[BrodiKennedy]

I've been studying the teachings of Buddhism lately, and I think I might have a problem believing everything. Seriously though, what Buddhism teaches makes much sense to me, and looking back on my experience in this life and through the words of those who have lived life, I believe a lot of the teachings, especially the Four Noble Truths, the Middle Way, etc. However, I don't feel like I've investigated the teachings enough to get a solid verification where I know they're true.

How is it that one should go about investigating and testing the teachings?

[Hujkmlopes]

Hi JS,

I've found that the best way to investigate and test the teachings is to practice mindfulness and be aware of how they apply to my daily thoughts, feelings and reactions in connection with myself and others - and to phenomena in general.

Also to meditate.

[Bromymbollile]

My worthless opinions....

1. Daily life integration: family, relatives, relationship, friends, work/study place interactions, neighbours & strangers, daily decisions made & habituations...
Think of one person in one's life who always takes care of one, gives one gifts and is kind to one. What have one done for them lately?
Think of one person in one's life who always neglects one, miserly and is mean to one. What have one done for them lately?
Why is it that one grieves over someone dear yet won't bat an eyelid even as a withered leaf falls at one's feet?
After some time of learning, why does one keep looking outside for the light when by now, one should have become a lamp for others....
Unless one is a total lone ranger...even so, when alone, one's mindfulness of own mind and body is ever possible and crucial.
There's an old saying, when with others, watch one's speech and conduct, when alone, watch one's own mind.

2. Consistent personal practice: 'on and off the cushion' on a daily basis, the threefold practice of conduct, concentration and wisdom & not when I feel like it or when the sky is blue and the grass is green. Avoiding the extremes of over persistence which leads to restlessness or overly slack persistence which leads to laziness.

3. Group practice: make it a point to attend a center/temple where possible where one can gain worthy spiritual companions on the Path

4. A teacher: can be a formal/informal one, if one is fortunate to meet, one can practice with a worthy guide, another added benefit as a spiritual companion.

5. Online/offline forums are only a poor replacements, a temporary relief.
Nothing beats real life interaction and spiritual growth with like minded cultivators. Is having McD's a substitute for proper & healthy meals?

6. Understanding with patience that the Path is gradual, like the slope of an ocean with different depths.

7. Thus have I heard from one opinion on commitment to practice...
Commitment does not depend on your age, how much time you have or where you are.
Real commitment is just about how much you want it

[wrenjmerg]

Hi plwk, far from worthless observations, thank you online friend.

[RenyBontes]

That's a good and very important question, JS.

To put it simply, it is said that we need 3 things; study, contemplation, meditation.

Some people are so interested in Buddhism, that they read so much, study the different philosophical systems and start to generate a good wealth of knowledge to the point where things do start making sense. I am of this first group, because when I am really interested and passionate about something I will find out as much as I can about it. But for many (and me too), it cannot stop there. It needs to go beyond this collection of knowledge and be integrated into our daily experience. This is the best way, no matter how much or how little someone knows. Actually, one of my teachers prefers his students to "study less and practice more".

As you can begin to see the changes in yourself, understanding a little more about your own mind and the way you experience things, then in this more practical way I think the teachings begin to take hold.

But there have been some great practical methods listed above too.

[hablyShappY]

How is it that one should go about investigating and testing the teachings?

JS, I started (as far as I recall) with the 4NT.

1st NT: dukkha.

As I reflected on my experience, I could see that life had indeed included suffering, and that all of my previous efforts at avoiding or ending it had failed. Over time, as I continued investigating the nuances of dukkha, I could see how even pleasurable experiences contain the seed of stress.

2nd NT: dukkha samudaya.

Reflecting on experience, I could see how my struggles to gain pleasurable experiences and avoid unpleasant experiences fueled much of the stresses I felt. Wanting this, and wanting it permantently; wanting to be rid of that, and wanting to be rid of it permanently. It kept me chasing and chasing after things I was clinging to, while running and running from things I couldn't accept.

3rd NT: dukkha niroda.

Given 1 and 2, it's not rocket surgery to see that the solution is to stop chasing after this and running from that. Easier said than done, of course, but I could see the truth in it.

4th NT: dukkha nirodha gamini patipada magga.

After reviewing the 8 things that one is advised to work on daily and starting to put them into practice, it seems to me that those 8 things are sufficient. None of the 8 is unnecessary, and I can't find anything to add to them.

anatta: non-self, no-self (or however you prefer to translate it)

Search the totality of your being and see if you can find anything that remains identical over time. I couldn't.

paticca samuppada: conditioned, co-dependent arising of phenomena.

The details of the formula as presented in the Pali and subsequent analyses still give me trouble. I can, through analysis of experience, see how, first of all, all experience is phenomenal (definitional, really), and that what we presume to be real, discrete, enduring entities "out there" is really a mental reification of phenomena (that's connected to anatta). None of these phenomena that I have experienced popped up ex nihilo; upon examination I could see how they depended upon previous conditions in order to come into being. It gets a lot more complicated, but that's the basic framework that I could see.

Of course, JS, you shouldn't take my word for it, or anyone else's. The proof is in the pudding, as they say. Examine the core teachings, investigate them through your own experience and see how much sense they make to you. That's investigating the dhamma.

[Lapsiks]

However, I don't feel like I've investigated the teachings enough to get a solid verification where I know they're true.

The teachings of Buddha are about and just about Dukkha, its understanding and the path that leads to its cessation. I appreciate this simple and concrete sutta which can give us a proper idea of what the Buddha taught:

"[...] monks, there are many more things that I have found out, but not revealed to you.[2] What I have revealed to you is only a little. And why, monks, have I not revealed it?

"Because, monks, it is not related to the goal, it is not fundamental to the holy life, does not conduce to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, tranquillity, higher knowledge, enlightenment or Nibbaana. That is why I have not revealed it. And what, monks, have I revealed?

"What I have revealed is: 'This is Suffering, this is the Arising of Suffering, this is the Cessation of Suffering, and this is the Path that leads to the Cessation of Suffering.' And why, monks, have I revealed it?

"Because this is related to the goal, fundamental to the holy life, conduces to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, tranquillity, higher knowledge, enlightenment and Nibbaana, therefore I have revealed it.

"The Simsapa Leaves"
Dukkha and its experience is a very intimate and personal situation to which one has to realize through the careful examination of the Four Noble Truths. If one has realized that our personal life is under the heavy burden of discomfort, stress or existential pain, then the first Noble Truth has started to put in motion the wheel of Dhamma and this first one will lead you to the rest.

To realize the First Noble Truth, as Aloka-D has mentioned, it is important to start to be in silence, to be mindful and to contemplate carefully how we experience existence.

How is it that one should go about investigating and testing the teachings? IMO, we just need to go to the teachings of Buddha, contemplate what he has stated there with the aim of understand them, reasoning them and trying to put them under practice. To practice meditation, to practice the careful contemplation of our mental states and to evaluate the results; which ones? A peaceful mind, lessening discomfort, stress and unsatisfactoriness. Later on, if you wish, you can go to practice with a group or attend a temple of the tradition that bests suits you.

An important first step is to see or contemplate how things, because of it's impermanent nature, at end or in the beginning, leads us -always- into unsatisfactoriness.

All the other advice that have been given in the thread are really good ones.