The Hidden Buddha Within Us Today in America we live in a fast-paced society where people shoulder many responsibilities. Overdoing it can lead to stress and physical illness. There are a number of things people can do to reduce stress, such as exercising and eating healthily. Meditation practice can impact both a person's physical and mental health. Meditation is… a systematic technique for grasping and concentrating to the highest degree our latent mental power” (Eknath 9). Meditation originated in Southeast Asia more than 2,500 years ago thanks to the teachings of the Buddha. It is interesting to note that the Buddha was not as most artists depict him today. It wasn't really an obese man, and the "fat Buddha" actually represents a Buddhist monk who lived long after the Buddha. The Buddha's teachings were originally given orally, so many of his teachings are listed, to make them easier to remember. The teachings of the Buddha are followed as a way of life. There are no rules in Buddhism, there are simply steps. The Four Noble Truths are the main teachings of Buddhism, along with the Eightfold Path. The Four Noble Truths are meant to be the steps to ending suffering. The first noble truth is that life is synonymous with suffering. Suffering will happen in life and many think there is nothing you can do about it. Second, the origin of suffering is attachment. This means that suffering is caused when people cling to things, ideas, or even other people. Third, cessation of suffering is achievable. Which can translate into the fact that there is a way to end suffering. And finally, there is a path to cessation, which means that the path to ending suffering, is meditation and the eightfold path. The Eightfold Path is the way people should live to end suffering...... middle of paper ... ...but in fact it is not. Many people use the excuse for not meditating because they think it will interfere with their belief in God, when in most cases this is not true. For example, depending on the person's faith, prayer is a personal thing in the same way as meditation. When people pray, they often talk to God or quietly think about a prayer. These can also be forms of meditation. Although meditation has its differences. For example, prayer is primarily a type of communication between a “believer” and a God. In some kinds of meditation, such as transcendental meditation, we believe in multiple gods. Although it is assumed that meditation creates a disadvantage for a "believer", it actually strengthens this relationship between the two. “The aim of Christian meditation will be to realize the unity of every personality with the personality of Christ” (Swani 96).