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Four Noble Truths

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The Four Noble Truths (Pali: Cattāri ariyasaccāni, Sanskrit: Catvāri āryasatyāni, Chinese: Sìshèngdì, Thai: อริยสัจสี่, Ariyasaj Sii) are one of the most fundamental Buddhist teachings. They appear many times throughout the most ancient Buddhist texts, the Pali Canon. They are among the truths Gautama Buddha is said to have realized during his experience of enlightenment.[1]

Why the Buddha is said to have taught in this way is illuminated by the social context of the time in which he lived. The Buddha was a Śramaṇa, a wandering ascetic whose "aim was to discover the truth and attain happiness."[2] He is said to have achieved this aim while under a bodhi tree near the Ganges River; the Four Noble Truths are a formulation of his alleged understanding of the nature of "suffering",[3] the fundamental cause of all suffering, the escape from suffering, and what effort a person can go to so that they themselves can "attain happiness."[2]

These truths are not expressed as a hypothesis or tentative idea, rather the Buddha says:

These Four Noble Truths, monks, are actual, unerring, not otherwise. Therefore, they are called noble truths.[4]

The Buddha says that he taught them...

...because it is beneficial, it belongs to the fundamentals of the holy life, it leads to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nirvana. That is why I have declared it.[5]

This teaching was the basis of the Buddha's first discourse after his enlightenment.[6] In early Buddhism[7]and traditional Theravada[8] this is an advanced teaching for those who are ready.

Mahayana Buddhism regards these as a preliminary teaching for people not ready for its own teachings.[9]

Strictly speaking, "truths" is a mistranslation; "realities" would be better: these are "things", not statements, in the original grammar.[10]

Four Noble Truths

  1. The Nature of Dukkha: Suffering exists in life. This is the noble truth of dukkha: Dukkha is usually translated as "suffering" in English. Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, sickness is dukkha, death is dukkha; union with what is displeasing is dukkha; separation from what is pleasing is dukkha; not to get what one wants is dukkha; to get what one does not want is dukkha; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are dukkha. This first Noble Truth reflects on the nature of suffering. It comments on types of suffering, identifying each type in turn. A more accurate simplification of this truth is "Life is full of suffering."
  2. The Origin of Dukkha (Samudaya): Suffering is caused by craving. This is the noble truth of the origin of dukkha: It is craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination. The second Noble Truth reflects on the sources of suffering.) Put very simply, it states that suffering results from expectations linked to our desires, and our attachment to those desires themselves.
  3. The Cessation of Dukkha (Nirodha): To eliminate suffering, eliminate craving. This is the noble truth of the cessation of dukkha: It is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, and non-reliance on it. The third Noble Truth reflects on the belief that suffering can be eliminated. It asserts that it can be done, and that it has been done.
  4. The Way Leading to the Cessation of Dukkha (Magga): To eliminate craving follow the Eightfold Path. This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of dukkha: It is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. [6][11]

Variant Understanding of the Four Noble Truths Within Mahayana

Certain major Mahayana sutras, including the Mahaparinirvana Sutra and the Angulimaliya Sutra, present variant versions of the Four Noble Truths in line with their own metaphysics and soteriology. The Srimala Sutra accepts the Four Noble Truths, but insists that only the Third - that of the cessation of suffering - is eternally true. In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha presents a new formulation of the Truths:

  • the Truth of Suffering relates to the failure to recognize the eternity of the Buddha;
  • the Truth of the Cause of Suffering concerns the perversion and distortion of the True Dharma (i.e. wrongly insisting that the Buddha and Dharma are impermanent);
  • the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering relates to the correct meditative cultivation of the tathagatagarbha (indwelling Buddha Essence in all beings) and not erroneously viewing it as non-Self and empty; cessation of suffering also arises with the elimination of inner defilements, when one can then enter into the Buddhic Essence within oneself: "When the afflictions have been eradicated, then one will perceive entry into the tathāgata-garbha";
  • the Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering entails envisioning the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha as eternal, unshakeable and indestructible. (Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, tr. by Kosho Yamamoto, ed. by Dr. Tony Page, Nirvana Publications, London, 1999-2000)

The Angulimaliya Sutra similarly emphasises the seeing and knowing of the Buddha's eternality, immutability and peace as the key factors in liberation from suffering; failure to see this eternal nature of ultimate reality is said to constitute the primary cause of beings' continued entrapment in the sufferings of samsara.

See also

References

MN = Majjhima Nikaya [12]

SN = Samyutta Nikaya [13]

  1. ^ MN. pp. p.106. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  2. ^ a b A.K. Warder (1970). "Indian Buddhism". Delhi. p. 34.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ The term used by the Buddha is dukkha. While suffering - i.e., being in a state of physical or mental pain - is one aspect of dukkha, it is believed by many that suffering is too narrow a translation and that it is best to leave dukkha untranslated: see more at the article Dukkha.
  4. ^ MN. pp. p.1856. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  5. ^ MN. pp. pp.533-536. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  6. ^ a b SN. p. 1844.
  7. ^ Harvey, Introduction to Buddhism, Cambridge University Press, 1990, page 47
  8. ^ New Penguin Handbook of Living Religions, 1998, pages 393f
  9. ^ Harvey, page 92
  10. ^ Gethin, Foundations of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 1998, page 60
  11. ^ Leon Feer, ed. (1976). The Samyutta Nikaya. Vol. 5. London. pp. 421f. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ^ Bhikkhu Nanamoli (1995). Bhikkhu Bodhi (ed.). "The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya". Boston Publisher=Wisdom Publications. {{cite book}}: line feed character in |location= at position 7 (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ Bhikkhu Bodhi (2000). "The Collected Discourses of the Buddha: A new translation of the Samyutta Nikaya". Somerville: Wisdom Publications.

The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra in 12 Volumes (Nirvana Publications, 1999-2000), translated by Kosho Yamamoto, edited and revised by Dr. Tony Page.

  • His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama speaks of the "Four Noble Truths" in a four part video series

at youtube.com:

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