The Four Noble Truths

Dr. Satish  K. Kapoor

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The teachings of Gautama, the Buddha, were based on the four-fold Noble Truths. First, the Truth of suffering( duhkha), which manifests through events of birth and death, sickness and separation, and vain struggles to find peace in worldly objects. ‘Old age is suffering, illness is suffering, being in contact with that which one dislikes is suffering, being separated from that which one dislikes is suffering, failure to realize one’s desires is suffering’. (Vinaya Mahavagga I,6,19)

Second, the Truth of the cause of suffering (duhkha –samudaya), which lies in the urges of the human body and the delusions of the human passions. ‘It is the thirst for pleasure, the thirst for power…’

 Third, the truth of the cessation of suffering (duhkha-nirodha), which is possible if we can annihilate desire. ‘The extinction of this thirst (should be made) by complete annihilation of desire, letting it go, expelling it, separating oneself from it, giving it no room’. (Vinaya Mahavagga I.6.21)  

Finally, the truth of the eight-fold path (Ashtanga Marga) for the cessation of  the cause of suffering (duhkha-nirodha-gamini-pratipada).

The eight-fold path consists of Right Views ( samayak drishti), Right-mindedness( samyaka samkalpa), Right speech (samyak vak), Right action ( samyaka karmanta), Right livelihood ( samyak ajiva), Right effort ( samyak vyayama), Right mindfulness ( samyak smriti) and Right concentration (samyak Samadhi).

Ignorance of the Four Noble Truths leads to avidya which is the cause of one’s entanglement in worldly activities. The Buddha explained it thus: Avidya gives rise to samaskara (predispositions) which result in vijnana (consciousness). From vijnana springs namarupa (name and form) which gives rise to six types of efforts (shadayatana). This is followed by contact (sparsha), which generates sensation (vedana). From sensation springs craving (tanha), giving rise to upadana (grasping). From upadana emerges bhava (becoming). From bhava rises birth which leads to disease, depression, old age and suffering. The Dhammapada (241.3) states in this context: ‘Laziness is the ruin of homes; idleness is the ruin of beauty; negligence is the ruin of the watcher; unchastity is a stain on a woman; miserliness is a stain on the donor; to do evil is a stain in this and other worlds. But greater than all these stains, ignorance is the worst of all’. 

The Buddha likened the world to a bubble of water, to ‘the gossamer web of a spider’, ‘to the defilement in a dirty jar’, and so on. The Vajracchedika sutra says: ‘Stars, darkness, a lamp, a phantom, dew, a bubble, a dream, a flash of lightening and a cloud, thus should we look upon the world. Given the conditions, the human mind should be disciplined in a manner that it can be tuned for spiritual development’. But the mind, like an ape, is ‘forever jumping’ about, not ceasing even for a moment. To contain it, and to gain enlightenment one needs to open the sluice gates of one’s being to ‘the fragrant incense of faith.’

The Buddha asked the people to shun the two extremes of self indulgence and self torture and follow the middle path. He laid emphasis on such human virtues as charity and benevolence, moral goodness, patience, fortitude, and intelligence (prajna). He regarded nonviolence, friendship, compassion, cheerfulness, and non-attachment as means to righteous living. Hatred must be conquered by love, evil by good, and greed by liberality. The real treasure of man was laid up through piety, temperance and self control. 

The ten ethical precepts of the Buddha are: Be merciful, do not kill; do not steal; do not commit adultery; do not tell lies; do not slander; do not speak harshly to anyone; do not engage in idle talk; do not keep an eye on other’s wealth; do not hate; think righteously. 

The Buddha taught that by strictly following spiritual disciplines, one can move from the ephemeral world to the world of permanence, of enlightenment. This is called paramita, or crossing over to the other shore. None can otherwise         accomplish the following five things: to cease growing old, to cease being sick, to cease dying, to deny extinction and to deny exhaustion. 

The Buddha preached Nirvana as the goal of life of a man. Salvation was not a matter of ‘a shaven crown’ or ritualistic acts. One could attain it not by propitiating deities but by righteous deeds. Nirvana is the state in which all human defilements, passions, cravings, etc, are completely extinguished. The Truths which prepare the stage for Nirvana are: all living beings rise from ignorance; all objects of desire are impermanent; all phenomena are transitory; and finally, nothing in the world is one’s own. ‘There is no suffering for one who has finished his journey and abandoned grief, who has freed himself on all sides, and thrown off all fetters’ Dhammapada 90).

(Dr Satish K Kapoor, former British Council Scholar and former Registrar, DAV University, is a noted author, educationist, historian and spiritualist based in Jalandhar City)