Book Excerpt The Buddha Journey

Book Excerpt

"How do I develop true happiness?

It is everyone's life mission to be happy. Every sentient being wants happiness and a good life. And so it is also our life's mission to develop that happiness, for and from ourselves, from within. It is unfortunate that we live in a world where society has brainwashed us that new, pretty, fancy things will bring us happiness. That our life would be incomplete without the latest trending gadgets, cars, clothes, and even foods. We spend hundreds and thousands of dollars to be part of the status-quo, to fit in, and make sure we're on the same trending page as the rest of the world.

Are we happy with all that? Yes, for a hot minute. Only until the next latest gadget is released, next year's model car is for sale, and the new season clothing line has come and gone before we've even realized it exists. We have this completely false assumption that these "things" bring us real happiness, that they have this magical way of taking all our dissatisfactions of the world away. Because they don't.

Real happiness is when we realize these nice things are impermanent, and the happiness they bring is also impermanent. New technology is constantly changing and developing; it can't even catch up to itself. With a blink of an eye the new iPhone is released, the next thing we know, the iPhone is going to be a tiny chip we have to embed in our heads!

Buddhism is not a fixing path; it's a healing path. If we come into Buddhism assuming it's going to magically fix all our life problems, then we are the problem in our life. Buddhism gives us the guidelines and instructions to understanding life and our minds, and to use those instructions to help us escape what we see as dissatisfying as a different view of reality. By understanding life (using the Four Noble Truths) and following the guidelines of the Eightfold Path, we start understanding our mind and the world around us and why things cause us dissatisfaction.”

 

About the Book

Title: The Buddha Journey: Questions and Answers for the Awakening Mind
Author: Quang Tri
Genre: Spirituality / Buddhism
The Buddha Journey aspires to answer the most commonly asked questions beginning or advancing students would ask. The Buddha Journey covers your basic “Buddhism 101” introduction, then answers over 100 questions about compassion, anger, forgiveness, meditation, impermanence, sex, karma, death, becoming a Buddhist and more! Quang Trí writes in a simple, easy-to-understand way that allows the reader to understand the content and contemplate the subject matter on their own for their own interpretation.

Author Bio

Quang Trí has been practicing meditation since 2002 and Buddhism since 2006. He is a Dharma teacher and a Truth seeker, teaching others about Buddhism, mindfulness and meditation. As the writer of the popular website, BuddhaJourney.net, Quang Trí continuously aspires to help everyone with their path toward Awakening. He is one of the senior members of his temple, Chua Phuoc Hue, as he trains to ordain as a monk.

Links

www.buddhajourney.net
Amazon
Facebook
Twitter

Categories: book excerpt posts, nonfiction, spirituality