Description

The story starts out with some basic information about the Buddha’s life and path to enlightenment.  It then discusses the basics of Buddhist thought, such as the Middle Way, the Four Nobel Truths, and the Eight-fold Path.  It focuses heavily on the Buddha’s understanding of suffering and how we should face it head on instead of avoiding it.  If we do then it can be a force to bring us together and spur us towards compassion.

Discussion Questions

• Who were the three men that the Buddha met?  What affect did they and the dead grasshoppers have on him?
• What is Enlightenment, or Nirvana?
• What is the Middle Way?  How do you follow it?
• How does the Buddha suggest we should better think about suffering?

Keywords: Buddhism, philosophy, ethics, moral theory, Gautama, suffering, enlightenment, pain, Golden Mean, nirvana, religion