Becoming Buddha: A Buddha's Timeless Path Of Meditation, Mindfulness And Profound Wisdom.

Becoming Buddha presents a brief history of an awakened human being, Siddhartha Gotama, and a comprehensive presentation of what he awakened to: Dependent Origination. Upon his awakening, now known as the Buddha, he presented these teachings so that other human beings could do the same. This book is based on the Buddha's original and direct teachings as preserved in the Pali Canon. The Buddha awakened to the understanding that the problem of human suffering is rooted in ignorance of Four Noble Truths. This understanding is known as Dependent Origination. His very first teaching was to present the Four Noble Truths so that all who are interested could empty themselves of this ignorance and develop calm and peaceful minds and lives of lasting happiness.The first chapter in this book teaches the meditation method that the Buddha practiced and taught so that the reader can begin meditation immediately and then incorporate meditation within the broader framework for developing understanding known as the Eightfold Path.The subsequent chapters explain key teachings of the Buddha and include his first three discourses known as the Cardinal Discourses. While the Buddha taught for forty-five years, presenting many thousands of suttas, always in the context of Four Noble Truths, it can truly be said that he presented the foundation of his entire Dhamma in these first three discourses.Also included in this book are additional chapters that support understanding of the Buddha's Middle Way path, Dependent Origination, Emptiness, and the personal experience of individual confusion, deluded thinking, and suffering - the Five Clinging-Aggregates.'Abandoning unskillful thoughts, words and actions, developing skillful thoughts, words, and actions, and purifying one's mind, this is the purpose of the Buddha's teachings.' (Dhammapada 183)