Meeting the Buddha on the Road

I teach one thing–how to end suffering.

The Buddha

IMHO, Buddhism is the most misunderstood of the world's major religions–not only by those outside looking in, but by its followers as well (bad enough I've got the Christians coming for me with pitchforks and torches, now the Buddhists will be joining them). This is because what I see in Buddhism is NOT (and never was intended to be) a religion. The problem is that Siddhārtha Gautama (i.e., the Buddha) was so far ahead of his time (5^th century B.C.E.) that there was no other paradigm for his teachings. What he actually taught was what today we would call cognitive psychology. Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I submit for your consideration the first two verses of the Dhammapada–the Buddha's first teaching:
Mind precedes its objects. They are mind-governed and mind-made. To speak or act with a defiled mind is to draw pain after oneself, like a cart behind the feet of the ox drawing it.
Mind precedes its objects. They are mind-governed and mind-made. To speak or act with a peaceful mind, is to draw happiness after oneself, like an inseparable shadow.
If this is not cognitive psychology, then butter my butt and call me a biscuit. Cognitive psychology and Buddhism are founded upon the same principle: Our thoughts–which include our perceptions, interpretations, judgments, beliefs, etc.–are the source of, and means to ending our suffering. Put another way, we do not see the world as it is–we see the world as we are.
In fact, the Buddha's lack of any traditionally "religious" content has led some Buddhist scholars, such as Stephen Batchelor, to conclude the Buddha was agnostic–if not atheist–in his religious views. This is, I believe, one of the reasons Buddhism spread so quickly throughout Asia. Without any of the typical religious trappings to get in the way, when Buddhism entered a new country, it simply incorporated its own established religious beliefs into Buddhism (much like early Christians co-opted Pagan holidays to make it easier to gain converts). This is why, for example, Tibetan Buddhism is very different from Japanese Buddhism. In fact, without the iconography of the Buddha–one would probably not recognize these as the same religions.
Another example of this is the widespread belief that Buddhists believe in reincarnation. Many do, but not because of anything the Buddha taught. When studying the origins of a religion, one of the difficulties faced is to separate what is an essential religious teaching from things that are simply artifacts of the time and culture from which it came. In the Indian subcontinent during the 5^th century B.C.E. people did not just believe in reincarnation–it was considered a fact, just like the sky is blue and water is wet. Not only did no one question it, no one would even think to question it. So of course when this new teacher came along and didn't specifically say anything one way or the other about it, reincarnation was just absorbed into the Buddha's teachings. Since reincarnation was seen as a form of suffering and the Buddha was teaching a way to end suffering, it just made sense that the goal of Nirvana was to be freed from the cycle of birth and rebirth.
One would never suspect that within the Buddha's teachings is the concept that we do not have a soul or spirit that exists independently of the mind. The only Buddhists who directly confront this are Ch'an (Chinese) or Zen (Japanese) Buddhists–which were heavily influenced by Taoist philosophy when Buddhism came to China. Ch'an and Zen Buddhism has a distinctly existential–almost nihilistic–focus.
So what then is the core of the Buddha's teaching? First, the Four Noble Truths:

1.    The truth of the existence of suffering;

2.    The truth of the cause of suffering;

3.    The truth that suffering can be eliminated; and

4.    The truth of how to eliminate suffering (the Noble Eightfold Path).

The first of these is pretty much a no-brainer–at times, life sucks. The surprise comes in the second truth–we (specifically our minds) are the cause of life sucking. The actual word the Buddha used for this is dukkha, which is usually translated as "unsatisfactoriness." Simply put, we find life unsatisfactory because it often doesn't meet our expectations. "What is" is not the way we think it "should" be, so we blame what is for not meeting our expectations–never stopping to realize (until the Buddha came along) that it's our expectations that are the true cause of our suffering. Aaron Beck, Albert Ellis, or David Burns (three prominent cognitive psychologists) couldn't have said it better.
The third truth follows from the second–if we know the cause of suffering, we can eliminate it (or at least greatly reduce it). OK, so how do we do this? Enter the fourth truth–the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Noble Eightfold Path is divided into three aspects: Wisdom (1, 2), Ethical Conduct (3, 4, 5), and Concentration (6, 7, 8). Specifically, the Eightfold path consists of:

1.    Right Understanding;

2.    Right Thought;

3.    Right Speech;

4.    Right Action;

5.    Right Livelihood;

6.    Right Effort;

7.    Right Mindfulness; and

8.    Right Concentration.

Now keep in mind that during the past 2,500 years whole forests have been sacrificed to written discourses on the Noble Eightfold Path. I'll just be flying high overhead to give a broad picture of the landscape. You can parachute down and hack through the brush on your own.
Right Understanding is pretty simple–it basically refers back to the Four Noble Truths. This is the "right understanding" of suffering. The Greek stoic philosopher, Epictetus, echoed the Buddha's concept of suffering in the 1^st century C.E. when he said "Men are not upset by things, but by the views they take of them." Right Understanding also includes the law of karma–that every action produces a result (what goes around, comes around).
In the language of cognitive psychology, Right Thought means to identify and challenge one's cognitive distortions and irrational beliefs about themselves, other people, and the world around them.
The first of the three dealing with Ethical Conduct is Right Speech. The specifics of which are basically to be truthful and to not engage in divisive or abusive speech. Pretty straightforward.
Right Action is basically doing nothing that brings suffering to others. I like to think of it as the Buddhist version of the "Golden Rule"–treat others as you would have them treat you.
Right Livelihood takes right action into how one makes a living. Again, the idea is that you do not engage in an occupation that brings suffering to others (Republicans need not apply. Opps! That's not right speech. Shame on me!).
The last three have to do specifically with the practices of meditation. Right Effort primarily has to do with mental discipline. Not only in keeping the first five steps on the path always in mind, but also to provide the discipline for the remaining two steps.
Mindfulness is a specific Buddhist meditation technique, the goal of which is to bring mindful awareness to everything we do. Right Mindfulness is specifically referring to this last aspect.
Finally, we get to Right Concentration, which is actually the practice of meditation itself. Within the Buddhist tradition there are many specific meditation techniques, but all require focused attention and concentration.
There it is–Buddhism in a nutshell. As I said, one could spend many lifetimes (if you buy into the whole reincarnation thing) studying the details of all this, but this is what I consider the essence of what the Buddha taught. Once I was able to peel away all the superfluous B.S. that had little, if anything, to do with the core teaching–I found a genuine affection for Buddhism. But, I still would file it under "Psychology," rather than "Religion."