The Buddha's Message By Christopher Gowans Summary

In “The Buddha’s Message” by Christopher Gowans, we are presented with an overview of the Buddha’s teaching. Gowans expounds on certain central aspects of Buddhism, namely the idea of suffering, the 4 Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and Nirvana providing examples and analogies to elucidate these ideas.

In this paper, I shall argue in agreement with the sentiment that life is suffering on two main fronts, those being that I agree with the idea that the universe possesses an impermanent nature, causing happiness gained from fulfilling all desires impermanent as well and thus suffering inevitable, followed by my belief that flesh naturally begets suffering, that is, our physical existence is a source of suffering so long as we physically exist.

For starters, the concept of Nirvana or “Nibbana” is introduced. Nirvana is defined as a state of being reached once “we eliminate many of our desires and stop clinging or attaching ourselves to them.” (The Buddha’s Message, pg.31) it is made clear that while yes, some semblance of happiness is achieved when we fulfill the desires we have, this happiness would and a life spent in pursuit of our desires would be “unsatisfactory” due to the “impermanent nature of the universe” (The Buddha’s Message, pg.31). Gowans highlights this when he describes an alcoholic, this person would desire to drink alcohol, they might even do increasingly self-detrimental things to obtain their fix. Sure, they would feel as though their desire has been fulfilled every time they drink; however, it is argued that for such a person, true happiness can be found in sobriety. True happiness for such an individual can be found when they undergo a paradigm shift concerning their desire to drink alcohol. If such a person was free of their addiction, their desire to drink, Gowan suggests that they might then be able to feel true happiness and liberation from suffering, as “true happiness in life, the opposite of suffering, is brought about by reaching a state in which… we eliminate many of our desires and stop

We live our lives subject to the shortcomings of our physical bodies. We become hungry, we are subject to the harshness of the climate, we age and atrophy, we feel pain and even emotional pain can manifest physically. I believe that Nirvana and the way it is portrayed applies far more to one’s mental being than one’s physical being. To live a life that is in a “state of perfect well-being and tranquility” (The Buddha’s Message, pg.32) does not sound feasible to me on a physical basis. because as much as one can be mentally perfect, their body can always go through suffering. The de-prioritization of oneself may allow them to contextualize the suffering their bodies go through and overcome that suffering on a mental basis, but I argue further than that and say that regardless, they are still suffering, they are still in union with that which they do not want, their life is still suffering. Perhaps mentally, Nirvana can be reached in a sort of mind-over-matter sense, however, the matter still suffers our physical being still suffers, and thus, life is