The Noble Truth Of Suffering In Buddhism

The Sanskrit word dukkha means suffering. The truth of suffering is the first noble truth of Buddhism that Gautama Buddha discovers and shares. The truth about suffering is that it encompasses all aspects of life: "birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering" ("Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma" 1). Suffering includes the realities of birth, aging, illness and death. Death is suffering because existence is no more. Illness is suffering because it can be deadly, debilitating or both. Aging is suffering because as humans age different facualties of the human body and mind start to deteriorate and not function as effectively or at all. Elderly people can have difficulty in seeing, walking, communicating
Understanding the cause and effects of each of these realities shows how these realities too are suffering. Birth is suffering because it means that a person is going to have to live in this world. The first noble truth explains that the world is all suffering. Consequently, the event of birth is the welcoming of suffering because a person must now endure the suffering in the world like the reality of death. Being born is rebirth. One who reaches elightenment will cease to be reborn. An person being born means a person has previously died. Similarly, both birth and "rebirth entail redeath" (Siderits 9). Not only are birth and rebirth suffering, but love is suffering too. Loving something can cause a person to feel pain. Love can be suffering when the object or person of a lover's affection does not reciprocate the love back, if the object or person of a lover's affection gets hurt, lost, or taken by another person romantically or physically. Though it may seem that at this moment love is not suffering, there are times when love requires people to feel pain and suffering. If a lover decides to have an affair with another person, pain and suffering can occur. The first noble truth provides that suffering is throughout the world. The second noble truth explains the cause or reason of the world's
right concentration" ("Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma" 1). The first three noble truths explain that there is suffering, attachment is the cause of such suffering, and eliminating attachment eliminates suffering. The first three truths highlight the problem, the cause of the problem, and a way to resolve the problem of suffering. The final noble truth explains the required actions that are taken in order to achieve the removal of attachment and thus suffering. These actions are within the Noble Eightfold Path. The Noble Eightfold Path is similar to a manual. It explains how people should live thier lifes in order to remove