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Four Noble Truths

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Four Noble Truths
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Statement of the basic doctrines of Buddhism. They were formulated by the Buddha Gautama in his first sermon. The truths are (1) existence is suffering; (2) desire, or thirst, is its cause; (3) the cessation of suffering is possible; and (4) the way to accomplish this is to follow the Eightfold Path. Though differently interpreted, these four truths are recognized by virtually all Buddhist schools.

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Philosophy Dictionary: four noble truths
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The four great truths of Buddhism. The first says that all existence is afflicted with suffering. The second truth identifies desire, thirst, or craving as the source of suffering, that binds beings to the cycle of existence (samsara). The third truth asserts that through the elimination of craving, suffering can be brought to an end. The fourth truth identifies the eightfold path as the means to eliminate suffering and escape from samsara.

Buddhism Dictionary: Four Noble Truths
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The four foundational propositions of Buddhist doctrine ennunciated by the Buddha in his first sermon (Dharma-cakra-pravartana sūtra). The first Noble Truth (Sanskrit, ārya-satya; Pāli, ariyasacca) is duḥkha (Pāli, dukkha), usually translated as ‘suffering’ but often closer in meaning to ‘flawed’ or ‘unsatisfactory’. This states that all existence is painful and frustrating. The second Noble Truth is samudāya or ‘arising’, and explains that suffering arises due to craving (tṛṣṇā; Pāli, taṇhā) for pleasurable sensations and experiences. The third Noble Truth is that of ‘cessation’ (nirodha), which states that suffering can have an end (this is nirvāṇa), and the fourth Noble Truth is the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of eight factors collectively leading to nirvāṇa.

The stereotyped text which often recurs in the Pāli Canon is as follows:

But what, O Monks, is the Noble Truth of Suffering? Birth is suffering, sickness is suffering, old age is suffering, death is suffering; pain, grief, sorrow, lamentation, and despair are suffering. Association with what is unpleasant is suffering, disassociation from what is pleasant is suffering. In short, the five factors of individuality (skandha) are suffering.

This, O Monks, is the Truth of the Arising of Suffering. It is this thirst or craving (tṛṣṇā) which gives rise to rebirth, which is bound up with passionate delight and which seeks fresh pleasure now here and now there in the form of thirst for sensual pleasure, thirst for existence, and thirst for non-existence.

This, O Monks, is the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering. It is the utter cessation of that craving (tṛṣṇā), the withdrawal from it, the renouncing of it, the rejection of it, liberation from it, non-attachment to it.

This, O Monks, is the Truth of the Path that leads to the cessation of suffering. It is this Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of (1) Right View, (2) Right Resolve, (3) Right Speech, (4) Right Action, (5) Right Livelihood, (6) Right Effort, (7) Right Mindfulness, (8) Right Meditation. In the Visuddhimagga (XVI) Buddhaghoṣa uses an analogy with medical treatment to explain the four truths: ‘The truth of Suffering is to be compared with a disease, the truth of the Origin of suffering with the cause of the disease, the truth of Cessation with the cure of the disease, the truth of the Path with the medicine.’

Wikipedia: Four Noble Truths
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Translations of

cattāri ariyasaccāni
English: Four Noble Truths
Pali: cattāri ariyasaccāni
Sanskrit: catvāri āryasatyāni
Burmese: သစ္စာလေးပါး
(thisa lei ba)
Chinese: 四圣諦(T) / 四圣谛(S)
(pinyin: sìshèngdì)
Japanese: 四諦
(rōmaji: shitai)
Thai: อริยสัจสี่
(ariyasaj sii)
Vietnamese: Tứ Diệu Đế
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The Four Noble Truths (or The Four Truths of the Noble Ones[1]) (Sanskrit: catvāri āryasatyāni;Wylie: 'phags pa'i bden pa bzhi; Pali: cattāri ariyasaccāni) is one of the most fundamental Buddhist teachings. In broad terms, these truths relate to suffering (or dukkha), its nature, its origin, its cessation and the path leading to its cessation. They are among the truths Sidhartha Gautama is said to have realized during his experience of enlightenment.[2]

The Four Noble Truths appear many times, throughout the most ancient Buddhist texts, the Pali Canon. The early teaching and the traditional understanding in Theravada is that the Four Noble Truths are an advanced teaching for those who are ready for them. Mahayana Buddhism regards them as a preliminary teaching for people not ready for its own teachings.[3] The Four Noble Truths are little known in the Far East.[citation needed]

Some may see "truths" as a mistranslation (one author cites "realities" as a possibly better choice: these are things, not statements, in the original grammar[4]). However, the original Tibetan Lotsawas (Sanskrit: locchāwa; Tibetan: lo ts'a ba), who studied Sanskrit grammar thoroughly, did translate the term from Sanskrit into Tibetan as "bden pa" which has the full meaning of "truth".

Contents

Background

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."[5] He is said to have achieved this aim while under a bodhi tree near the River Neranjana; the Four Noble Truths are a formulation of his understanding of the nature of "suffering",[6] 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."[5]

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.[7]

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 of suffering, to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nirvana. That is why I have declared it.[8]

This teaching was the basis of the Buddha's first discourse after his enlightenment.[9] In early Buddhism this is the most advanced teaching in the Buddha's Gradual Training.

Pali and Chinese canon text

  1. The Nature of Suffering (Dukkha):
    "This is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering."[9][10]
  2. Suffering's Origin (Samudaya):
    "This is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination."[9][10]
  3. Suffering's Cessation (Nirodha):
    "This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it."[9][10]
  4. The Way (Magga) Leading to the Cessation of Suffering:
    "This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration."[11][12]

Mahayana understanding of the Four Noble Truths

Certain major Mahayana sutras, including the Mahaparinirvana Sutra and the Angulimaliya Sutra, present variant versions of the Four Noble Truths.

These views are specific to certain Mahayana schools, most notably the Tathagatagarbha and Jonangpa traditions. Other Buddhist traditions such as Madhyamaka and Zen would deny the ideas that the Buddha and his Dharma are eternal and that one's inner Buddha nature is not empty.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Duff (2008), p. 17
  2. ^ Nanamoli (1995), p. 106
  3. ^ Harvey (1990), p. 92.
  4. ^ Gethin (1998), p. 60.
  5. ^ a b Warder (1970), p. 34.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Nanamoli (1995), p. 1856.
  8. ^ Nanamoli (1995), pp. 533-36.
  9. ^ a b c d Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11), trans. Bodhi (2000), pp. 1843-47.
  10. ^ a b c "轉法輪經". Cbeta. http://w3.cbeta.org/result/normal/T02/0109_001.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-28. 
  11. ^ SN 56.11, trans. Bodhi (2000), p. 1844. In this translation, Bodhi elides the six middle factors of the Noble Eightfold Path (between right view and right concentration). Thus Bodhi's translation for the six middle factors was taken from his translation of SN 45.1 (Bodhi, 2000, p. 1523-24). See also Feer (1976), p. 421f.
  12. ^ In AN 3.61, the Buddha provides an alternate elaboration on the second and third noble truths identifying the arising and cessation of suffering in accordance with Dependent Origination's Twelve Causes, from ignorance to old age and death (Thanissaro, 1997).

References

  • Duff, Tony (2008). Contemplation by way of the Twelve Interdependent Arisings. Kathmandu, Nepal: Padma Karpo Translation Committee. Retrieved on 2008-8-19 from http://www.tibet.dk/pktc/gelugpa.htm
  • Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.) (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-331-1. 
  • Gethin, Rupert (1988). Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford University Press.
  • Harvey, Peter (1990). Introduction to Buddhism. Cambridge University Press.
  • Nanamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) (1995, ed. Bhikkhu Bodhi). The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-072-X. 
  • Yamamoto, Kosho (1999-2000, ed. & rev. by Dr. Tony Page). The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra in 12 Volumes. Nirvana Publications.
                                                                                                               By Sonia

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