With the help of the monks, you will learn ancient Buddhist wisdom that you can apply to your life today. Because although the Buddha lived and taught in India 2,500 years ago, the truths of life he discovered then are still true today. We still have greed. We still have hatred. We still have delusion. And the techniques he taught to overcome these problems still work. And when our mind is free from these problems, all that’s left is peace and happiness.

We are very lucky to be living in a time when the original, ancient teachings of the Buddha are still available to us. The Buddha explained that there are four steps we need to follow in order to achieve the goal of true happiness:

1. We need to associate with good people who know the teachings of the Buddha and who are trying to follow  them.
2. We need to listen carefully to those teachings.
3.  We need to reflect wisely on those teachings and apply them to our lives.
4.  And finally we need to put those teachings into practice and lead our life according to their instructions. ​(SN 55:5)

The Buddha found the only way to achieve the Nirvana and introduced  it to the world as “The Noble Eight-fold Path“. No one can achieve this noble goal without practicing this path. This opens the way to overcome sorrow and lamentation, disappearance of pain and grief, attainment of the higher knowledge, and realization of Nibbana.

“Monks, the Noble Truth of the Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering is this:  it is just this Noble Eightfold Path, namely: 1.right view, 2.right intention, 3.right speech, 4.right action, 5.right livelihood, 6.right effort, 7.right mindfulness, and 8.right concentration.” (SN 56.11)

By following the Noble Eight Fold Path you can put an end to suffering.

Dhammapada

“All conditioned things are impermanent”—when one sees this with wisdom, one gives up admiration for suffering which is disguised as happiness. This is the path to purification, Nibbāna.

Dhammapada

‘What does your teacher say, what does he teach?’ Being asked thus, friends, you should answer: ‘Our teacher, friends, teaches the removal of desire and lust.’

Read the full Sutta

“Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.

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“Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there

Read the full Sutta