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The Four Noble Truths are the fundamental teachings of the Buddha, they comprise:

  • Suffering - we suffer because we attach to things that are impermanent
  • This suffering has three causes - desire, hatred and delusion also known as attachment, aversion and ignorance.
  • We can end our own suffering by ceasing our attachment to impermanent things
  • The Buddha presents a way to end suffering through an Eightfold path

The classical definition of these teachings is that the Buddha is a doctor and the first two Noble Truths are a diagnosis of an illness (suffering), the third truth is our own realisation that there is both an illness and a cure and the fourth truth is the cure.

My own personal view is that every Buddhist teaching or practise is essentially based on these Noble Truths. The essence of the teaching is to understand that if you suffer- there is a cause and that you are able to directly have an effect on it. It's about taking responsibility for what we do, say and think.

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12y ago

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