One of the largest world religions, Buddhism is based on the teaching of Siddhartha Gautama who emphasized a significant role of nature in our lives and the importance of personal harmony with nature. Analyzing the major characteristics of Buddhism provided by Oxtoby and Amore (2010), one can notice is based on the emphasis of ethical life and, despite other religions, does not indicates how this world was created and for what purposes. For Buddhists, every human has eternal life, going thought the circles of reincarnation. In Buddhism, the nature of our existence in this world is based on three characteristics such as Annica (impermanence), dukkha (unsatisfactoriness), and anatta (“no-self”).
Annica
Annica as one of the major conceptions of Buddhism concludes in the idea that all things in this world are not stable and constant. Every part of the universe is impermanent and can be changed due to external conditions. Every human has several lives and goes through the process of reincarnation, the cycle rebirth which is called samsara. This characteristic is related to the idea of karma that causes all events in human life.
Dukkha
Dukkha is the central conception of Buddhism emphasizes the role of suffering in human life. The lack of satisfaction, pain, and sorrow are inseparable parts of existence. Although people try to avoid suffering, they cannot do it because this is the basement of nature. However, it would be wrong to conclude that the pessimistic mood is prevalent in Buddhism. Buddhists consider themselves as realists who cannot deny that life has its good and bad sides.
Anatta
Anatta indicates that there is no “I” or “mine” in Buddhism. Being a part of nature, humans cannot be considered as separate structures, creations. There is no permanent self, it is just an illusion. Both the physical body and spirit are parts of one universal structure – nature.
Works Cited
Oxtoby, Willard G., and R. C. Amore. World Religions: Eastern traditions. 3rd ed. 2010. Ontario, Canada: Oxford University Press. Print.