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The Four Noble Truths (or The Four Truths of the Noble Ones) (;; ) are one of the most fundamental Buddhist
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
 teachings. In broad terms, these truths relate to suffering
Suffering

Suffering, or pain, is an individual's basic affective experience of unpleasantness and aversion associated with harm or threat of harm. Suffering may be qualified as physical, or mental....
's (or dukkha
Dukkha

Dukkha roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness, sorrow, affliction, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, Stress , misery, and frustration....
's) nature, origin, cessation and the path leading to the cessation. They are among the truths Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
 is said to have realized during his experience of enlightenment
Bodhi

Bodhi is both the Pali and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English language as "enlightenment." The word "Buddhahood" means "one who has achieved bodhi." Bodhi is also frequently translated as "awakening."...
.

The Four Noble Truths appear many times throughout the most ancient Buddhist texts, the Pali Canon
Pali Canon

The Pali Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism tradition, as preserved in the Pali. It is the only completely surviving Early Buddhist schools canon, and one of the first to be written down....
.






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The Four Noble Truths (or The Four Truths of the Noble Ones) (;; ) are one of the most fundamental Buddhist
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
 teachings. In broad terms, these truths relate to suffering
Suffering

Suffering, or pain, is an individual's basic affective experience of unpleasantness and aversion associated with harm or threat of harm. Suffering may be qualified as physical, or mental....
's (or dukkha
Dukkha

Dukkha roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness, sorrow, affliction, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, Stress , misery, and frustration....
's) nature, origin, cessation and the path leading to the cessation. They are among the truths Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha

Siddhartha Gautama was a Spirituality teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddhahood of our age....
 is said to have realized during his experience of enlightenment
Bodhi

Bodhi is both the Pali and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English language as "enlightenment." The word "Buddhahood" means "one who has achieved bodhi." Bodhi is also frequently translated as "awakening."...
.

The Four Noble Truths appear many times throughout the most ancient Buddhist texts, the Pali Canon
Pali Canon

The Pali Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism tradition, as preserved in the Pali. It is the only completely surviving Early Buddhist schools canon, and one of the first to be written down....
. The early teaching and the traditional understanding in the Theravada is that the four noble truths are an advanced teaching for those who are ready for them. Mahayana
Mahayana

Mahayana is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophy and practice. It was History of Buddhism in India....
 Buddhism regards them as a preliminary teaching for people not ready for its own teachings. They are little known in the Far East.

Some may see "truths" as a mistranslation (one author cites "realities" as a possibly better choice: these are things, not statements, in the original grammar.) However, the original Tibetan Lotsawas (Sanskrit: locchawa; Tibetan: lo ts'a ba), who studied Sanskrit grammar thoroughly, did translate the term from Sanskrit into Tibetan as "bden pa" which has the full meaning of "truth".

Background

Why the Buddha is said to have taught in this way is illuminated by the social context of the time in which he lived. The Buddha was a
Shramana

A shramana is a mendicant in certain ascetic traditions of ancient India, including Jainism, Buddhism, and Ajivika religion . Famous include religious leaders Mahavira and Gautama Buddha....
 – a wandering ascetic whose "aim was to discover the truth and attain happiness." He is said to have achieved this aim while under a bodhi tree
Bodhi tree

The Bodhi Tree, also known as Bo , was a large and very old Sacred Fig tree located in Bodh Gaya , under which Gautama Buddha, the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism later known as Gautama Buddha, achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi....
 near the River Neranjana; the Four Noble Truths are a formulation of his understanding of the nature of "suffering", 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."

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

The Buddha says that he taught them...

This teaching was the basis of the Buddha's first discourse after his enlightenment. In early Buddhism this is the most advanced teaching in the Buddha's Gradual Training.

Pali and Chinese canon text

  1. The Nature of Suffering (Dukkha
    Dukkha

    Dukkha roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness, sorrow, affliction, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, Stress , misery, and frustration....
    ):
    "This is the noble truth of suffering: birth
    Jati (Buddhism)

    In Buddhism, Jati refers to the arising of a new living entity in Samsara .Synonyms:*? Cn: sheng; Jp: sho; Vi: sinh*Tibetan: skyed.ba...
     is suffering, aging
    Jaramarana

    Jaramaraa is Sanskrit and Pali for "old age" and "death" . In Buddhism, jaramarana refers to the inevitable end-of-life suffering of all beings prior to their rebirth in the cycle of Samsara ....
     is suffering, illness is suffering, death
    Jaramarana

    Jaramaraa is Sanskrit and Pali for "old age" and "death" . In Buddhism, jaramarana refers to the inevitable end-of-life suffering of all beings prior to their rebirth in the cycle of Samsara ....
     is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates
    Skandha

    In Buddhism Phenomenology and soteriology, the five skandhas or khandhas are five "aggregates" which categorize all individual experience, among which there is anatta to be found....
     subject to clinging
    Upadana

    Upadana is a word used in both Buddhism and Hinduism.*In Buddhism, upadana is a critical link in the arising of suffering.*In Hinduism, upadana is the material manifestation of Brahman....
     are suffering."
  2. Suffering's Origin (Samudaya):
    "This is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving
    Tanha

    ' or ' literally means "thirst," figuratively denotes "desire" or "craving," and is traditionally juxtaposed with "peace of mind" .Synonyms:...
     which leads to renewed existence
    Bhava

    Bhava is the Sanskrit and Pali word for "becoming" in the sense of 'ongoing worldly existence', from the root bhu "to become".Synonyms:*? Cn: you; Jp: u; Vi: h?u...
    , accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures
    Kama

    Kama is pleasure, sensual gratification, sexual fulfillment, pleasure of the senses, desire, eros, the aesthetic enjoyment of life in Sanskrit....
    , craving for existence
    Bhava

    Bhava is the Sanskrit and Pali word for "becoming" in the sense of 'ongoing worldly existence', from the root bhu "to become".Synonyms:*? Cn: you; Jp: u    ; Vi: h?u...
    , craving for extermination."
  3. Suffering's Cessation (Nirodha):
    "This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it."
  4. The Way (Marga) Leading to the Cessation of Suffering:
    "This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is the Noble Eightfold Path
    Noble Eightfold Path

    The Noble Eightfold Path is one of the principal Dharma of Gautama Buddha, who described it as the way leading to the cessation of suffering and the achievement of self-awakening....
    ; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort
    Four Right Exertions

    The Four Right Exertions are an integral part of the Buddhism path to bodhi. Built on the insightful recognition of the arising and non-arising of various mental qualities over time and of our ability to mindfully intervene in these ephemeral qualities, the Four Right Exertions encourage the relinquishment of harmful mental qualities and th...
    , right mindfulness
    Mindfulness

    Mindfulness is a mental state, characterized by concentrated awareness of one's thoughts, actions or motivations. Mindfulness plays a central role in the teaching of the Gautama Buddha where it is affirmed that "correct" or "right" mindfulness is an essential factor in the path to Bodhi and Moksha....
    , right concentration
    Samadhi (Buddhism)

    In Buddhism, samadhi is mental concentration or composing the mind.In the Pali literature, samadhi is found in the following contexts:* In the Noble Eightfold Path, "right concentration" is the eighth path factor....
    ."


Mahayana understanding of the Four Noble Truths

Certain major Mahayana sutra
Sutra

Sutra , literally means a rope or thread that holds things together, and more metaphorically refers to an aphorism , or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual....
s, including the Mahaparinirvana Sutra
Nirvana Sutra

The 'Nirvana Sutra', or .) is a major Mahayana sutra, which its English-translator, Kosho Yamamoto, has described as 'one of the three great masterpieces of Mahayana Buddhism'....
 and the Angulimaliya Sutra
Angulimaliya Sutra

The Angulimaliya Sutra is a Buddhist scripture belonging to the Tathagatagarbha class of sutras, which teach that the Buddha is eternal, that the non-Self and emptiness teachings only apply to the worldly sphere , and that the tathagatagarbha is real and immanent within all beings and all phenomena....
, present variant versions of the Four Noble Truths.

It should be noted that these views are specific to certain Mahayana schools, most notably the Tathagatagarbha and Jonangpa traditions. The ideas that the Buddha and his Dharma are eternal and that one's inner Buddha nature is not empty would be denied in other Buddhist traditions such as Madhyamaka and Zen.

See also



External links

  • His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama speaks of the "Four Noble Truths" in a four part video series at youtube.com:
  • as in the .
  • At :
    • (by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
    • Wings to Awakening (translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
  • Talks given by Ajahn Sumedho:
    • At 's web:
    • PDF version at :
  • From the , Lecture on the Four Noble Truths by Bhikkhu Bodhi:
  • , a poem in iambic pentameter
    Iambic pentameter

    Iambic pentameter is a type of meter that is used in poetry and drama. It describes a particular rhythm that the words establish in each Line ....
     by Sir Edwin Arnold.
  • : An alternate interpretation of the Four Noble Truths.
  • , for full text of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra and link to other tathagatagarbha sutras (including the Angulimaliya Sutra).