Discuss in brief the Buddhist teaching of The Four Noble Truths
As humans, suffering or dissatisfaction is something that one experiences perpetually. It is universal to human regardless of background, culture, religion etc. According to Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths can best provide insight towards human suffering. “Truth” here refers to the correct perception of reality (Cheng 2011, 157), this theory was revealed by the Buddha to uncover the delusions in life. The Four Noble Truths are dukkha, the origin of dukkha, the cessation of dukkha and the way leading to the cessation of dukkha. In brief, The Four Noble Truth states that life is filled with suffering; fortunately, it is possible for humans to release themselves from suffering by
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The Buddha states that there are three kinds of cravings in this truth, they are the desire for sense pleasure, to become and to get rid of (BuddhaNet). An example of sensual cravings can simply be the desire to eat more ice-cream, while the desire to become may be the desire to become successful in life. An example of the want to get rid can be the desire to finish an assignment. Thus, these desires are relatable to everyone in everyday dissatisfactions, whether it is minor or major. As for the source of dissatisfactions resulted from the failure in achieving these wants, it is stemmed from three roots of evil. They are greed and desire, ignorance or delusion and hatred and destructive urges, with ignorance as the key factor. Greed and desire, often lead to re-existing and re-becoming. The Buddha explains that one is ignorant when he/she fails to understand the Four Noble Truths, hence unenlightened towards the reality of sufferings. This can possibly lead to negative thoughts; such as desiring more than one has, ultimately causing feelings of jealousy or shamefulness. Eventually, this can lead to disruptive urges in hating others. Though these thoughts may not be consciously aware of, they often guide human’s behaviors. They are related to our psychological state and are applicable to everyone (Rahula 1974, …show more content…
However, this is simply insufficient if the patient does not follow his guidelines. The difference of a patient’s road to recovery and the Four Noble Truth is instead of focusing on physical problems, the latter offers psychological solutions in the eradication of suffering. The Four Truth is the basic tenant of Buddhism teaching. By introducing this teaching, the Buddha wishes to enlighten and free humans from the burden of
The second Noble Truth is, the cause of suffering is the desire for things that are really illusions, such as riches, power, and long life. Siddhartha had all of these things, however, no matter how rich, how powerful, how old, one can not reach nirvana by materialistic matters. In Siddhartha’s life, while a merchant, he played dice. However, when he lost he did not get mad, due to the fact that riches were not greatly important to him.
Buddhism’s approach to ethics and practices are centred upon the principal beliefs of; the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path and the Five Precepts. By adhering to these guidelines, Buddhists are ensured that they are taking a step closer to escaping Samsara, and attaining the revered state of Nirvana,
In order to understand the concepts of the Four Noble Truths, one needs to understand the aim of Buddhist practice. “The aim of Buddhist practice is to cure craving, the desire conditioned by ignorance that leads to suffering” (Demoss 1).2 Buddhism advocates meditation, and a “…goal of Buddhist meditation is to produce right mindfulness, an alert awareness of what is happening in body, mind, and world at the present moment” (Demoss 318).3 “Traditionally, ‘right action’ is defined in Buddhist ethics by the five percepts: do not kill, do not steal, do not engage in illicit sex, do not lie, and do not become intoxicated” (Demoss 319).4 “According to Buddhism a person does not have an intrinsic permanent changeless identity. There is no core self. The self is empty” (Demoss 1).5 The Four Noble Truths provide a conceptual framework for all Buddhist thought. According to the Four Noble Truths, craving leads to suffering, but craving can cease if one cultivates a path of mental discipline, wisdom, and moral conduct (Demoss 309).6 An understanding of Buddhism is...
The Three Jewels, the Five Precepts, the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path greatly influence individuals and the Buddhist community through their everyday lives, whether it be guiding the adherent’s actions, ethical decision making, or practice. Adherents who follow the teachings become more aware that having an ignorant mindset distracts one from living a good life and happy life; “The purpose of life is to be happy” (Dalai Lama). This was explained in Buddha’s first Sermon, “There is addiction to indulgence of sense-pleasures, which is low… the way of ordinary people, unworthy, and unprofitable; and there is addiction to self-mortification, which is painful, unworthy and unprofitable.” (Buddha), thus avoiding both these extremes,
Buddhism in India was born and would eventually rank as the world’s fourth major religion. The Buddha preached his first sermon in Deer Park, still a definitive text for all Buddhists. He proposed a path to enlightenment very different from the elaborate ceremonies and colorful myths attached to the Hindu deities of his youth. The Four Noble Truths: Recognizing and understanding suffering, letting go of self-centered cravings, realizing liberation, and cultivating the path. (Gach) Pain is inseparable part of mankind’s everyday life, our cravings of all kinds are the cause of this pain, and the way off this treadmill is to free oneself of these cravings. This can be achieved by following the Eightfold Path of: Right view, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration. The goal is to break the cycle of reincarnation based on your Karma and to reach Nirvana, the final goal of Buddhism. (Gach) The Buddha said that desire is the cause of suffering, and any kind of over indulgence may lead to addiction. Addicts and alcoholics are experts on desire; addiction is desire run rampant. (Griffin) In his book, Buddhism and the Twelve Steps, Kevin Griffin relates the steps with the practices of
Similar to Hinduism, the cycle of rebirth is undesirable and life is marked by suffering in Buddhism (p.177). Suffering is referred to as dukkha and Buddhism seeks to end suffering through nirvana.While techniques vary, Buddhists share common core beliefs. Suffering is the problem and nirvana is seen as the
The Dhammapada speaks a universal truth, that “desire is unquenchable,” and explains that “he who wishes to awake, consumes his desires joyfully” (Chapter 14). These statements prove similar to the four noble truths, that to live is to suffer, and desire causes suffering; therefore, one cannot avoid temptation because it is ubiquitous. When explaining the outcomes of “craving pleasure or nursing pain,” the Buddha articulates that “there is only sorrow” (Chapter 16). Desire clearly only causes difficulty when attempting to achieve Nirvana, and the Dhammapada seeks to convey the importance of clearing the mind and purifying one’s thoughts. Continuing to contrast lust and happiness, the Buddha explains that “there is pleasure and there is bliss, forgo the first to possess the second” (Chapter 21). One cannot have genuine jubilation while yearnings and allurements cloud the mind. Expressed throughout Buddhist teachings and a main religious text, the action of overpowering desire and lewd thoughts proves a crucial step in eventually reaching
In addition, Buddhism places emphasis on the Four Noble Truths, which is the teaching of Buddha, a guide to enlightenment. These are a set of guidance that basically teaches the followers of Buddha the essence of...
The way to overcome such desires and attain enlightenment is to follow the Eightfold Path, which is called the Middle Way between desires and self-denial.
Furthermore, even the happiest and carefree of people will eventually experience some kind of suffering. The Buddha taught people to recognize that suffering is part of life and that it cannot be avoided. However, this suffering does not only come from the body—it also comes from within. Those who experience loneliness, depression, anxiety, or cannot satisfy their needs and wants are suffering. Despite the negative aspects of suffering, Siddhartha also spoke of happiness through friendships, family life, or health. Though, the downfall to this is that happiness is impermanent—or annica—and will not end all suffering. Buddhists believe that the way to end suffering is to first accept the fact that suffering is a fact of life. The next aspect to recognize is what causes such suffering?
The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism capture ethos of the spirituality and its teachings. By just these four lessons, Buddha preaches the principles of tranquility within meditation of mere concentration. From these truths he developed a guidance referred to as the Eightfold Path, a series of principles that lead to awakening when practiced and understood. He preaches that inevitable suffering comes from desire, however he concludes with a solution to a life lived in nirvana. The first two of the Four Noble Truths are Dukha and Avidya, focusing on the primitive presence of suffering within day to day life. The other two are Nirodha and Magga, contributions to having faith that solvents for all suffering do exist and how it is accomplished. The combination of each understanding is a simple recipe to ultimate salvation, hence the contribution to development of self awareness and happiness within cultures across the map.
The First Noble Truth is suffering or dukkha. This includes physical, emotional and mental forms of suffering but can also be interpreted more widely as a feeling of dissatisfaction'. (Hanh 43)
The pursuit of happiness ultimately leads to disappointment and a lack of satisfaction because people’s cravings can never be entirely fulfilled. Dalai Lama once said “When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, ‘Oh yes – I already have everything that I really need.’” This quote shows that having high expectations of anything leads to disappointment when the expectation is not met. Also, having anticipations for what happiness is makes attained happiness irrelevant and inadequate relative to what one wanted to get
Suffering can be defined as an experience of discomfort suffered by a person during his life. The New York Times published an article entitled what suffering does, by David Brooks (2014). In this article, Brooks explains how suffering plays an important role in our pursuit of happiness. He explains firstly that happiness is found through experiences and then, suffering can also be a motivation in our pursuit of happiness. In other words, suffering is a fearful but necessary gift to acquire happiness. This paper is related to motivation and emotion, two keys words to the pursuit of happiness (King, 2010).
One of the characteristics of Buddhist reality is “dukkha”, which is translated as suffering. The Buddhist understanding of suffering is more of a dissatisfaction or dis-ease with life. This is caused by the constant change that comes with living in the physical world. Even when experiencing a pleasurable time, we are dissatisfied because the moment is fleeting. For example when one homework assignment is completed, we know that soon there will be another. People try to organize their lives but unpredictable things such as death and natural disasters throw life back into a state of disorganization. These things are all examples of dukkha (Ellwood, McGraw, 121-123).