from good karmic retribution.