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Buddhism - The Four Noble Truths
Therefore, they are called noble truths."
Several weeks after his enlightenment and awakening, Buddha Gautama gave his first sermon at "Deer Park", in Sarnath, Varanasi - North East India. The sermon included the "Four noble truths", upon which the basis of Buddhism and the understanding of the world, the mind, the understanding of life itself is founded.
1. Dukkha - The Truth of Suffering.
The Pali word for suffering is "Dukkha", yet the true depth of the meaning is much more than this, and also means intolerable, un-satisfying, imperfect, and even stress. Buddha’s first noble truth is the awareness of this suffering, and that it is inescapable. Even in happiness, the moment is only fleeting, and joy may be only a brief interruption from the life that is borne of suffering.
Birth is suffering, illness is suffering, ageing is suffering, death is suffering. The subconscious knowledge that happiness is only fleeting, and transitory, also leads us to suffering - even when we should be happy, we may feel depressed knowing the "party" will soon be over. We may suffer from physical disabilities and illness, or suffer from the illness of the mind, it’s thoughts. We may even suffer thinking about the world’s problems in general, even though we should otherwise know better.
As sentient beings we are blessed with the gift of intelligence, and understanding. Yet the understanding of ourselves is often neglected. When the world does not appear to conform to our expectations, we become disillusioned and unhappy. We may lose faith in our position in life, we may lose confidence. We become dissatisfied with the world, with ourselves, which leads to more suffering.
We all have the potential for suffering, and thus the opportunity to create our own pain and suffering. Therefore even when we are happy, and the world is as perfect as it can possibly be, the potential is still present, it merely lies dormant. The root of suffering lies within ourselves.
So in other words, all is suffering, life is suffering. Yet this does not exactly mean, "to live is to suffer".
2. Samudaya - The Truth of the origin of suffering.
Logically, to seek the escape of suffering, we must first seek the cause of suffering. We must investigate what causes these feelings and negative thoughts. The root is delusion caused by "attachment", "anger", and "ignorance". These negative thoughts give rise to negative actions, that promote suffering in oneself, and beyond ourselves to others around us.
Desires and craving are a root cause of suffering. These are attachments. Our memories and thoughts of fleeting happiness give rise to desire and craving, craving more - lust, greed, gluttony. Yet we know without question, these are also fleeting things, and thus our understanding of fleeting happiness is realised.
Yet attachment may have a very much deeper level. Buddha tells us that it is the attachment to life itself, that keeps us trapped in a cycle of existence or "Samsara". If we can understand this attachment to identity, to the "self" - would it be possible to transcend this existence altogether?
Anger causes suffering, not only for oneself, but for others. It can be quite contagious in the battle for right and wrong, and the battle of ego’s and judgment, in the everyday struggle of life and duties. Ultimately, one may say that fear is the root cause of anger and disagreement. The fear of being wrong, and accepting responsibility, the fear of a shaken belief, and the need to apologise. This root cause of suffering can explode to unimaginable proportions, [world war?]
Ignorance is a cause of suffering. As we tread our hapless path through everyday life, we may find suffering round every corner, not necessarily through our own actions, but because of our lack of understanding the reasons for them. Perceptions and misunderstanding lead us into everyday situations and problems. The way we deal with these situations may lead to suffering.
Hindsight is the realisation, and it is wisdom that wags it’s finger at our mistakes and stumbling.
3. Nirodha - The Truth of the cessation of suffering.
The understanding of the first two noble truths above, is the foundation to salvation from the life of suffering. Using the wisdom of insight and self awareness is the key to unlocking the door to inner peace and happiness. Practising this self awareness, or mindfulness is the method to understand the causes of suffering, and the situations that lead to it.
By being vigilant in mind, we may overcome these situations. And as we become more proficient, the practice becomes a way of life for us to follow. The important thing is to understand that suffering can be overcome with wisdom and correct thinking. That the causes of suffering can be overcome if understood for what they really are.
The ultimate goal is to achieve "Nirvana", a state of being devoid of suffering, and freedom from the cyclic existence that keeps us in suffering. This is the higher state of existence that the Buddha found through his wisdom and meditation. It is also the final state of freedom to which the Buddha finally past away at the end of his days.
4. Marga - The Path of the way to cessation of suffering.
The Buddha tells us of the method to overcome suffering, using the "Eight fold path". By following this wisdom and awareness, a life of inner peace and happiness can be achieved. Although the ultimate goal is still to achieve Nirvana, and total freedom from the life cycle or "Samsara". The Buddha called this method "the middle way" between asceticism and over indulgence.
It is the method for wisdom and mindfulness that leads to the understanding of delusions, and attachments, and cravings that keep us in a cycle of suffering. It is the method to sow the seeds of good "Karma", and maintain inner peace.
"I teach on suffering and the way to end it".
The Three marks of existence are governed by pain, impermanence and egolessness.
Pain, as described in the Four noble truths, is the result of suffering, of Dukkha. We can be responsible for our own pain and suffering, because of our expectations of ourselves and the world around us. We feel we can somehow challenge or change the world to fit our needs, and whilst this may have some success sometimes, in the long view, it can be quite impossible to do this. Hence the suffering.
Impermanence is the realisation that all things are in a state of flux and change. It is the key to understanding that nothing is as it seems and as we would have it. Therefore it is impossible to attempt to control events, or covert the notions that we can manipulate the world to our own purpose.
Ego is the promotion of the self, and at best can lead us into all sorts of troubles. As we try to impress our own sense of importance and attempt to change circumstances to our advantage, the strength of ego increases, causing conflict and disagreements. At worst, it is imposing on others, and harms ourselves, even though the ego may strive to win, we take with us the battle scars of unhappiness, and regret.
You may notice the very logical and objective way in which the Buddha has formulated these four noble truths. This is no accident. It shows the logical nature of the mind of the Buddha, and gives us an insight into his character and his mindset. It is almost uncanny in it’s method and wisdom of diagnosis and understanding, and the similarities may be drawn with modern psychological treatments and techniques used today.
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