After his awakening, the Buddha sought out fellow seekers and delivered his first teachings. Rather than pointing to a creator deity, he offered a framework for understanding suffering and escaping it. Central to his message were the “Four Noble Truths”: that life involves suffering; that suffering arises from desire and ignorance; that suffering can cease; and that the way to end desire and ignorance is by following the “Middle Way,” also known as the “Noble Eightfold Path.”

According to Buddhist teaching, suffering results from clinging to impermanent things. This attachment binds people to an ongoing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, in which even the idea of a permanent self is considered an illusion. Liberation comes only by breaking free from craving and ignorance.

The Buddha taught that freedom from this cycle is found through disciplined living that avoids extremes of indulgence or severe self-denial. The Middle Way emphasizes right understanding, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. These practices are intended to reshape desire and perception.

The final goal of Buddhist practice is not communion with a personal God, but the extinguishing of craving, bringing release from suffering and rebirth.

* For clarity and consistency, this guide uses commonly recognized Sanskrit terms for Buddhist concepts. Descriptions reflect historical teachings and contemporary practices as observed across diverse cultural contexts.