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Overview

The Four Noble Truths are central to the teachings of Buddhism.

Brief description

Overview

The four noble truths are:

1. The truth of suffering
2. The truth of the origin of suffering
3. The truth of the cessation of suffering
4. The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering

In the Buddhist discourses, the Buddha is often referred to as a doctor, and the four noble truths are formulated according to the ancient Indian medical model as follows:

1. There is an illness
2. There is a cause(s) of the illness (the diagnosis)
3. There is a possibility of a cure of the illness (the prognosis)
4. There is a prescription or treatment for the illness that can bring about a cure

Bhikkhu Bodhi explains:

The Buddha sets out the Four Truths as a formula a doctor uses to deal with a patient. The Buddha first sets out the basic affliction of human life, the problem of dukkha [i.e. suffering, dissatisfaction]. Thereafter he makes the diagnosis, explaining the cause for the disease; this is the second truth as craving. As a third step the doctor gives a prognosis. He determines the possibility of a cure, the cessation of dukkha. The Buddha says that suffering can be ended . As the fourth step the doctor prescribes the course of treatment. So too Buddha prescribed the fourth truth, the Noble Eightfold Path.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu writes:

These four truths are best understood, not as beliefs, but as categories of experience. They offer an alternative to the ordinary way we categorize what we can know and describe–in terms of me/not me, and being/not being. These ordinary categories create trouble, for the attempt to maintain full being for one's sense of "me" is a stressful effort doomed to failure, in that all of the components of that "me" are inconstant, stressful, and thus not worthy of identifying as "me" or "mine."

To counter this problem, the four noble truths drop ideas of me/not me, and being/not being, and replace them with two sets of variables: cause and effect, skillful and unskillful. In other words, there is the truth of stress and suffering (unskillful effect), the truth of the origination of stress (unskillful cause), the truth of the cessation of stress (skillful effect), and the truth of the path to the cessation of stress (skillful cause). Each of these truths entails a duty: stress is to be comprehended, the origination of stress abandoned, the cessation of stress realized, and the path to the cessation of stress developed. When all of these duties have been fully performed, the mind gains total release...

Thus the study of the four noble truths is aimed first at understanding these four categories, and then at applying them to experience so that one may act properly toward each of the categories and thus attain the highest, most total happiness possible.

Chogyam Trungpa writes:

The four noble truths are divided into two sections. The first two truths–the truth of suffering and the origin of suffering–are studies in the samsaric versions of ourselves and the reasons we arrived in certain situations or came to particular conclusions about ourselves. The second two truths–the truth of cessation and the truth of the path–are studies of how we could go beyond or overcome it. They are related with the journey and the potentiality of nirvana, freedom, and emancipation. Suffering is regarded as the result of samsara, and the origin of suffering as the cause of samsara. The path is regarded as the cause of nirvana, and the cessation of suffering is the result. In this regard, samsara means ongoing agony, and samsara means transcending agony and such problems as bewilderment, dissatisfaction, and anxiety.

First truth: suffering

The first noble truth is the truth of suffering. The term suffering is used as a translation of the Sanskrit term duhkha (Pali: dukkha), which has a broader meaning than the typical use of the word suffering in English.

Bhikkhu Bodhi explains:

The word dukkha has often been translated as suffering, pain and misery. But dukkha as used by the Buddha has a much wider and a deeper meaning. It suggests a basic unsatisfactoriness pervading all existence, all forms of life, due to the fact that all forms of life are changing, impermanent and without any inner core or substance. The term, dukkha, indicates a lack of perfection, a condition that never measures up to our standards and expectations.

Traleg Kyabgon writes:

The first of the Four Noble Truths is suf­fering, which is the usual translation of the Sanskrit word duhkha (Pali, dukkha). We should qualify that translation by saying that this does not mean that the Buddha didn’t acknowledge the existence of happiness or contentment in life. The point that he was making is that there is happiness and also sorrow in the world; but the reason why everything we experience in our everyday life is said to be duh­kha is that even when we have some kind of happiness, it is not permanent; it is subject to change. So unless we can gain insight into that truth and understand what is really able to give us happiness, and what is unable to provide happiness, the experience of dissatisfac­tion will persist.

Normally we think our happiness is contingent upon external circumstances and situations, rather than upon our own inner atti­tude toward things, or toward life in general. The Buddha was saying that dissatisfaction is part of life, even if we are seeking happiness and even if we manage to find temporary happiness. The very fact that it is temporary means that sooner or later the happiness is going to pass. So the Buddha said that unless we understand this and see how pervasive dissatisfaction or duhkha is, it is impossible for us to start looking for real happiness.

According to the Buddha, even when we think we are trying to find real happiness, we are not doing it effectively, because we don’t have the right attitude and we don’t know where to look for it. The Buddha was not against happiness; rather, he gave us a method of finding out how to overcome that sense of dissatisfaction, and this method is part of the last Noble Truth.

Ajahn Sumedho explains:

It is important to reflect upon the phrasing of the First Noble Truth. It is phrased in a very clear way: "There is suffering", rather than "I suffer". Psychologically, that reflection is a much more skilful way to put it. We tend to interpret our suffering as "I’m really suffering. I suffer a lot–and I don’t want to suffer." This is the way our thinking mind is conditioned.

"I am suffering" always conveys the sense of "I am somebody who is suffering a lot. This suffering is mine; I’ve had a lot of suffering in my life." Then the whole process, the association with one’s self and one’s memory, takes off. You remember what happened when you were a baby...and so on.

But note, we are not saying there is someone who has suffering. It is not personal suffering anymore when we see it as "There is suffering". . . To let go of suffering, we have to admit it into consciousness. But the admission in Buddhist meditation is not from a position of: "I am suffering" but rather, "There is the presence of suffering" because we are not trying to identify with the problem but simply acknowledge that there is one.

Second truth: origin of suffering

The second noble truth is the truth of the origin of suffering.

Bhikkhu Bodhi explains:

Buddha declares that the origin of Dukkha is craving, in Pali 'Tanha'. The Buddha recognizes that there are three types of craving. There can be wholesome desires such as desire to practise the Dhamma, the desire to give, etc. There are also neutral desires, the desire to take a walk, the desire to sleep, etc. And there are unwholesome desires. Tanha means the unwholesome desire - the desire grounded in ignorance, the drive for personal gratification.

Although desire is singled out as the cause of dukkha, it is not the only factor involved in the origination of suffering. However, it is the chief factor. But craving always works within a complex of factors. It is conditioned by ignorance, by the psycho-physical organism and it requires objects.

Third truth: cessation of suffering

The third Noble Truth is the truth of the cessation of suffering. This is the goal of one's spiritual practice in the Buddhist tradition. In the first truth, we find out about the human condition, how it is pervaded by a sense of dissatisfaction, then–in the second truth–we look at the cause of that dissatisfaction, and after that we look at the goal, which is the cessation of suffering–the attainment of nirvana.

Chögyam Trungpa states:

The truth of cessation is a personal discovery. It is not mystical and does not have any connotations of religion or psychology. It is simply your experience... Likewise, cessation is not just a theoretical discovery, but an experience that is very real to you–a sudden gain. It is like experiencing instantaneous good health: you have no cold, no flu, no aches, and no pains in your body. You feel perfectly well, absolutely refreshed and wakeful! Such an experience is possible.

Joseph Goldstein states:

Ajahn Buddhadasa, a well-known Thai master of the last century, said that when village people in India were cooking rice and waiting for it to cool, they might remark, “Wait a little for the rice to become nibbana.” So here, nibbana means the cool state of mind, free from the fires of the defilements. As Ajahn Buddhadasa remarked, “The cooler the mind, the more Nibbana in that moment.” We can notice for ourselves relative states of coolness in our own minds as we go through the day...

Ajahn Buddhadasa spoke of how the coolness of Nibbana continuously nourishes and sustains our life because it puts out the mental fires of greed, anger, and delusion. It would be impossible to live if these fires raged all the time. Temporary Nibbana is the temporary absence of defilements. The supreme state of Nibbana is when all forces of the defilements are extinguished. It’s helpful for us to see and experience this temporary Nibbana, because it inclines us to experience absolute reality, the Unconditioned, the “Ultimate Cool.”

Fourth truth: path to the cessation of suffering

The fourth noble truth is the path to the cessation of suffering.

Traleg Kyabgon states:

The fourth Noble Truth is the path, and this is the essence of Buddhist practice. Known as the Eightfold Noble Path, it is oriented toward developing three things in an individual: moral sensitivity, meditation or the concen­trated mind, and wisdom. Through the practice of moral sensitivity we become better individuals, able to overcome our egocentric ten­dencies. We become more compassionate and more sensitive to the needs of others. Through the practice of meditation our mind be­comes more focused, more resilient, and more aware, which in turn gives rise to wisdom.

Ajahn Sucitto states:

Just as the arising of suffering is a compound of ignorance and craving, and the ceasing is a mix of doing and not-doing, likewise the path isn’t made up of a single track. It consists of eight interconnected factors. Even though it’s called a path, it challenges the temporal and spatial metaphors of “I’m here and I’m going to get there.” We are presented with a path out of suffering, but it’s not about going to another location. It’s about widening and exploring our psychological space, to include it all. . .

The eightfold path has eight limbs but it is only one path, not eight paths going in different directions. It weaves the general understanding of cause and effect into guidance over the way we speak and act and make a living; it blends the application of effort with the balanced composure of concentration. It starts in the resolve and consideration of our own mind, goes out with a sense of scrupulousness and integrity in our relationships with others, and penetrates the workings of our unconscious reflexes and assumptions. It’s a mandala of interconnected factors that support and moderate each other.

Chögyam Trungpa states:

The nature of the path is more like an exploration or an expedition than following a path that has already been built. When people hear that they should follow the path, they might think that a ready-make system exists, and that individual expressions are not required. They may think that one does not have to surrender or give or open. But when you actually begin to tread on the path, you realize that you have to clear out the jungle and all the trees, underbrush, and obstacles growing in front of you. You have to bypass tigers and elephants and poisonous snakes.

Buddha said:

I have shown you the path that leads to liberation

But you should know that liberation depends upon yourself.