The Buddha supposedly said that the central message of his teaching is “suffering and the cessation of suffering.”
According to traditional Buddhist doctrine, what causes suffering and how
can it be ended?
In your answer, be sure to discuss the second noble truth, anatman, the three poisons, and how putting an end to ignorance is believed to put an end to greed and aversion.
Discuss why Buddhists have long believed that it is necessary to wait until the time of the next Buddha, Maitreya, to attain liberation, and how later Buddhist philosophers theorized that shamatha and vipashyana must be used together in order to attain liberation.
