I am a Buddhist,.....I live my life as a Buddhist but not in the strictest sense since in this day and age it would be really difficult to do so.....but I use Buddhist principles as a guide for daily living...this is it in a nutshell;..
Buddhists believe that human misery and unhappiness is caused by being attached to things...and that this attachment causes us to behave in ways which are mentally detrimental to ourselves and brings on unhappiness....for example....being so attached to a woman that her leaving would cause you to get angry, go into a depression, maybe even kill her (and wind up in prison), or kill yourself....we see this all the time....another example would be to be really attached to your car or other material possessions....what happens when you no longer have the car or it gets totalled???....again some go into depression....not getting a promotion you wanted....so you react by getting angry, maybe cursing out your boss, maybe you stop doing your best work..all of which could lead to you being fired....by not being so attached to "things" you avoid being thrown into a state of despair when you can't have those things or can never attain them...
it is emotionalism that makes us as humans do stupid things which then cause us even more misery....emotions get us into trouble....by detaching yourself from people and things and not making them so important you can approach life every day with a sense of well-being which enables you to make good rational decisions since emotion will play no part in your decision-making process....everything in moderation...too much of anything (sex, food, etc) is not healthy and can unbalance you as a person... you can love, have sex, eat, drink, whatever, but not to the point where it controls you and you then make poor decisions which get you in trouble....having sex all the time indiscriminately for example is great in theory but can lead to AIDS, or getting the wrong woman pregnant who will then make you miserable and kill you in child support...how many of our friends have we seen get caught up in this???..
As a Buddhist you have to practice mindfulness which means that you avoid having bad thoughts in your mind and you avoid negative feelings at all cost....you keep your mind clear all the time and you don't dwell on negativity..how do you do this???..every time a negative thought crosses your mind you must immediately recognize it and then stop thinking about it and banish it from your mind....thats the key...and by doing this constantly you begin to attain a state of well being where nothing bothers you....your ultimate goal is to get to NIRVANA...this is attained after years of practicing mindfulness where you attain the ultimate bliss...nothing at all EVER bothers you and you are calm, serene, and content with yourself and with others at ALL TIMES no matter what they do....NIRVANA takes years to obtain where you never have negative thoughts or display any anger, or thoughts of depression, revenge, etc....it takes plenty of practice and is a daily struggle
you should not always be in a heightened state of elation either..since you will eventually crash emotionally ..it is basically keeping your emotions even..never going too high or too low because even being TOO happy can cause you to make poor decisions....if you start today, you won't attain NIRVANA for 10-15-20 years...but by starting now you put yourself on the path to Nirvana....that path is called THE WAY....NIRVANA is the ultimate heaven....you are peaceful with yourself and the world...you accept yourself, those around you, and you are happy because you have all that you need and you are not trying to attain things you will NEVER get..unlike your friends who are running around chasing dreams and are very unhappy that all their chasing is not accomplishing anything...
finally when at work there are rules that Buddhists follow so as to increase their chance of success and so as to not get themselves entangled in bad things....you cannot steal...not even a pencil or paper or paper clip..you cannot talk about your boss to other co-workers...you cannot gossip...you must say hello to everyone when you come in and goodbye when you are leaving so as to spread positive energy and not create misunderstandings....("that guy must not like me since he didn't say hello")..you must keep a clear desk without clutter so as to be organized and more productive...also you must meditate often to help clear your mind..
sorry for being so long-winded but this is it in a nutshell......this is only the psychological part of Buddhism....the religious part is more complicated...I don't practice that part of it because its just too strange...
