regaining consciousness

Fuck, I totally spaced out for a bit and forgot what was supposed to be the bulk of that last post. The other stuff was just supposed to be slightly relevant preamble. I found a pretty decent (although pretty bare-bones) summary of Buddhism that I thought I'd share. I found what appears to be an online copy of "The Tibetan Book of the Dead", which is quite high up on my 'to read' list. Obviously it's about death, but it is in no way related to The Book of Shadows, despite the similarity in name. No spells or nothing, from what I understand, it's about the Buddhist philosophies surrounding the topic of death, from a Tibetan perspective. I think I'll be pretty stoked after reading it, but then again, this may or may not be an actual copy, I'm still reading the introduction. Anyways....


The basic teachings of the Buddha (the so-called Four Noble Truths) begin with a recognition of the discomforts and frustrations of normal human existence. It is taught that the source of this frustration and distress does not rest in the nature of the world or in the mysterious intentions of a divine being, but rather in the intellectual and emotional confusions of human individuals themselves. Buddhism maintains that the suffering experienced in life can be completely uprooted and eliminated by clearing away these confusions, and prescribes specific methods for the successful accomplishment of this goal. Basic Buddhist practice, therefore, consists of following a disciplined path of intellectual and spiritual development requiring the radical examination of one's existential situation and profound and persistent changes in one's attitudes, behavior, and psychological orientation. The ideal Buddhist practitioner adheres to a strict moral code, trains rigorously in meditation, and endeavors tirelessly to develop compassion and insight.

Philosophically speaking, the confusions that function as the source of worldly suffering operate more precisely as innate misapprehensions with respect to the status of the individual self and of the surrounding world. This innate sense of self and other, including inanimate objects, involves the seemingly natural tendency to view things as solidly concrete, as more or less substantial and permanent. This means that ordinary people have a subtle sense of things as being constant through time, changeless and secure. Buddhism maintains that this perspective is profoundly mistaken. In reality, everything is changing, nothing is as it was even a moment before. Existence is forever in flux. As a consequence of the misperception of the truth of change and impermanence, human beings become mired in a cycle of pain and disappointment. Moreover, the false view of permanence engenders strong attachments and aversions, which in turn generate a host of destructive emotions such as jealousy, pride, and selfishness, all born of the fear of losing what is valued and of gaining what is scorned. This enduring round of pain and disruptive emotion is called samsara, and the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice is to liberate oneself from its negative bonds. Liberation from the cycle of samsara is achieved in part by readjusting one's fundamental perspectives, by developing the correct view of impermanence.