The Four Noble Truths (Pali: Cattāri ariyasaccāni, Sanskrit: Catvāri āryasatyāni, Chinese: Sìshèngdì, Thai: อริยสัจสี่, Ariyasaj Sii) are one of the most fundamental Buddhist teachings. They appear many times throughout the most ancient Buddhist texts, the Pali Canon. They are among the truths Gautama Buddha realized during his experience of enlightenment.^[1] Why the Buddha 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"^[2] The Buddha claimed to have achieved this aim while under a bodhi tree near the Ganges River; the Four Noble Truths are a formulation of his understanding of the nature of "suffering",^[3] 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."^[4] Pali (IAST: ) is a Middle Indo-Aryan dialect or prakrit. ... The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... A silhouette of Buddha at Ayutthaya, Thailand. ... Standard edition of the Thai Pali Canon The Pali Canon is the standard scripture collection of the Theravada Buddhist tradition. ... Standing Buddha sculpture, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE, Musée Guimet. ... Bodhi (बोधि) is the Pāli and Sanskrit word for the awakened or knowing consciousness of a fully liberated yogi, generally translated into English as enlightenment. It is an abstract noun formed from the verbal root budh (to awake, become aware, notice, know or understand), corresponding to the verbs bujjhati (P... A (Sanskrit) or (Pāli) is a wandering monk in certain ascetic traditions of ancient India, including: Jainism Buddhism Ä€jÄ«vika religion (now extinct) Mahavira, the 24th Jina, and Gautama Buddha were leaders of their shramana orders. ... The Bodhi Tree at the Mahabodhi Temple. ... Suffering is any aversive (not necessarily unwanted) experience and the corresponding negative emotion. ...

These truths are not expressed as a theory or tentative idea, rather the Buddha says:

The Buddha said that he taught them...

This teaching was the basis of the Buddha's first discourse after his enlightenment.^[7] According to the traditional Theravada interpretation, following scriptural passages, this is an advanced teaching for those who are ready.^[8] Bodhi (बोधि) is the Pāli and Sanskrit word for the awakened or knowing consciousness of a fully liberated yogi, generally translated into English as enlightenment. It is an abstract noun formed from the verbal root budh (to awake, become aware, notice, know or understand), corresponding to the verbs bujjhati (P... ( Sanskrit: ; Pali: निब्बान Nibbāna; Vietnamese: Niết bàn; Chinese: 涅槃; Mandarin Pinyin: nièpán, Cantonese: nihppùhn; Japanese: nehan ); Korean: 열반, yeolbhan; Thai: nibpan นิพพาน); Tibetan mya-ngan-las-das-pa; Mongolian ɣasalang-aca nögcigsen), is a Sanskrit word that literally means to cease blowing (as when a candle flame...

Mahayana Buddhism contains within itself an alternative version of the Four Noble Truths, in which the immortality of the Buddha occupies a central position.

Four Noble Truths

1. The Nature of Dukkha: All life is suffering. This is the noble truth of "dukkha": the word "Dukkha" is usually translated as "suffering" in English. Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, sickness is dukkha, death is dukkha; union with what is displeasing is dukkha; separation from what is pleasing is dukkha; not to get what one wants is dukkha; to get what one does not want is dukkha; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are dukkha. This first Noble Truth reflects on the nature of suffering. It comments on types of suffering, identifying each type in turn. A more accurate simplification of this truth is "Life is full of suffering."
2. The Origin of Dukkha (Samudaya): Suffering is caused by desire. This is the noble truth of the origin of dukkha: It is craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination. The second Noble Truth reflects on the sources of suffering (Dukkha.) Put very simply, it states that suffering results from expectations linked to our desires, and our attachment to those desires themselves.
3. The Cessation of Dukkha (Nirodha): To eliminate suffering, eliminate desire. This is the noble truth of the cessation of dukkha: It is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, and non-reliance on it. The third Noble Truth reflects on the belief that suffering can be eliminated. It asserts that it can be done, and that it has been done.
4. The Way Leading to the Cessation of Dukkha (Magga): To eliminate desire follow the Eightfold Path. This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of Dukkha: It is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. ^[7][9]

Dukkha (Pāli दुक्ख ; according to grammatical tradition from Sanskrit uneasy, but according to Monier-Williams more likely a Prakritized form of unsteady, disquieted) is a central concept in Buddhism, the word roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including sorrow, suffering, affliction, pain, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress... Dukkha (Pāli दुक्ख ; according to grammatical tradition from Sanskrit uneasy, but according to Monier-Williams more likely a Prakritized form of unsteady, disquieted) is a central concept in Buddhism, the word roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including sorrow, suffering, affliction, pain, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress... The skandhas (Sanskrit: Pāli: Khandha; literally: heap or bundle) are the five constituents or aggregates through which the functioning and experience of an individual is created according to Buddhist phenomenology. ... Taṇhā (Pāli: तण्हा) or Tṛṣṇā (Sanskrit: तृष्णा) means thirst, desire, craving, wanting, longing, yearning. Synonyms: æ„› Cn: ài; Jp: ai; Vi: ái Tibetan: The most basic of these meanings (the literal meaning) is thirst; however, in Buddhism it has a technical meaning that is much broader. ... Rebirth in Buddhism is the doctrine that the consciousness of a person (as conventionally regarded), upon the death or dissolution of the aggregates (skandhas) which make up that person, becomes one of the contributing causes for the arising of a new group of skandhas which may again be conventionally considered... Dukkha (Pāli दुक्ख ; according to grammatical tradition from Sanskrit uneasy, but according to Monier-Williams more likely a Prakritized form of unsteady, disquieted) is a central concept in Buddhism, the word roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including sorrow, suffering, affliction, pain, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress... Dukkha (Pāli दुक्ख ; according to grammatical tradition from Sanskrit uneasy, but according to Monier-Williams more likely a Prakritized form of unsteady, disquieted) is a central concept in Buddhism, the word roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including sorrow, suffering, affliction, pain, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress... The Dharma wheel, often used to represent the Noble Eightfold Path The Noble Eightfold Path (Pāli: Ariyo aá¹­á¹­haá¹…giko maggo; Sanskrit: Ä€rya ṣṭāṅga mārgaḥ; Chinese: 八正道, Bāzhèngdào; Japanese: 八正道, Hasshōdō, Thai: อริยมรรคแปด, Ariya Mugg Paad, Mongolian qutuÉ£tan-u naiman gesigün-ü mör) is, in...

Variant Understanding of the Four Noble Truths Within Mahayana

Certain major Mahayana sutras, including the Mahaparinirvana Sutra and the Angulimaliya Sutra, present variant versions of the Four Noble Truths in line with their own metaphysics and soteriology. The Srimala Sutra accepts the Four Noble Truths, but insists that only the Third - that of the cessation of suffering - is eternally true. In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha presents a new formulation of the Truths: Nirvana Sutra or Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Chinese: Niepan Jing (涅槃經); Japanese: Nehangyō (涅槃経)) is one of the major texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism. ... The Angulimaliya Sutra is a Buddhist scripture belonging to the Tathagatagarbha class of sutras, which teaches the reality of the Tathagatagarbha (Buddha-Essence) immanent within all beings and, indeed, within all phenomena. ... Plato (Left) and Aristotle (right), by Raphael (Stanza della Segnatura, Rome) Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of reality, being, and the world. ... Soteriology is the study of salvation. ... The Śrīmālā Sūtra (full title: ) is one of the main early Mahayana Buddhist texts that taught the theories of tathagatagarbha and the Single Vehicle, through the words of the Indian Queen Śrīmālā. It was translated to... Nirvana Sutra or Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (Chinese: Niepan Jing (涅槃經); Japanese: Nehangyō (涅槃経)) is one of the major texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism. ...

• the Truth of Suffering relates to the failure to recognize the eternity of the Buddha;

• the Truth of the Cause of Suffering concerns the perversion and distortion of the True Dharma (i.e. wrongly insisting that the Buddha and Dharma are impermanent);

• the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering relates to the correct meditative cultivation of the tathagatagarbha (indwelling Buddha Essence in all beings) and not erroneously viewing it as non-Self and empty; cessation of suffering also arises with the elimination of inner defilements, when one can then enter into the Buddhic Essence within oneself: "When the afflictions have been eradicated, then one will perceive entry into the tathāgata-garbha";

• the Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering entails envisioning the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha as eternal, unshakeable and indestructible. (Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, tr. by Kosho Yamamoto, ed. by Dr. Tony Page, Nirvana Publications, London, 1999-2000)

The Angulimaliya Sutra similarly emphasises the seeing and knowing of the Buddha's eternality, immutability and peace as the key factors in liberation from suffering; failure to see this eternal nature of ultimate reality is said to constitute the primary cause of beings' continued entrapment in the sufferings of samsara. The Tathagatagarbha doctrine says that each sentient being contains the potential to become a Buddha. ... Buddha-nature (originally in Sanskrit, Buddha-dhatu - Buddha Element, Buddha-Principle) is a doctrine important for many schools of Mahayana Buddhism. ... The Angulimaliya Sutra is a Buddhist scripture belonging to the Tathagatagarbha class of sutras, which teaches the reality of the Tathagatagarbha (Buddha-Essence) immanent within all beings and, indeed, within all phenomena. ...

See also

• List of Buddhist topics

Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z The following is a List of Buddhist topics: A Abhidharma Ahimsa Ajahn Ajahn Chah Ajanta Aksobhya Alexandra David-Néel...

References

The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra in 12 Volumes (Nirvana Publications, 1999-2000), translated by Kosho Yamamoto, edited and revised by Dr. Tony Page. Dukkha (Pāli दुक्ख ; according to grammatical tradition from Sanskrit uneasy, but according to Monier-Williams more likely a Prakritized form of unsteady, disquieted) is a central concept in Buddhism, the word roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including sorrow, suffering, affliction, pain, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress... Suffering is any aversive (not necessarily unwanted) experience and the corresponding negative emotion. ... Dukkha (Pāli दुक्ख ; according to grammatical tradition from Sanskrit uneasy, but according to Monier-Williams more likely a Prakritized form of unsteady, disquieted) is a central concept in Buddhism, the word roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including sorrow, suffering, affliction, pain, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress...

External links

• His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama speaks of the "Four Noble Truths" in a four part video series

at youtube.com:

• • Part 1
  • Part 2
  • Part 3
  • Part 4
• The Four Noble Truths as in the Buddhist Encyclopedia.
• At Access to Insight:
  • The Four Noble Truths: A Study Guide (by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
  • Wings to Awakening Section 3.H.i: The Four Noble Truths (translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
• Talks given by Ajahn Sumedho:
  • At Amaravati Monastery's web: The Four Noble Truths
  • PDF version at Buddhanet.net: The Four Noble Truths eBook
• A View on the Four Noble Truths
• The Light of Asia (Book Eight), a poem in iambic pentameter by Sir Edwin Arnold.
• 4 noble truths in pali
• Buddhism - the Four Noble Truths
• The Feeling Buddha: An alternate interpretation of the Four Noble Truths.
• Sixteen Aspects of the Four Noble Truths
• Nirvana Sutra, for full text of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra and link to other tathagatagarbha sutras (including the Angulimaliya Sutra).
• Etymology of the Pāli "ariyasacca"