The Four Noble Truth Flashcards
What are the four noble truth
- There is suffering
- There is a cause of suffering
- There is and end to suffering
- There is a way to the end of suffering - eightfold path
What is the problem of suffering
Buddhism identifies three kinds of suffering
1. Suffering as in pain ( dukkha dukkha)
2. Suffering experienced through change, referring to the changing nature of existence ( viparinama - dukka )
3. Suffering inherent in the contingent nature of existence (sankhara - dukkha)
What is Dukkha Dukkha
This is the actual experience of bodily pain such as illness, injury nd general discomfort. It covers anything that is negative in our sense experiences. This also extends to mental nourish over things or people that we are attrached to such as our valuable ans sentimental possessions or our loved ones
What is Viparinama-dukkha
This is all about suffering due to change, in other words the fact that things are persistently unstable and we experience the ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ of life. A person does not worry so much when pain changes into relief, but the change that ends pleasure, happiness and peacefulness, such as going back to work after a holiday, is frustrating.
What is Sankhara-dukkha
Literally this translates as suffering ‘in the formations’ and is to do with the contingent nature of things, or, the fact that things have a limited lifespan but the specific concern of dukkha in this instance, is, according to Denise Cush, ‘a more subtle dissatisfaction with life itself rather than with any specific problem’. In other words, we are frustrated because things are constantly changing, arising and passing away but we have no control over this.
What is the medical metaphor
The Buddha has often been compared to a physician. The Four Noble Truths are really a medical diagnosis and treatment of the disease that is suffering, inherent in the fabric of life.
* The diagnosis of the problem that there is dukkha, or suffering.
* An investigation into the cause for the arising (samudaya) of suffering that is observed as attachment (tanha) or craving.
* Establishing the best way to eliminate the cause of suffering and reach the desired prognosis. This requires one to stop or to prevent nirodha, which will lead to health and freedom from suffering.
* The application of a course of treatment in order to activate nirodha. This means to follow magga, the Eightfold Path. This attacks the very root of craving. It treats the cause or arising of suffering and also prevents any further suffering.
What is the second noble truth (samudaya)
Samudaya means ‘arising, origin’ or ‘cause immediately preceding. Tanha literally means ‘craving’ or ‘thirst’ but can also be translated as ‘attachment’. Both terms can be used to explain the second Noble Truth of the arising of suffering due to attachment. Narada Thera describes tanha as: a powerful mental force latent in all’and according to Walpola Rahula, tanha is not the first or the only cause of the arising of dukkha, but it is the most individual cause’. Peter Harvey identifies both fixed views about things and self-conceit as further causes of dukkha. Both self-conceit and views are closely related to the ignorance of anatta; they are self-centred, delusional states and deeply rooted psychological drives that feed the ego.
The question remains, however: If tanha is the most immediate cause for dukkha, then what drives the need for tanha?’ The most common driving forces behind tanha are the three poisons or fires of lobha (greed), dosa (hatred) and moha (delusion). These fires burn away and fuel the idea of, and desire for, a self.
As we have seen in Theme 2, this relates to the cycle of existence in which is discovered a rationale for the whole human experience. Note here, however, that the initial cause for rebirth is driven by ignorance, or not being able to see things as they are in reality. It is therefore not until a person becomes wise, or is enlightened to the truth or reality of things, that the cause of suffering can be no more.
However, through ignorance of anatta, the attachment to material and non-material phenomena generates the experiences of suffering. The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta describes three types of tanha: craving for sensual pleasures; craving for existence; and craving for non-existence.
Sensual pleasures are experiences that are initiated by interaction with the senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and mental perceptions. Existence depends on the experiences that accumulate to create a desire for individuality, or the recognition of things as being ‘me’ or ‘mine’. This can include protection of identity, further embellishment of the idea of self, or even the idea of existence beyond death in the form of a self or soul. Non-existence is the other extreme; it is divorcing self from anything that is not a wholesome experience. The Jains and Ajivakas (Theme 1) were over-enthusiastic in their pursuit of this type of tanha.
The outcome can even include self-annihilation or suicide.
It is interesting to note that within these three types of tanha can be identified the extremes of pleasure and pain that the Buddha encountered during his life. It is no coincidence, then, that the eradication of tanha needs a Middle Way as a solution.
What is the elimination of the cause by nirodha and the desired prognosis of nibbna the third noble truth
Nirodha literally means to cease. It refers to stopping craving. Once craving, or grasping, is stopped, peace and calm, known as nibbana, will follow. However, although nirodha directly precedes it, nirodha is not the cause of nibbana. This is because according to Buddhist teachings, nibbana is ‘unconditioned’ or ‘uncaused’.
Nirodha is the eradication of negatives, which are forms of grasping, not an accumulation of positives that make up nibbana. To clean a whiteboard does not cause the face of the board, or make it; the cleaning process simply reveals the face of the board that was already there before and after the writing occupied it.
Just as the cause of suffering is linked to the nidanas and initiates the turning over of the whole cycle of existence, likewise, nirodha is the stage at which the wheel of life ceases to turn. With the application of nirodha, ignorance is transformed and there is insight into reality. All states that result from conditioned arising are stopped.
For the arhat, this means detachment from such states temporarily and at different periods during life, whereas beyond lite, a state known as parinibbana, detachment Is a permanent feature. As the Samyutta Nikaya states, The stopping of becoming is nirvana (nibbana). It is called nirvana (nibbana) because of the getting rid of craving.
What is the concept of nibbna
The Buddha’s nibbana experience is often linked to the teaching of nirodha because nibbana is the outcome of the application of nirodha. Nirodha is a direct action taken to bring suffering to an end and thus bring peace and calm. The end of craving leads to nibbana, the ultimate goal of Buddhism. However, as we have seen, and as Nagasena argues in The Questions of King Milinda, nirodha is only a cause for the realisation of nibbana and not for its production. Nirodha and nibbana are not the same. Nirodha is the opposite of the negative action that causes suffering.
This eventually cultivates a state of mina conducive to the experience of nibbana.
Grasping or attachment, which causes suffering, is driven out by the three poisons, or the three fires. Curbing or blowing out the fires leads to realisation of nibbana.
The experience of nibbana cannot be defined because it lies beyond the world of conditioned phenomena; it is therefore unconditioned or uncaused. Nibbana cannot be a place, like heaven, but it cannot be nothingness either because it is something.
What then is nibbna
question cannot be answered completely. This is because language is created for use within the conditioned world. Since nibbana is unconditioned, it is inappropriate to use words. There is a very famous story to illustrate this, from Mahayana Buddhism as we have encountered in the AO2 of Theme 1. When the monk Vimilakirti is asked to describe and explain the ultimate truth, he responds with what is known as ‘the thunderous silence of Vimilakirti’. This profound response was enough to express the ineffability of nibbana. Another Buddhist writing, the Lankavatara Sutra, compares the use of language in explaining nibbana to an elephant that gets stuck in mud.
However, words are necessary for explanation and yet the dilemma remains:
* If nibbana is described in positive terms then people will become attached to it.
* If nibbana is described in negative terms then people assume that it is a state of nothingness, which is a contradiction in itself.
Walpola Rahula offers various descriptions of both the positive and negative ways of depicting nibbana. The negative depictions are not always negative, since saying that nibbana is the extinction of thirst, or absence of desire, is not really a negative.
In short, when attempting to describe nibbana, Buddhist texts do it in two ways, what nibbana is not, and what nibbana is like.
Nibbana is the absence of suffering, it is having no more attachment and it is not conditioned. It is the extinguishing of the flames that fuel our attachments.
It is like freedom, a higher spiritual state, Awakening, Enlightenment or ultimate and perfect wisdom. Harvey refers to nibbana as ‘a radically transformed state of consciousness’ and he disagrees with traditional Theravada Buddhism in terms of a precise definition for consciousness. Traditional Buddhism states that since nibbana is objectless then it cannot be a form of consciousness. This is because consciousness always has to have an object; otherwise, it could not be aware of itself as consciousness. For Harvey, nibbana definitely is objectless consciousness.
What are the two types of nibbana?
There are two types of nibbana: parinibbana, the one beyond life that the Buddha entered, and the experience of the arhat during life. The arhat that has realised nibbana during life still has to live out the earthly existence. The experience of the arhat is in no way inferior to parinibbana (nibbana beyond life). They are the same experience in different contexts. The experience of parinibbana is fraught with the same issues as trying to explain the concept of nibbana itself, but how do we explain nibbana during life in the case of an arhat?
Nibbana during life
The realisation of nibbana during life is the temporary stopping of all conditioned states. Nibbana during life is a state that excludes dukkha or suffering and supersedes mind and body. It has no support and has no mental object. It is seen as sunnata or emptiness and is as indescribable as empty space. An arhat can drift in and out of nibbana during life. Harvey describes nibbana during life as ‘a transcendent, timeless experience which totally destroys attachment, hatred and delusion… a state in which all the personality factors and causal links “stop” The arhat has experienced the deathless and yet remains within the bounds of samsara and is still subject to dukkha. The impact of dukkha upon the arhat, however, is very different from normal human experience. The arhat has destroyed the three fires of attachment, has complete mental health and his actions no longer create kammic results. Pain is felt in physical terms and recognised as such; however, there is no anxiety over the awareness and recognition that it is pain.
The body may be disturbed, as it can bruise, but the mind remains unaffected, undisturbed and totally concentrated. The pain is not identified as ‘mine.
The medicine and therapy applies through the noble path
Ariya means either noble or worthy, whereas magga means path. Since there are eight aspects to this path, it is known as the Noble Eightfold Path. As we have seen earlier, the Four Noble Truths are essentially a medicinal course and remedy to life.
This is how they are applied. They are practical tools for realising nibbana. The Four Noble Truths are not doctrines upon which to reflect, to deliberate over or debate in great depth and at great length. They are a simple plan of action or things to apply to life.
In this sense the teachings are used for training, especially the Eightfold Path. They are used to facilitate detachment from craving and eradicate suffering. A parable told by the Buddha, the parable of the raft, illustrates this: ‘Monks, I will teach you Dhamma - the Parable of the Raft - for crossing over, not for retaining.
Listen to it, attend carefully, and I will speak’ (Majjhima-Nikaya).
The purpose of The Four Noble Truths, the Dhamma, is to travel beyond the ‘sea of samsara’ to the further shore of nibbana. In the parable the teachings are the raft.
Once nibbana has been realised or, in terms of the parable - the shore has been reached - it would be foolish to carry the raft (Dhamma) any further. The purpose of the raft is to carry, not to be carried.
The journey upon the raft is what is cultivated in monastic conditions as part of the Sangha. This alone is the purpose and the journey cultivates the three categories of morality, wisdom and meditation (see later), although not in any specific order, as Gethin observes, ‘That the sequence of the items of the path does not conform to the order of these three categories of practice highlights an understanding of the spiritual life that sees all three aspects of practice as … interdependent and relevant to each and every stage’.
A symbol of Buddhism is the eight-spoked wheel. It represents the eight teachings of the Buddha that bring insight into reality. These teachings prevent and stop the worries and frustrations within life, ultimately bringing calm and peace of mind.
Each teaching begins with samma or right. Samma describes a correct, appropriate or effective method. The Buddha demonstrated the right path. This will be the focus of the next section of study.
Are the four noble truth essential for ll Buddhist
One could argue that the Four Noble Truths have to be essential for all Buddhists.
They are the basic teachings of Buddhism. The Four Noble Truths were the first teachings that the Buddha delivered and contain the method of applying the teachings in a practical way to life.
In addition, they are, and have been, the central focus of Buddhism throughout the centuries and are adhered to by Buddhists today as the golden standard.
The Eightfold Path, as the fourth of the Noble Truths, is a proven method for all Theravada Buddhist monks and nuns.
Even within Buddhist traditions other than Theravada, the Four Noble Truths / have recognition as the basis of Buddhist teachings even if they do not have the attention given to them that their other teachings do.
However, in contrast to this view, by considering the vast library of scriptures within Buddhism and the numerous other teachings of Buddhism, it could be argued that they are merely one example of the Buddha’s teachings. Indeed, the Mahayana school of Buddhism claims to be the ‘greater vehicle’ and to have a more advanced version of the Buddha’s teaching through the second turning of the Dhamma wheel. Mahayana Buddhists focus on different teachings to help them achieve their goal.
Moreover, the Tibetan school claims to be an additional turning of the Dhamma wheel within Mahayana and places much more emphasis on different ways to achieve liberation within meditation and devotion.
Again, a different line of argument could be that within Theravada Buddhism the Four Noble Truths are essential only to those who live in a monastic setting, that is, the monks and nuns. For instance, whilst there may be a general acknowledgement of the importance of the Four Noble Truths by lay Buddhists, their priority may be on living a decent life and earning good karma. They may not be spiritually ready to accept the full implications for life that the Four Noble Truths deliver. Indeed, it may also be the case that lay people do not fully understand the teachings of the Four Noble Truths in a personal way or in depth.
Another line of reasoning may point out that in the grand scheme of things the Four Noble Truths are only really a teaching device to establish the truth and if they are iconised then they become something that they were not intended to be. There are other ways of expressing the Buddha’s teaching such as the three lakshanas.
In Mahayana Buddhism there is also the alternative bodhisattva path that many take instead of the Eightfold Path and which may suit them better.
However, there is the argument that whatever is taught within Buddhism and whichever path is chosen for practice and whatever teachings are considered, they all ultimately can be traced back to the Four Noble Truths.
Whatever the case may be, it is the observations that the Buddha made that are important and the Four Noble Truths are for many just one basic expression of these. It is, according to this argument, these observations and advice that matter more than how they are presented.
Whta is the fourth noble truth
The eightfold path
