A friend once asked me, "what would Buddha do?" and I thought of the similar saying "what would Jesus do?" and replied "what would G Bu do?," "G Bu" being short for Gotama Buddha. This site was initially created as an easily accessible, portable reference to a collection of notes I made while studying mindfulness, meditation, and Buddhism, and I decided to use "What Would G Bu Do?" for the site name. I periodically revisit and revise the site.

Some people shy away from meditation and Buddhism because of potential religious implications. But mindfulness and meditation are not inherently religious (interestingly, in Aramaic, the language of Jesus, there supposedly aren't different words for prayer and meditation, but there are differences with the different words in English), and meditation is found in a variety of religions and cultures and has been practiced around the world for centuries. Meditation can be practiced in the context of any religion or no religion, and there are secular paths within Buddhism- one does not need to be a "Buddhist" to practice mindfulness and meditation or to benefit from basic ideas in Buddhism. Ideas from Buddhism can provide tools for daily living and ways to potentially experience inner, and by extension, outer peace. The Eightfold Path in Buddhism has similar "guidance" that may be found in other religions. One could practice only mindfulness/ meditation and cultivate peace, happiness, etc., with or without any religion, but an ethical framework, such as the Eightfold Path or similar, can be useful for guidance, balance, and harmony in daily living. In the absence of such a framework, one could potentially practice mindfulness and be focused yet perform actions that are harmful or otherwise may lead to suffering/ dukkha, for oneself and/or others.

At the core of Buddha's teachings is freedom from dukkha- discontent, anxiety, dis-ease, unsatisfactoriness, suffering. The writings about Jesus include instructions to look within and to love one another. A common theme is "look within." When contemplating what has been written about Buddha, and Jesus, and the ideas of "what would Buddha do?," and "what would Jesus do?," we don't truly know what they may have actually said or what they might actually do if they were alive/physically present today. We can get some ideas based on the writings about them, but we will ultimately defer to what we want to believe, or what others want us to believe, about them as long as we dwell in such "beliefs." The words and ideas related to them are signs to deeper understandings and experiences- neither Buddha nor Jesus wrote anything themselves, the writings about them came about after they died (some many years later), and such writings have been subject to years of oral tradition/ verbal transmission, faulty memories, selective preservation and destruction, modifications, embellishments, misinterpretations (including inadequate translations) and the incorporation of preexisting and coexisting ideas and mythologies. And, after all, the Buddha was not a "Buddhist" and did not have or need "Buddhist scriptures," and Jesus was not a "Christian" and did not have or need "Christian scriptures." With this understanding, we can perhaps avoid getting stuck on or attached to, words, writings, or ideas, and simply experience what is written about, without mental cobwebs.

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”
“Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. All systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.”
"It is not words or concepts that are important. What is important is our insight into the nature of reality and our way of responding to reality."
"As unnecessary as a well is to a village on the banks of a river, so unnecessary are all the scriptures to someone who has seen the truth; when your understanding has passed beyond the thicket of delusions, there is nothing you need to learn from even the most sacred scripture; indifferent to scriptures, your mind stands by itself, unmoving, absorbed in deep meditation. This is the essence of the path."
"This pure Mind, which is the source of all things, shines forever with the radiance of its own perfection. But most people are not aware of it, and think that Mind is just the faculty that sees, hears, feels, and knows. Blinded by their own sight, hearing, feeling, and knowing, they don't perceive the radiance of the source. If they could eliminate all conceptual thinking, this source would appear, like the sun rising through the empty sky and illuminating the whole universe."
"If you cannot set down your holy book and walk away, you are not truly free."

So, why make any effort to read or study such things, be mindful, meditate, etc.? The mind loves to grasp onto things, and in the realm of thoughts, ideas from religions can provide insights and guidance. And many seek meaning, connection, inner peace, etc., and some way to try to make sense of our existence, suffering, the universe, and death. Paths related to these are sought in religion, spirituality, science, philosophy, etc. Buddhism is a path for such things, and the practices of mindfulness and meditation (religious and nonreligious) have been correlated with a variety of benefits (mindfulness is not a panacea, however, and people with a history of anxiety, depression, trauma, etc., should discuss mindfulness/ meditation with a qualified health care provider). We should also understand that ideas, religious and non-religious, have the potential to enslave the mind. An important question is, "what is the effect of this idea/thought on my mind and body?" If it is not liberation and peace, one may get caught in, and reinforce, cycles of thoughts and ideas that lead to anxiety/dissatisfaction/suffering/dukkha. This site is intended to provide potential ideas and practices that may help break thought patterns that can lead to suffering anxiety/dissatisfaction/suffering/dukkha.

This site is not a treatise on the history of Buddhism. Like a finger pointing to the moon, Buddhism (or Christianity, or any other religion) is one of many fingers pointing a way - a way to peace, enlightenment, nirvana, heaven, the kingdom of god, etc. Like all religions and ideas, "Buddhism" is only a map and is not, in itself, the "destination"- the "destination" is beyond the words, beyond all the maps that we've created or followed (parable of the raft). But regardless of one's map and ideas, if one can find peace and treat others as equals with kindness, they should continue following their map- we would be better off if everyone practiced and cultivated equality and kindness.

It is said there is a "Buddha nature" (or "Christ nature," etc.) within each of us. From the Buddhist perspective, this implies we are all inherently enlightened beings- when we shed ideas of "self" ("nothing is to be clung to as I, me, or mine") and become mindful of habitual cravings and aversions of impermanent things, we clear a path to realize our enlightened state. In transcending the individual "self," which is not unique to Buddhism, we see and experience things differently. While not necessarily Buddhist ideas, we can potentially appreciate a "self" within a universal "Self," an eternal "essence," an "animating force," an inherent "oneness" with all things, the "you" before "you" developed a sense of self and became attached to self, words, ideas, material objects, time, or even "nothingness;" “unless you change and become like little children, you will never get into the kingdom." From a scientific or thought perspective, it may perhaps be useful to conceptualize our “essence” as continually changing, interconnected particles and waves, energy and matter.

If we look within, we can perhaps understand and experience this dynamic, transient dance of interconnected waves and particles that is ultimately at our core- and we can also appreciate it in others and in all things. This is why introspection and meditation are emphasized by many- they provide a way to transcend the "self" and the ideas and mental boxes that imprison the mind; as long we are bound by a "self" and ideas and thoughts about a past that is gone or a future that is unknown, we will be stuck in ideas and mental boxes, outside the "kingdom of god" that is accessible to each of us in the present moment/“now,” the only moment we really have. Spiritual teachers, mystics, sages, etc. throughout history have reiterated these ideas and the instruction to "look within."

"What is Guru or who is Guru? The conscience within you is the Guru. The one that guides you. The one that enlightens you. As such, there is a Guru in everybody."
"If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you; rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you."
"Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
Parable of the Beggar

"Buddhism," as a path, can be seen to emphasize introspection and reflection rather than a god, meditation rather than prayer, "enlightenment" rather than "salvation," and universal life/manifestations rather than individuality (no separate, independent "self"). With this in mind, it is not necessarily “religious,” although it can be religious when combined with rites and rituals, supernatural beliefs, etc. There are religious paths within Buddhism and there are secular paths. Beyond the religious realm, and compared with other religions:

- “sin” can be thought of as “missing the mark,” not awakening to your innate “enlightened” nature, getting caught in delusion and the illusions of our perceptions, and suffering rooted in identification with and attachment to an illusory "self," ideas, desires, the past or future, etc.

- “karma” can be thought of as cause and effect in the present moment and the potentially lingering effects of mind and body as we experience them now

- “heaven” and “hell” can be thought of as states of mind in the present moment

- "rebirth" or "reincarnation" can be thought of as the changing nature of each new moment; every moment of our past was a "past life," and each new moment is a rebirth- it is how we perceive and experience our new "births" that determines the quality and nature of each new "birth"

- "salvation" can be thought of as freedom from suffering/ dukkha, the extinction of all that leads to suffering/dukkha.

Like all religions, Buddhism has evolved over time and there are different sects and schools of Buddhism with varied emphases on doctrines and scriptures, experiential practices (including meditation), and ethics. But at the heart of Buddhism for many lie the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, and at the heart of mindfulness/ meditation for many is the Satipattana Sutta (often translated as The Four Foundations of Mindfulness (but may perhaps be better translated as "the discourse on the presence of mindfulness" or "the discourse on attending with mindfulness").

Go to Benefits of Mindfulness and Meditation

Go to the Four Noble Truths

Go to The Foundations of Mindfulness