Four Noble Truths/Eightfold Path By Hrukti Maat

Introduction The Four Noble Truth are: Life is suffering (dukkha), Origin of Suffering, The Cessation of Suffering, and the Path Leading to Cessation of Suffering The gist of Four Noble Truth is the understanding and the way to evade Suffering along the Eightfold Path This is the foundational teaching--the advance teaching of Buddhism takes a different turn on the perspective of suffering

Four Noble Truth The First Truth—Life is suffering Buddha’s initial motivation to seek enlightenment is due to suffering The eight inevitable sufferings of life are: – Birth--Aging – Sickness--Death – Unfulfilled desires--Overwhelming senses – Separation of beloved--Gathering of hateful

Four Noble Truth The First Truth—Life is Suffering The Buddhist perspective is that life is a suffering sea and that sufferings are inevitable part of life Therefore the evasion of the sufferings of life is the primary goal of Buddhist practitioner and that the subsequent works are gearing toward this goal

Four Noble Truth The Second Truth—The Origin of Suffering There are many types of desires, all of which can lead to suffering – Types of desires: Sensual desires--cravings (i.e. food, sleep, sex) Emotional desires—desire for love, power, dominance Spiritual desires—need to exist (physical attachment) – Desire arise out of “ignorance” – Ignorance arise out of ego

Four Noble Truth The Second Truth—The Origin of Suffering By understand the origin of suffering, the practitioner gains a perspective on suffering and realize their pursue of desires are the root cause of their sufferings With the new found perspective, the practitioners can begin to reverse the cycle of suffering and transcend out of suffering

The Four Noble Truth The Third Truth—The Cessation of Suffering The eradication of all desires is the way toward the cessation of suffering When a person achieved the state of without desires, then the Nirvana experience will occur, by which the person will no longer get caught in the cycle of suffering The way to achieve the state without desire is the Fourth Truth

The Four Noble Truth The Fourth Truth—the Path toward the Cessation of Suffering The Eightfold path is the Fourth truth and the path toward the cessation of suffering The Eightfold path are: – Right perspective--Right thought – Right speech--Right action – Right livelihood--Right endeavor – Right mindfulness--Right meditation

Overview The gist of the Eightfold path is the concept of “righteousness” and the applications of this concept Righteousness is the most powerful spiritual element and the application of righteousness to various aspects of spiritual practice will ensure evasion of suffering and spiritual accomplishment

Right View Right View means right perspective or correct way of seeing events and things Right view means do not see the world as your enemy, do not think money is everything and do not think you’re the king and everyone is your slave, etc. Right view enables a person to see through the falsehood of the world and be able to release hatred, greed and attachment

Right Thought Right thought is the promotion of good thought and positive thinking Right thought means do not think of negative thought of death or destruction, do not think of harm to anyone, etc. Right thought is very important because every evil Karma is initiated in the mind and so safeguarding the mind is very critical to the success of spiritual endeavor

Right Speech Right speech pertains to everything that a person says Right speech means no profanity, no deception, no mockery, no rumor, etc. (nothing that may harm a person’s feelings or reputation) Know that your words are mantra with magical power, so use them wisely

Right Action Right action means doing things to benefit others instead of harming others Right action means no killing, no stealing, no fornication, no violence, etc.. (nothing that would harm another person’s body or property) Right action also means to do things that benefits other people such as giving and serving (again do what is right)

Right Livelihood Right livelihood means having jobs or career that are positive and beneficial Right livelihood means don’t be a professional criminal (i.e. Mafia hit man), don’t be a butcher or hunter, don’t be a prostitute, etc. Some less desirable professions are: cook, bartender, casino dealer, lawyer for criminal defense

Right Effort Right effort means the right endeavor or right personal pursue Right effort means do not pursue hobbies such as hunting or fishing, weapon creation, writing that promotes negativity, etc. Right effort means endeavor to do things that are beneficial to other and promote peace and harmony in the society

Right Mindfulness Right Mindfulness also means right intention or right motivation Right mindfulness means do not wish others ill, do not curse, do not pray for disaster, do not wish for stock market crash, etc. Know that your thoughts and intention are loudly broadcasted in the spirit world and your mindfulness attracts the similar type of spirits into your life

Right Concentration Right concentration also means right meditation or mental focus Right concentration means practicing the meditation that will be most beneficial to a person’s enlightenment (i.e. Three Treasures) Without right concentration, a person can waste his or her whole life and achieve only minor or trivial success

The Four Noble Truth The Advance Perspective – The Hinayana tradition (the small vehicle) is totally focused on the Four Noble Truth so their entire focus of practice is on the evasion of sufferings – The Mahayana tradition (the great vehicle tradition) is less focus on the evasion of suffering, rather it focus on the expansion of the capacity to endure suffering – The Bodhisattva way is the enduring of sufferings for others so they too can attain Nirvana

Conclusion The Four Noble Truth (along with the Eightfold path) are the foundational teachings of Buddhism. The entire focus is on the evasion of suffering and the ways to achieve the state of non- suffering (or Nirvana) The Mahayana tradition expanded on the teaching to the embrace of sufferings

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