Four noble truths (Buddhism)

The four truths revealed to the Buddha in mystic illumination: that the cycle of birth and rebirth is basically suffering; that this suffering is caused by [ignorance]

and the other [afflictions]

, and by actions taking place under their influence; that transcendence of suffering is [nirvana]

, the cessation of sufferings and their origins such that they will never return; and that there are means of attaining nirvana, the [true paths]

or consciousnesses.

1. [Suffering]

(dukkha). This is suffering in the sense of transience, of being in the created world and subject to change and loss. There is suffering in birth, illness and death; in having to deal with what one does not like and being separated from what one likes; in not having one's desires satisfied; and in the five aggregates - [skanda]

- that make up the transient personality. Even in happiness there is sorrow because there is realization that the happiness of this world cannot last. The pleasures of the world, being transient, are not satisfying as spiritual pleasures are, and this lack of satisfaction and harmony motivates the individual to spiritual effort leading to mental awakening, in particular through the shocks of birth, sickness, old age and death. The first truth is to be fully comprehended.

2. [Arising of suffering]

(paticca samuppada). Suffering is caused through thirsting for pleasures of the senses, [tanha]

, through desiring that things should be different from the way they are. Life as it happens now depends on the result of previous acts carried out in ignorance of the divine law, such distorted activity necessarily producing distorted results. This is the effect of clinging to the transient as though the transient were substantial. Forgetting that life is a moving pattern, there is a clinging to life and thus a clinging to death. Change appears as suffering because of the desire to possess or selfishly enjoy something. It is only through attachment to things that change in them becomes distressing. The forcing of experience through cravings creates a future prison which may, however, be escaped from through understanding the nature of the process. The second truth is to be abandoned.

3. [Cessation of suffering]

(nirvana). The cessation of suffering is supreme bliss and final liberation, with the ending of ignorance and craving experienced like health after illness as the cause of suffering is removed. Although it is easier to speak of nirvana in terms of what it is not rather than what it is, this does not necessarily imply that nirvana is annihilation, since there is bliss. It lies beyond positive and negative. The third truth is to be made visible.

4. [The way to cessation of suffering]

(eightfold ariya path). The ordinary (lokiya) and transcendent (lokuttara) paths are not so much a set of steps as a naturally flowing progression of states of mind, the transcendent path leading to harmonious balance with transcending of ordinary understanding and the acquisition of direct knowledge of unconditioned truth. This is the middle way, [majjhima patipada]

, avoiding extremes of indulgence or rigorous self-mortification. The fourth truth is to be brought into being, [bhavana]

, meditation.

One of the paths of calming according to Buddhist teaching.