We will no longer even remember this life, and its problems, after we close our eyes in this body for the last time.  And in the next life, it will be the same thing:  birth, life, suffering and death.  

Over and over, endlessly, for countless ages, moving blindly from life to life, from suffering to suffering, from death to death – strapped like prisoners on a terrible wheel that never stops turning, and never releases us into a full and final experience of freedom.

THIS, Shakyamuni Buddha said, is the crux of our problem – the human condition – and indeed the condition of ALL sentient beings, human and non-human alike.  It is – once seen clearly – both terrible and pitiable.

Whatever your particular PERSONAL problems might be, in this body, in this life – THAT (Shakyamuni said) is your REAL problem.

Therefore, the MOST important question you might ask yourself, on your own behalf, and on behalf of us all, is this:  How can I SOLVE this problem of being strapped to the wheel of birth and death, of being blindly born into one life after another, of suffering in all the ways that sentient beings suffer, and finally dying once again – only to repeat the cycle?

Everything Shakyamuni did, in his earthly life here 2500 years ago, in his role as “The Buddha”, the Enlightened One, was geared towards helping people like you and me answer this question.  Everything He said and did was purposefully said and done to help us get free of the terrible cycle of birth and death, and to finally become fully enlightened ourselves, True Buddhas, at last.

So here is the very first – and the most important – step on the journey towards enlightenment:  AWAKEN YOUR ASPIRATION – awaken your deep and perhaps previously hidden desire – to become enlightened just as Shakyamuni Buddha became enlightened.  Until that happens – until you ALLOW yourself to feel your deep yearning to escape our common ignorance and darkness, nothing that Shakyamuni Buddha says will make much sense to you.

Once you’ve awakened your aspiration for enlightenment, you are faced with a cornucopia of potential directions, philosophies and teachings.  Although there are literally thousands of such directions, both within Buddhism and without, they all boil down to two.  There are – in essence – only two distinct pathways to answer this question about how to escape the cycle of birth and death, and finally become a fully enlightened being.  Of course, Shakyamuni Buddha taught both pathways – with many, many variants to suit the temperaments and capacities of different people.