Dharma Wheel

One of my favorite condensed summarizations of Buddhism - very western and bleak.

Gautama’s seemingly negative and deflating doctrines were intended to bring relief and encouragement. He believed that the root of suffering is desire: the pursuit of goals unattainable because the objects sought are fleeting and unreal. And because the concept of self is an illusion, the more frustrating of all desires is the craving for self-satisfaction and self-exaltation. — World Civilizations, Volume 1

Goodbye creul world,

Me personally, I would say, if asked:

Understanding the true nature of suffering, and how to free yourself from it.

Understanding and learning how to reach personal peace and how to live a more healthy fullfilling life.

Learning to truely see the world as it is, your place in the world, and how your actions can effect it, then learning how to act so that your actions benifit yourself, others and the world around you.

There is no fundamental unit of existence, so to grasp at self is to grasp at an arbitrary series of restrictive, ultimately deluded stories. Freedom from suffering comes from rejecting self-grasping in favor of uncondtioned awareness.

Maybe... pay attention and take responsibility.

These are all great inputs. I finally re-listened to a teaching I heard a few years ago by Ken Mccleod. This description of Buddhism I think works best, for me and for explaining to others. He describes Buddhism as a:

"set of tools to wake up to, or experience things as they really are"

and

"to become an ongoing response to the pain and suffering of the world."

Buddhism is the study and practice of how to eliminate suffering.

"Be here now"

"Buddhism is kind of like the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, except instead not knowing whether the cat is alive or dead, we're not sure if a dog has Buddha Nature or not."

There, that ought to stop them in their tracks. If not, how about this?

"Buddhism teaches that GURU IS GOD. Would you like to worship God with me right now?" (bring out picture of guru, start bowing to it)

Okay, okay. Serious now:

"Buddhism--or at least MY version of it--teaches the impermanance and "emptiness" of all things; compassion for all sentient beings; and the clear, luminous nature of the mind."

A bit Mahayanish, I realize...

Tame your mind.

Embrace the suck.

Among the other sentences already listed: A religion where you don't have to be dead to go to the kingdom of god.