Isabelle Haeberly’s Reviews > No-Nonsense Buddhism for Beginners: Clear Answers to Burning Questions About Core Buddhist Teachings > Status Update

Meditation:
“When we meditate, we’re simply trying to observe what’s there - thoughts, emotions, everything.”

“The goal of meditation isn’t to control our thoughts; it’s to observe them and become more familiar with the inner workings of our minds.”

The Four Nobel Truths:
1.) There is suffering
2.) There is cause to suffering
3.) There is end to suffering
4.) There is a path to end suffering

The Eightfold Path:

Wisdom
1. Right understanding
2. Right intent

Ethical conduct
3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood

Mental discipline
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right concentration

Reactivity leads to the pain of two arrows
Responding deals with the first arrow and brings the healing process

Acceptance is not the and as giving up. “Acceptance is about working with reality, not against it.”

“Meaning isn’t out there waiting to be found - it’s in you, waiting to be created.”

3 forms of suffering:
1. Physical pain
2. Suffering from loss
3. Self-inflicted suffering; it tends to have very little to do with our actual circumstances and a lot to do with how we perceive and interpret those circumstances

“When we understand that all things are impermanent, we can begin to find meaning and joy in every moment as it passes.”