The Four Noble Truths
Part A – Describe the Buddha’s teaching on the nature and ending of Dukkha.
The Four Noble Truths, Ariya-sacca, form the essence of the Buddha’s very first sermon which was delivered to the five ascetics in a deer park in Benares, after he had become enlightened. This sermon was called Dharmachakra Sutra which translates as “setting in motion the wheel of Dharma”, which were the Buddha’s teachings. The Four Noble Truths are called truths because, as well as being believed, they can be experienced and directly understood as part of our daily life too.
The Buddha recognised that all beings caught up in the cycle of existence are subject to Dukkha, the first noble truth. Dukkha is commonly translated as “suffering” but can also mean “pain”, “sorrow” and “misery”. The idea of the First Noble Truth relates to the extent of suffering and how it permeates our existence, affecting both the body and the mind. According to the Buddha, there are three kinds of suffering that exist in life. Dukkha-Dukkha, the first type, relates to the ordinary suffering we all experience throughout our existence such as birth, old age, sickness and death which are all obvious at first sight, just like the Buddha experienced with the Four Sights. The next type of suffering is Viparinama-Dukkha, the understanding of Dukkha being produced by change and referring to the impermanence of happy/pleasant feeling and conditions. When the Buddha first experienced suffering he had a moment of existential realisation, put forward by Professor Peter Harvey, as he soon understood that everything in life is subject to change, nothing will remain the same forever, recognising the impermanence (Annica). When the time comes for them to change, they may produce pain, suffering, unhappiness or disappointment. From this the Buddha understood that suffering is inherent in human nature and can be a result of conditioned states, which leads on to the last type of suffering which is known as Samkhara Dukkha.
The Four Noble Truths, Ariya-sacca, form the essence of the Buddha’s very first sermon which was delivered to the five ascetics in a deer park in Benares, after he had become enlightened. This sermon was called Dharmachakra Sutra which translates as “setting in motion the wheel of Dharma”, which were the Buddha’s teachings. The Four Noble Truths are called truths because, as well as being believed, they can be experienced and directly understood as part of our daily life too.
The Buddha recognised that all beings caught up in the cycle of existence are subject to Dukkha, the first noble truth. Dukkha is commonly translated as “suffering” but can also mean “pain”, “sorrow” and “misery”. The idea of the First Noble Truth relates to the extent of suffering and how it permeates our existence, affecting both the body and the mind. According to the Buddha, there are three kinds of suffering that exist in life. Dukkha-Dukkha, the first type, relates to the ordinary suffering we all experience throughout our existence such as birth, old age, sickness and death which are all obvious at first sight, just like the Buddha experienced with the Four Sights. The next type of suffering is Viparinama-Dukkha, the understanding of Dukkha being produced by change and referring to the impermanence of happy/pleasant feeling and conditions. When the Buddha first experienced suffering he had a moment of existential realisation, put forward by Professor Peter Harvey, as he soon understood that everything in life is subject to change, nothing will remain the same forever, recognising the impermanence (Annica). When the time comes for them to change, they may produce pain, suffering, unhappiness or disappointment. From this the Buddha understood that suffering is inherent in human nature and can be a result of conditioned states, which leads on to the last type of suffering which is known as Samkhara Dukkha.