SOURCE: http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/fourtruths.html
The Four Noble Truths
To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too.
The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas, and -in a greater sense- all objects of our perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, ardour, pursuit of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or in short: craving and clinging. Because the objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily follow. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a "self" which is a delusion, because there is no abiding self. What we call "self" is just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.
The cessation of suffering can be attained through nirodha. Nirodha means the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. The third noble truth expresses the idea that suffering can be ended by attaining dispassion. Nirodha extinguishes all forms of clinging and attachment. This means that suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. Attaining and perfecting dispassion is a process of many levels that ultimately results in the state of Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from all worries, troubles, complexes, fabrications and ideas. Nirvana is not comprehensible for those who have not attained it.
There is a path to the end of suffering - a gradual path of self-improvement, which is described more detailed in the Eightfold Path. It is the middle way between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive self-mortification (asceticism); and it leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth. The latter quality discerns it from other paths which are merely "wandering on the wheel of becoming", because these do not have a final object. The path to the end of suffering can extend over many lifetimes, throughout which every individual rebirth is subject to karmic conditioning. Craving, ignorance, delusions, and its effects will disappear gradually, as progress is made on the path.
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
1. Right View Wisdom
3. Right Speech Ethical Conduct
4. Right Action
6. Right Effort Mental Development
The Noble Eightfold Path describes the way to the end of suffering, as it was laid out by Siddhartha Gautama.
It
is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the
goal of freeing the individual from attachments and delusions; and it
finally leads to understanding the truth about all things.
Together with the Four Noble Truths it constitutes the gist of Buddhism.
Great
emphasis is put on the practical aspect, because it is only through
practice that one can attain a higher level of existence and finally
reach Nirvana. The eight aspects of the path are not to be understood as
a sequence of single steps, instead they are highly interdependent
principles that have to be seen in relationship with each other.
1. Right View
Right
view is the beginning and the end of the path, it simply means to see
and to understand things as they really are and to realise the Four
Noble Truth. As such, right view is the cognitive aspect of wisdom. It
means to see things through, to grasp the impermanent and imperfect
nature of worldly objects and ideas, and to understand the law of karma
and karmic conditioning. Right view is not necessarily an intellectual
capacity, just as wisdom is not just a matter of intelligence. Instead,
right view is attained, sustained, and enhanced through all capacities
of mind. It begins with the intuitive insight that all beings are
subject to suffering and it ends with complete understanding of the true
nature of all things. Since our view of the world forms our thoughts
and our actions, right view yields right thoughts and right actions.
2. Right Intention
While
right view refers to the cognitive aspect of wisdom, right intention
refers to the volitional aspect, i.e. the kind of mental energy that
controls our actions. Right intention can be described best as
commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement. Buddha distinguishes
three types of right intentions: 1. the intention of renunciation, which
means resistance to the pull of desire, 2. the intention of good will,
meaning resistance to feelings of anger and aversion, and 3. the
intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly,
violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion.
3. Right Speech
Right
speech is the first principle of ethical conduct in the eightfold path.
Ethical conduct is viewed as a guideline to moral discipline, which
supports the other principles of the path. This aspect is not
self-sufficient, however, essential, because mental purification can
only be achieved through the cultivation of ethical conduct. The
importance of speech in the context of Buddhist ethics is obvious: words
can break or save lives, make enemies or friends, start war or create
peace. Buddha explained right speech as follows: 1. to abstain from
false speech, especially not to tell deliberate lies and not to speak
deceitfully, 2. to abstain from slanderous speech and not to use words
maliciously against others, 3. to abstain from harsh words that offend
or hurt others, and 4. to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose
or depth. Positively phrased, this means to tell the truth, to speak
friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary.
4. Right Action
The
second ethical principle, right action, involves the body as natural
means of expression, as it refers to deeds that involve bodily actions.
Unwholesome actions lead to unsound states of mind, while wholesome
actions lead to sound states of mind. Again, the principle is explained
in terms of abstinence: right action means 1. to abstain from harming
sentient beings, especially to abstain from taking life (including
suicide) and doing harm intentionally or delinquently, 2. to abstain
from taking what is not given, which includes stealing, robbery, fraud,
deceitfulness, and dishonesty, and 3. to abstain from sexual misconduct.
Positively formulated, right action means to act kindly and
compassionately, to be honest, to respect the belongings of others, and
to keep sexual relationships harmless to others. Further details
regarding the concrete meaning of right action can be found in the Precepts.
5. Right Livelihood
Right
livelihood means that one should earn one's living in a righteous way
and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha
mentions four specific activities that harm other beings and that one
should avoid for this reason: 1. dealing in weapons, 2. dealing in
living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave
trade and prostitution), 3. working in meat production and butchery, and
4. selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs.
Furthermore any other occupation that would violate the principles of
right speech and right action should be avoided.
6. Right Effort
Right
effort can be seen as a prerequisite for the other principles of the
path. Without effort, which is in itself an act of will, nothing can be
achieved, whereas misguided effort distracts the mind from its task, and
confusion will be the consequence. Mental energy is the force behind
right effort; it can occur in either wholesome or unwholesome states.
The same type of energy that fuels desire, envy, aggression, and
violence can on the other side fuel self-discipline, honesty,
benevolence, and kindness. Right effort is detailed in four types of
endeavours that rank in ascending order of perfection: 1. to prevent the
arising of unarisen unwholesome states, 2. to abandon unwholesome
states that have already arisen, 3. to arouse wholesome states that have
not yet arisen, and 4. to maintain and perfect wholesome states already
arisen.
7. Right Mindfulness
Right
mindfulness is the controlled and perfected faculty of cognition. It is
the mental ability to see things as they are, with clear consciousness.
Usually, the cognitive process begins with an impression induced by
perception, or by a thought, but then it does not stay with the mere
impression. Instead, we almost always conceptualise sense impressions
and thoughts immediately. We interpret them and set them in relation to
other thoughts and experiences, which naturally go beyond the facticity
of the original impression. The mind then posits concepts, joins
concepts into constructs, and weaves those constructs into complex
interpretative schemes. All this happens only half consciously, and as a
result we often see things obscured. Right mindfulness is anchored in
clear perception and it penetrates impressions without getting carried
away. Right mindfulness enables us to be aware of the process of
conceptualisation in a way that we actively observe and control the way
our thoughts go. Buddha accounted for this as the four foundations of
mindfulness: 1. contemplation of the body, 2. contemplation of feeling
(repulsive, attractive, or neutral), 3. contemplation of the state of
mind, and 4. contemplation of the phenomena.
8. Right Concentration
The
eighth principle of the path, right concentration, refers to the
development of a mental force that occurs in natural consciousness,
although at a relatively low level of intensity, namely concentration.
Concentration in this context is described as one-pointedness of mind,
meaning a state where all mental faculties are unified and directed onto
one particular object. Right concentration for the purpose of the
eightfold path means wholesome concentration, i.e. concentration on
wholesome thoughts and actions. The Buddhist method of choice to develop
right concentration is through the practice of meditation. The
meditating mind focuses on a selected object. It first directs itself
onto it, then sustains concentration, and finally intensifies
concentration step by step. Through this practice it becomes natural to
apply elevated levels concentration also in everyday situations.
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