The Four Noble Truths

This article examines the Four Noble Truths, four principles which contain the essence of the Buddha's teachings.
Table of contents

Search form

The Buddha stated in his first sermon that when he gained absolute and intuitive knowledge of the four truths, he achieved complete enlightenment and freedom from future rebirth. The Four Noble Truths are accepted by all schools of Buddhism and have been the subject of extensive commentary. They may be summarized as follows. The first truth, suffering Pali: The second truth is the origin Pali and Sanskrit: In other Buddhist texts the causes of suffering are understood as stemming from negative actions e. In those texts, the mental state of ignorance refers to an active misconception of the nature of things: The third truth is the cessation of suffering Pali and Sanskrit: The fourth and final truth is the path Pali: The four truths therefore identify the unsatisfactory nature of existence, identify its cause, postulate a state in which suffering and its causes are absent, and set forth a path to that state.

We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. The four truths became of central importance in the Theravada tradition of Buddhism, [26] [27] which holds to the idea that insight into the four truths is liberating in itself.

On this page

The four truths are best known from their presentation in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta text, [note 7] which contains two sets of the four truths, [33] [2] while various other sets can be found in the Pali Canon , a collection of scriptures in the Theravadan Buddhist tradition. Cousins , many scholars are of the view that "this discourse was identified as the first sermon of the Buddha only at a later date," [34] and according to professor of religion Carol S. Anderson [note 8] the four truths may originally not have been part of this sutta, but were later added in some versions.

Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: According to this sutra, with the complete comprehension of these four truths release from samsara , the cycle of rebirth, was attained:. This is the last birth.

There is now no further becoming. The comprehension of these four truths by his audience leads to the opening of the Dhamma Eye , that is, the attainment of right vision:. Whatever is subject to origination is subject to cessation. Norman , the Pali canon contains various shortened forms of the four truths, the "mnemonic set," which were "intended to remind the hearer of the full form of the NTs.

This full set, which is most commonly used in modern expositions, [note 7] contains grammatical errors, pointing to multiple sources for this set and translation problems within the ancient Buddhist community. Nevertheless, they were considered correct by the Pali tradition, which didn't correct them. Norman, the basic set is as follows: Cousins, the four truths are not restricted to the well-known form where dukkha is the subject. According to Cousins, "the well-known form is simply shorthand for all of the forms. The aim of the Buddhist path is to reverse this causal chain: The Pali terms ariya sacca Sanskrit: This translation is a convention started by the earliest translators of Buddhist texts into English.

Norman, this is just one of several possible translations. It could equally be translated as 'the nobles' truths', or 'the truths for nobles', or 'the nobilising truths', or 'the truths of, possessed by, the noble ones' [ The term "arya" was later added to the four truths. The Aryas are the noble ones, the saints, those who have attained 'the fruits of the path', 'that middle path the Tathagata has comprehended which promotes sight and knowledge, and which tends to peace, higher wisdom, enlightenment, and Nibbana'. The term sacca Sanskrit: It is typically translated as "truth"; but it also means "that which is in accord with reality", or "reality".

According to Rupert Gethin , the four truths are "four 'true things' or 'realities' whose nature, we are told, the Buddha finally understood on the night of his awakening. Norman, probably the best translation is "the truth[s] of the noble one the Buddha. It is the truthful way of seeing, [note 10] Through not seeing things this way, and behaving accordingly, we suffer.

As one doctrine among others, the four noble truths make explicit the structure within which one should seek enlightenment; as a symbol, the four noble truths evoke the possibility of enlightenment. As both, they occupy not only a central but a singular position within the Theravada canon and tradition.

What Are the Four Noble Truths?

As a symbol, they refer to the possibility of awakening, as represented by the Buddha, and are of utmost importance:. Where the four noble truths appear in the guise of a religious symbol in the Sutta-pitaka and the Vinaya-pitaka of the Pali canon, they represent the enlightenment experience of the Buddha and the possibility of enlightenment for all Buddhists within the cosmos.

As a proposition, they are part of the matrix or "network of teachings," in which they are "not particularly central," [17] but have an equal place next to other teachings, [54] describing how release from craving is to be reached. There is no single way of understanding the teachings: As a proposition, the four truths defy an exact definition, but refer to and express the basic orientation of Buddhism: The truth of dukkha , "incapable of satisfying," [web 1] "painful," [3] [5] [note 12] is the basic insight that life in this "mundane world,"" [web 2] with its clinging and craving to impermanent states and things " [3] is dukkha , [4] unsatisfactory and painful.

Craving does not cause dukkha , but comes into existence together with dukkha , or the five skandhas.

Great Lecture: Alan Watts - The Four Noble Truths

The truth of nirodha , cessation, or dukkha-nirodha , the cessation of dukkha , is the truth that dukkha ceases, or can be confined, [40] when craving and clinging cease or are confined, and nirvana is attained. Ajahn Buddhadasa , a well-known Thai master of the last century, said that when village people in India were cooking rice and waiting for it to cool, they might remark, "Wait a little for the rice to become nibbana".

So here, nibbana means the cool state of mind, free from the fires of the defilements. As Ajahn Buddhadasa remarked, "The cooler the mind, the more Nibbana in that moment". We can notice for ourselves relative states of coolness in our own minds as we go through the day. The truth of magga , refers to the path to the cessation of, or liberation from dukkha. By following the Noble Eightfold Path , to moksha , liberation, [65] restraining oneself, cultivating discipline, and practicing mindfulness and meditation, one starts to disengage from craving and clinging to impermanent states and things, and rebirth and dissatisfaction will be ended.

The well-known eightfold path consists of the understanding that this world is fleeting and unsatisfying, and how craving keeps us tied to this fleeting world; a friendly and compassionate attitude to others; a correct way of behaving; mind-control, which means not feeding on negative thoughts, and nurturing positive thoughts; constant awareness of the feelings and responses which arise; and the practice of dhyana , meditation.

The four truths are to be internalised, and understood or "experienced" personally, to turn them into a lived reality. The four truths describe dukkha and its ending as a means to reach peace of mind in this life, but also as a means to end rebirth. Spiro further explains that "desire is the cause of suffering because desire is the cause of rebirth. While saying that birth is the cause of death may sound rather simplistic, in Buddhism it is a very significant statement; for there is an alternative to being born.

Some contemporary teachers tend to explain the four truths psychologically, by taking dukkha to mean mental anguish in addition to the physical pain of life, [95] [96] and interpreting the four truths as a means to attain happiness in this life.

What Are the Four Noble Truths? - Lion's Roar

Yet, though freedom and happiness is a part of the Buddhist teachings, these words refer to something different in traditional Asian Buddhism. According to Fronsdal, "when Asian teachers do talk about freedom, it is primarily in reference to what one is free from—that is, from greed, hate, delusion, grasping, attachment, wrong view, self, and most significantly, rebirth". In contrast, freedom in the creative modern interpretation of Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path means living happily and wisely, "without drastic changes in lifestyle". According to Anderson, "the four truths are recognized as perhaps the most important teaching of the Buddha.

According to academic scholars, inconsistencies in the oldest texts may reveal developments in the oldest teachings. Information of the oldest teachings of Buddhism, such as on the Four Noble Truths, has been obtained by analysis of the oldest texts and these inconsitencies, and are a matter of ongoing discussion and research. According to Bronkhorst, the four truths may already have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, but did not have the central place they acquired in later buddhism.

According to Feer and Anderson, the four truths probably entered the Sutta Pitaka from the Vinaya, the rules for monastic order. Scholars have noted inconsistencies in the presentations of the Buddha's enlightenment, and the Buddhist path to liberation, in the oldest sutras. These inconsistencies show that the Buddhist teachings evolved, either during the lifetime of the Buddha, or thereafter. Instead, they are a rather late theory on the content of the Buddha's enlightenment.

The ideas on what exactly constituted this "liberating insight" was not fixed but developed over time. When he understood these truths he was "enlightened" and liberated, [note 29] as reflected in Majjhima Nikaya Oddly, the four truths refer here to the eightfold path as the means to gain liberation, while the attainment of insight into the four truths is portrayed as liberating in itself.

The four truths were superseded by pratityasamutpada , and still later, in the Hinayana schools, by the doctrine of the non-existence of a substantial self or person. In their symbolic function, the sutras present the insight into the four truths as the culmination of the Buddh's path to awakening. In the Vinayapitaka and the Sutta-pitaka they have the same symbolic function, in a reenactment by his listeners of the Buddha's awakening by attaining the dhamma-eye.

In contrast, here this insight serves as the starting point to path-entry for his audience. Yet, in other sutras, where the four truths have a propositional function, the comprehension of the four truths destroys the corruptions. According to Anderson, following Schmithausen and Bronkhorst, these two presentations give two different models of the path to liberation, reflecting their function as a symbol and as a proposition.

1. Suffering

According to Anderson there is a strong tendency within scholarship to present the four truths as the most essential teaching of Buddhism. The presentation of the four truths as one of the most important teachings of the Buddha "has been [done] to reduce the four noble truths to a teaching that is accessible, pliable, and therefore readily appropriated by non-Buddhists.

According to Harris, the British in the 19th century crafted new representations of Buddhism and the Buddha. The writings of British missionaries show a growing emphasis on the four truths as being central to Buddhism, with somewhat different presentations of them. Hendrick Kern proposed in that the model of the four truths may be an analogy with classical Indian medicine, in which the four truths function as a medical diagnosis, and the Buddha is presented as a physician.


  • !
  • .
  • The Fourth Noble Truth.
  • Auf die Knie: Ein Hochzeitsroman (German Edition)?

According to Anderson, those scholars who did not place the four truths at the center of Buddhism, either "located the four truths in a fuller reading of the Theravada canon and the larger context of South Asian literature," or "located the teaching within an experience of Buddhism as practiced in a contemporary setting.

The developing Buddhist tradition inserted the four truths, using various formulations, at various sutras. The teachings form a network, which should be apprehended as such to understand how the various teachings intersect with each other. I directed my mind to the knowledge of the destruction of the intoxicants [suffering Bronkhorst dismisses the first two knowledges as later additions, and proceeds to notice that the recognition of the intoxicants is modelled on the four truths. According to Bronkhorst, those are added the bridge the original sequence of "I directed my mind to the knowledge of the destruction of the intoxicants.

My mind was liberated", which was interrupted by the addition of the four truths. Bronkhorst points out that those do not fit here, since the four truths culminate in the knowledge of the path to be followed, while the Buddha himself is already liberated at that point. According to the Buddhist tradition, the first talk of Gautama Buddha after he attained enlightenment is recorded in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta "Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma", Samyutta Nikaya The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta provides details on three stages in the understanding of each truth, for a total of twelve insights.

The three stages for understanding each truth are: These three stages of understanding are emphasized particularly in the Theravada tradition, but they are also recognized by some contemporary Mahayana teachers. According to Cousins, many scholars are of the view that "this discourse was identified as the first sermon of the Buddha only at a later date. The First Discourse cannot be treated as a verbatim transcript of what the Buddha taught in the Deer Park, but as a document that has evolved over an unspecified period of time until it reached the form in which it is found today in the canons of the different Buddhist schools.


  • The Four Noble Truths.
  • BBC - Religions - Buddhism: The Four Noble Truths.
  • The Four Noble Truths?
  • Four Noble Truths | The Buddhist Centre;
  • Whitewashing Race: The Myth of a Color-Blind Society.
  • Information Systems Auditing: The IS Audit Study and Evaluation of Controls Process;
  • Four Noble Truths?

According to Bronkhorst this "first sermon" is recorded in several sutras, with important variations. As a result, desiring them can only bring suffering. Ignorance, in comparison, relates to not seeing the world as it actually is. Without the capacity for mental concentration and insight, Buddhism explains, one's mind is left undeveloped, unable to grasp the true nature of things.


  • The Ecology of Trees in the Tropical Rain Forest (Cambridge Tropical Biology Series).
  • 2. The Cause of Suffering!
  • Economics for Helen.
  • ?

Vices, such as greed, envy, hatred and anger, derive from this ignorance. The Third Noble Truth, the truth of the end of suffering, has dual meaning, suggesting either the end of suffering in this life, on earth, or in the spiritual life, through achieving Nirvana. When one has achieved Nirvana, which is a transcendent state free from suffering and our worldly cycle of birth and rebirth, spiritual enlightenment has been reached. The Fourth Noble truth charts the method for attaining the end of suffering, known to Buddhists as the Noble Eightfold Path.

Moreover, there are three themes into which the Path is divided: Contrary to what is accepted in contemporary society, the Buddhist interpretation of karma does not refer to preordained fate. Karma refers to good or bad actions a person takes during her lifetime. Good actions, which involve either the absence of bad actions, or actual positive acts, such as generosity, righteousness, and meditation, bring about happiness in the long run.

Bad actions, such as lying, stealing or killing, bring about unhappiness in the long run. The weight that actions carry is determined by five conditions: Finally, there is also neutral karma, which derives from acts such as breathing, eating or sleeping. Neutral karma has no benefits or costs. Karma plays out in the Buddhism cycle of rebirth.