The foundation of Buddhism is the teaching that all human striving is, at a fundamental level, an effort to avoid discomfort. This religion teaches that the solution to all human dissatisfaction lies not in all the distractions people seek to feel better. Instead, the ultimate solution is to seek the peace and awakening called nirvana. In brief, the Four Noble Truths are:
- All experiences are dissatisfying (duhkha);
- Desire is the cause of dissatisfaction;
- Nirvana is the cessation of dissatisfaction;
- The Eightfold Path is the means of reaching nirvana.
This article will discuss each Truth in turn.
The Truth of Duhkha
The First Noble Truth is that all experiences are duhkha (Pali: dukkha). Often translated as “suffering,” duhkha more accurately means discomfort, irritation and unhappiness. One might think of duhkha as a sense of dissatisfaction with all of life’s experiences.
Certainly one can agree that ills such as sickness and old age are suffering, as well as the loss of a loved one, or accidents, or other traumatic events. But duhkha encapsulates something more than this. Life is full of inconveniences. Paying bills, for example, is an aggravation. Stress in one’s job. Worries over the health of one’s children. The end of a relationship. Duhkha is a psychological phenomenon: it is the sense of being disquieted or bothered by a hundred little things every day that motivate most human activity.
Desire is the Cause of Dissatisfaction
The Second Noble Truth teaches that the cause of duhkha is desire. The Buddha’s first sermon used the descriptive metaphor “thirst” for this teaching. One is uncomfortable because one thirsts for things.
How does desire lead to dissatisfaction? Consider the feeling of hunger. Most would consider this an unpleasant state, and so get something to eat to stop feeling hungry. Now although hunger is sated, the enjoyment of food will eventually end: either one will be full and get a stomachache, or one will get sick of the food itself. And later they will be hungry again.
The Second Noble Truth teaches that desire, rooted in dissatisfaction, is the basic motivation for all action. If one sticks with the example of hunger, one notes the problems associated with food and its consumption: obesity, heart disease, dissatisfaction with one’s bodily image. But the principle applies to other things, too. Dissatisfaction leads to desire for relationships or consumption of material comforts or other endeavors which, the Buddha asserted, can in themselves only lead to more dissatisfaction.
The Truth of Nirvana
The Third Noble Truth teaches that goal of all Buddhist practice is the attainment of nirvana (Pali: nibbana). To attain nirvana is to extinguish all desires that lead to duhkha –in effect, to achieve the end of duhkha. To find nirvana is to find peace and acceptance of all experiences as they are. It is a form of awakening, the state of seeing all things in their own nature, without the distortions of desire.
Whereas early forms of Buddhism conceived of nirvana as a final state, the development of Mahayana Buddhism reinterpreted the goal of Buddhism. No longer was it the goal of a solitary monk to achieve nirvana through his meditative efforts. Instead, the truly altruistic Buddhist sought to postpone his or her own awakening until all beings reached nirvana. All beings should experience the knowing serenity of enlightenment together.
The Eightfold Path
The Fourth Noble Truth is called the "Eightfol Path" and it lays out a path to reach nirvana. These eight elements aim to transform the way one acts, speaks, and thinks so as not to generate new desires and hence not to create duhkha.
The first two, “Right View” and “Right Intention,” aim at cultivating wisdom in the practitioner. The next set of four are “Right Speech,” “Right Action, “Right Livelihood,” and “Right Effort.” Collectively, these act as moral precepts. Right Speech, for example, is an admonition not to lie, slander, or otherwise harm others with words. Finally, the last two elements of the path, “Right Awareness” and “Right Concentration,” refer to the meditative practices the Buddhist undertakes to change the way his or her mind works.
The Four Noble Truths and Buddhist Salvation
The Four Noble Truths were the subject of the Buddha’s first sermon after he attained nirvana. They form the basis of the Buddhist path and succinctly encapsulate the Buddhist message. One way of looking at them is as a “diagnosis” of the human condition together with the “cure” for life’s ills. They are a prescription for the Buddhist path to salvation.
Once one accepts that all life’s striving is rooted in the sense of dissatisfaction, then the way out of dissatisfaction is to seek an end to desires. According to Buddhism, this is what will ultimately bring peace.
Sources:
Rahula, Walpola. What the Buddha Taught. (Grove Press, 1974).
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