I started this blog a few weeks ago, but every time I intend to write something about Buddhism I stop because I can recall reading it someplace else,

... written in such a way that I could never have put it better. It didn't occur to me until today that some people never read those sites, or skim them at best to find some sort of specific information they need.

If, for some reason, this is the first place you've looked for information on Buddhism, or if you got here by accident and would like to know more about Buddhism I'll paste some things from the web and elaborate if I can.

The Buddha taught many things, but the basic concepts in Buddhism can be summed up by the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Noble Truth of Dukkha - stress, unsatisfactoriness, suffering;

The first truth is that life is suffering i.e., life includes pain, getting old, disease, and ultimately death. We also endure psychological suffering like loneliness frustration, fear, embarrassment, disappointment and anger. This is an irrefutable fact that cannot be denied. It is realistic rather than pessimistic because pessimism is expecting things to be bad. lnstead, Buddhism explains how suffering can be avoided and how we can be truly happy.

What is the Noble Truth of Suffering? Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, dissociation from the loved is suffering, not to get what one wants is suffering: in short the five categories affected by clinging are suffering.

Suffering or dukkha is the common bond we all share. Everybody everywhere suffers. Human beings suffered in the past, in ancient India; they suffer in modern Britain; and in the future, human beings will also suffer. What do we have in common with Queen Elizabeth? - we suffer. With a tramp in Charing Cross, what do we have in common? - suffering. It includes all levels from the most privileged human beings to the most desperate and underprivileged ones, and all ranges in between. Everybody everywhere suffers. It is a bond we have with each other, something we all understand.

While I was looking for quotes to past into this post I had the opportunity to read more of this great site. I am so moved by what I read that I'm going to post the entire teaching in a series of posts. Keep in mind, as the writer himself will tell you, these words were written by a Buddhist monk.