Key Buddhist Concepts: Impermanence, Karma, and Rebirth
Some of the core beliefs in Buddhism center around three key concepts: impermanence, karma, and rebirth.
Impermanence
Everything in life is constantly changing. Nothing stays the same forever. This includes your thoughts, feelings, experiences, and material goods. Understanding impermanence helps you appreciate each moment as fleeting and precious. It encourages you not to cling too tightly to people, possessions or situations.
Karma
Karma refers to the law of cause and effect. Your actions, good or bad, have future consequences. If you act with compassion and kindness, you will receive compassion and kindness in return. If you act with greed or harmful intent, that energy will also come back to you. Karma teaches us to be mindful of how we treat others.
Rebirth
Rebirth is the belief that after death, the non-physical essence of a person is reborn in a new body. How a person acts in this life and life after life after life, shapes their future existences. Ultimately, through spiritual practice and enlightenment, one can achieve release from this cycle of death and rebirth.
The core teachings of impermanence, karma, and rebirth provide a framework for understanding existence and a path to enlightenment. By embracing these concepts, a Buddhist works to eliminate greed, hatred and ignorance, cultivate wisdom and compassion, and ultimately achieve nirvana - a state of enlightenment and release from suffering.
Buddhist Meditation: Calming the Mind Through Mindfulness
Buddhist meditation, or mindfulness meditation, is the practice of calming your mind by focusing your awareness on your breath and the present moment. The goal is to still the restless mind and achieve inner peace.
