THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha

The Four Stages 1.“blissful stage of meditation” 2.“beyond reasoning” 3.“attentive & conscious, with equal mind to joy or aversion” 4.“beyond pain & pleasure, with equal mind to joy and aversion”

THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS The Noble Truth of Pain Birth, age, sickness, death, sorrow & despair are painful. The Noble Truth of the Cause of Pain It is craving, which leads to rebirth, pleasure & passion, existence & non-existence.

THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Pain It is the cessation of craving without remainder, forsaking detachment and release from it. The Noble Truth that of the Way that leads to the Cessation of Pain It is the Noble Eightfold Path

The Noble Eightfold Path 1.Right Views –Give the knowledge of Pain, its Cause, Cessation & the Path 2.Right Motive –Gives aspiration to renunciation & benevolence 3.Right Speech –Abstains from lies and slander 4.Right Action –Abstains from stealing, killing & self-indulgence.

The Noble Eightfold Path 5. Right Livelihood –Follows right pursuits 6. Right Effort –Turns against evil states and towards good 7. Right Mindfulness –Looks on mind & body with self- control 8. Right Contemplation –Rises above evil and abides in equanimity & bliss

“I have found the deathless and teach the truth …” Why is the body not the soul? Because it is subject to sickness It is the same with the feelings, perception, elements & consciousness. Because they are impermanent & painful

The Buddha does not a teach a dogma to follow … The religious life does not depend on dogmas concerning whether the world is or is not eternal. Or finite – or infinite. Why not? Because birth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, misery and despair still exist. These are what the Buddha is addressing. “Bear in mind what I have not explained and what I have explained.” The questions you ask lead away from the path.

Buddhist Ethics

Essentially, according to Buddhist teachings, the ethical and moral principles are governed by examining whether a certain action, whether connected to body or speech is likely to be harmful to one's self or to others and thereby avoiding any actions which are likely to be harmful. In Buddhism, there is much talk of a skilled mind. A mind that is skilful avoids actions that are likely to cause suffering or remorse.

Buddhist Ethics Moral conduct for Buddhists differs according to whether it applies to the laity or to the Sangha or clergy. A lay Buddhist should cultivate good conduct by training in what are known as the "Five Precepts". These are not like, say, the ten commandments, which, if broken, entail punishment by God. The five precepts are training rules, which, if one were to break any of them, one should be aware of the breech and examine how such a breech may be avoided in the future.

Buddhist Ethics The resultant of an action (often referred to as Karma) depends on the intention more than the action itself. It entails less feelings of guilt than its Judeo-Christian counterpart. Buddhism places a great emphasis on 'mind' and it is mental anguish such as remorse, anxiety, guilt etc. which is to be avoided in order to cultivate a calm and peaceful mind. The five precepts are:

The five precepts are: 1 & 2 1) To undertake the training to avoid taking the life of beings. This precept applies to all living beings not just humans. All beings have a right to their lives and that right should be respected. 2) To undertake the training to avoid taking things not given. This precept goes further than mere stealing. One should avoid taking anything unless one can be sure that is intended that it is for you.

The five precepts are: 3 & 4 3) To undertake the training to avoid sensual misconduct. This precept is often mistranslated or misinterpreted as relating only to sexual misconduct but it covers any overindulgence in any sensual pleasure such as gluttony as well as misconduct of a sexual nature. 4) To undertake the training to refrain from false speech. As well as avoiding lying and deceiving, this precept covers slander as well as speech which is not beneficial to the welfare of others.

The five precepts are: 5 5) To undertake the training to abstain from substances which cause intoxication and heedlessness. –This precept is in a special category as it does not infer any intrinsic evil in, say, alcohol itself but indulgence in such a substance could be the cause of breaking the other four precepts.