To all,
When you start studyind Buddhism,what you are about to read
is what one should discover or know and save a lot of headeaches trying to understand how Buddhism works.I have written a lot of threads in a month or so.This is the resume
of it all,almost.So let us start.

ONE :Buddha
THREE Jewels of Buddhism: Buddha,Dhamma,Sangha
Four Noble Thruths: basis of Buddhism. 1- Humanity in this world suffers2-Humanity suffers because off attachments,cravings,fetters.3-one must get rid of these attachments,cravings,fetters.4- Through the Noble eighfold path,one should rid of the attachments,cravings,fetters and attain enlightenment or Nibbana.
The Noble Eighfold Path is constituted of.
Right View
Right Intention
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelyhood
Right Effort
Right Mindfullness,
Right Concentration.

Five; The 5 precepts of Buddhisn
One shall not kill
One shall not lie
One shall not take what is not given to him
One shall have control on his sexuality
one shall not use any intoxicants solid or liquid.

This constitutes the Gist of Buddhism.
So to resume we go from suffering (Four Noble Truts ,going through The Noble Eightfull Path and the the 5 precepts for Lay persons.) to Enlightenment /Nibbana.
There are others things to talk about. What was written above is in a nutshell Buddhism.
Most lineage will start with this ,What was thought by Buddha Gautama after 7 years of meditation .He found enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree.

I know this is a lot of info ,but if one can understand and live this ,he is on the right track to Nibbana

May ,if you have questions ,not hesitate to call on Lisa or on me.

I wish you, understanding of the Gist of Buddhism.
_/\_
a simple buddhist named
loong

Where does loving kindness and compassion fit in?

To Jilly,

I once wrote athread on this subject.While doing or going through all this process,which by itself is self centered,even a bit egocentrical,2 seeds appear ,Compassion and loving kindness.
These seeds develop into great compassion and great loving kindness.This is the only place where egocentrism and the love for others start working hand in hand.

loong

To Jilly, please go to the thread named Gift in Buddhism # 755368

It will clarify better ,your question.

with frienship

loong

That's a great 'gist' looong! And just a reminder for readers that in addition to looong's threads, there are articles on each of these topics in the Basics section of the Bellaonline Buddhism site.

Jilly, in addition to what looong says in his thread, I was going to add that in Buddhism, compassion is seen as a natural byproduct of our deeply realizing our own interconnectivity. All of the teachings and practices, from mindfulness to meditation to inquiry into our own nature and the nature of the world, are meant to help us truly realize for ourselves the interdependence or 'dependent origination' of everything in the world - not as a philosophical idea (the cliche 'we are all one') but as an insight, an awakening.

And when that happens we are naturally compassionate because we truly see our actions towards others and all beings (even the earth) as actions towards ourselves also. There isn't any tension between our ego and compassionate action, and compassionate action isn't something we 'make' ourselves do in order to be moral or ethical.

I think this is important because Buddhism isn't a religion in which you follow a certain set of ethical guidelines and then are promised enlightenment or salvation. Enlightenment is a realization, an awakening, not a reward for 'good' behavior.

Thanks for sharing, Lisa. That is wonderful information.

I think i can start with this.

Dear Jilly,

You say you are going to start with that,The Four Noble Truth.
Let me ask you a question ,do you know who Buddha was before he became a Buddha and how he became a Buddha,and his life as a Buddha.I would start there.His name was Siddhartha Gautama.

frien to friend
loong/norm

I hope it's okay that I tell you i do not have time to read hos story right now. But mentally I can wrestle with the noble truths.

I do things out of order all the time and it seems to work for me.