The Buddha’s teachings are intended to lead the practitioner toward Nirvana as a way to escape being reborn into any of the Six Realms via the Wheel of Rebirth. Indeed, he taught an escape from being a consequent of the law of Karma itself. As a privileged man who experienced sensual pleasure, and as a self-committed ascetic who put himself through torture and self-neglect, he renounced both extremes and offered a Middle Way.

The Buddha’s incisive contributions to the world philosophy hinge upon the Four Noble Truths. From the Four Noble Truths come a number of indispensable teachings. For example, the First Noble Truth is an affirmation of the reality of suffering and its causes. The Second of the Four Noble Truths offers the teaching of Dependent Origination and the clinging to the Five Aggregates which lead to suffering. The Third Noble Truth is that suffering can be alleviated. The Fourth Noble Truth is that the Eightfold Path offers the aforementioned alleviation.

The Pali Canon contains many other teachings, which often take the form of lists. A fifth-century philosopher handily grouped many of these lists together as the Thirty-Seven Limbs of Enlightenment.

A Buddhist accepts the three marks of existence: suffering, non-self, and impermanence. Adherence to the Buddha’s middle way between extreme physical asceticism and hedonism is the prescription for a virtuous and meaningful life. There are innate mental barriers to practicing the Buddha’s teachings, namely greed, hatred, and ignorance.

The Buddha, iconoclastic as he was, still delivered his message in terms of the prevailing philosophy of his day. For example, he offered the Four Brahmaviharas as mental factors to practice fir the greater good. The term Brahmavihara refers to the dwelling place of Brahma, the supreme creator god of Brahmanical culture. In spite of this concession to his peers, he did deny the idea of self-nature, which distinguished him from the orthodox thinkers of his day.