Four Noble Truths

Siddhartha Gautama (or Buddha Shakyamuni - The Sage from the lineage of Shakya) proclaimed the doctrine of the "Four Noble Truths."

The Four Noble Truths (Pali: cattāri ariyasāccani, Sanskrit: catvāri āryasatyāni "The four Arya satyas") form the core of the Buddha's teaching. They are the subject of his first doctrinal discourse, the Sermon of Benares, and with it begins the "turning of the wheel of teaching" (Dharmacakrapravartana).

The Four Noble Truths at a Glance

The First Noble Truth - All Existence is Sorrowful (Dukkha)

Dukkha - Life in the cycle of existence is ultimately suffering. Birth is suffering, ageing is suffering, death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain and despair are suffering. Companionship with the unloved is suffering; not getting what is wanted is suffering. In short, the five accumulations (skt. skandha, p. khandhah) are sufferings.

The Second Noble Truth - The Cause of Suffering (Samudaya)

Samudaya - Causes of suffering are greed, hatred and delusion and not knowing (skt. avidyā, p. avijjā). Desire/thirst (skt. trisnā, p. tanhā) leading to rebirth - accompanied by passion or delight, enjoyed just here and just there - namely, desire for sense pleasure, desire for becoming, desire for not becoming.

The Third Noble Truth - The Extinction of Suffering (Nirodha)

Nirodha - Causes cease, suffering ceases. The complete cessation or ending, turning away, resigning, giving up and letting go of that very desire (tanha).

The fourth noble truth - The path to the extinction of suffering

Magga - The Noble Eightfold Path leads to the extinction of suffering. The eight stages of this path are: Right View, Right Determination, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood/Acquisition, Right Effort, Right Attention/Mindfulness, Right Concentration. Magga is also called the Middle Way (Pali: Majjhimāpaṭipadā; Sanskrit: Madhyamāpratipada) because it avoids two extremes: first, the search for happiness in sense enjoyment, which is low, mean and unprofitable and is considered the path of the common man. And secondly, the search for happiness in self-torture through various forms of asceticism, which is painful, unworthy and also not profitable.

Literature

• Rudolf Steiner: Neues Christus-Erleben, GA 69c (2015), ISBN 978-3-7274-0693-5

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