The four “noble truths” are prominent in Buddhism, and often quoted in short summaries to the religion. In short, they teach that there is suffering and dissatisfaction in life, and this has its origin. There is also the experience of Freedom from suffering , and a Way of Being of Being Free in your life. In point form, these “four truths” are -

  • 1. The reality of suffering, unsatisfactoriness. (dukkha)
  • 2. The cause of suffering (samudaya dukkha)
  • 3. The experience of Freedom, the end of suffering (nibbana, dukkha nirodha)
  • 4. The Way to Freedom, the Way of Being Free (magga, marga in Sanscrit)

From my many years experience of Buddhism, daily meditation and the spiritual path, it seems to me that this four fold theme is significant to those interested in spirituality and being a better person, with fewer problems, less addictive behaviour and more satisfaction. These themes are worthy of attention.

These “four truths” are foundational to Buddhist thinking, theory and practice.

But when we analyse what Buddhism has to say about these “truths”, and quote scriptures, is this material suitable for ordinary people living in this modern Western world? This is important, considering the popularity that Buddhism enjoys among Westerners.

Buddhist scriptures and Monastic Tradition.

Buddhist scriptures are preserved in the ancient language of Pali, perhaps spoken by the historical Buddha. These Pali terms often appear in Buddhist scholastic works.

These Buddhist scripture are now available online, at the buddhasociety, accesstoinsight and tipitaka websites, for your study. In my day, you had to read these scriptures in the library of the Buddhist Society. They were reserve books then.

Nyanatiloka Thera was a prominent western Pali scholar/translator of the mid 20th century. His book, “The Word of the Buddha”, 1970, was a core text in my training at the Buddhist Society of Victoria, and at Bodhinyana Monastery, near Perth, WA. It is a translation of selected Pali scriptures, chosen to define core Buddhist doctrine. All are attributed to the historical Buddha, who died 2500 years ago. It includes the key Pali terms. Read it on buddhasociety.org

In the monastic tradition of Buddhism, the monks are supposed to detach from “worldly pursuits”. They are supposed to “abstain” from many things in “worldly” life, things that are actually quite helpful, positive and rewarding.

I have presented these scriptures chosen by Nyanatiloka in a manner to starkly reveal the scriptural basis of such detachment and “abstention”. What follows is not flattering, but we seek teachings for ordinary people who live in this modern western world. They are not training to become monks in a traditional monastery.

First Truth

According to nine different Buddhist scriptures chosen by Nyanatiloka, the historical Buddha described suffering like this -

“Suffering is birth, decay, death, loss, fear, lament, bodily pain, emotional pain, not getting what you want, getting what you don’t want, in short the human being is suffering. (DN 22 and especially SN 56. 11)

The human being can be categorised in five groups (or khandas) : body, feelings, perception, concepts and consciousness. (DN 22)

These five khandas are unreliable (impermanent), they are suffering and they are not really you (not-self). (SN 22. 59)

They are as empty as bubbles floating on the River Ganges. (SN 22. 95)

Your senses of vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch are all burning with greed, hate and delusion, all burning with suffering! So be dispassionate and disenchanted with them! (SN 35. 28)

If you enjoy in these aspects of being human, you will suffer. (SN 22. 29)

So how can you take delight where there is burning without end? You are wrapped in deepest darkness! Your body is full of sores, disease, putridity, greed; a puppet to desire. (Dhp 146 - 148)

Have you never seen an aged, diseased or dead person? How can you escape this human fate? (AN 3. 35)

People have been hurrying through the cycle of birth, death and rebirth , ensnared by craving and blinded by ignorance of these doctrines, since beginningless beginning. You have shed more tears in this way than the waters of the ocean! (SN 15. 3)

The blood you have shed from your deaths from warfare in your countless lives also exceeds the ocean’s waters. (SN 15. 13)”

Is such material suitable for ordinary people trying to succeed in their lives and deal with a major life crisis?

Comment.

It is hardly wise to consider everything in your life as suffering or disatisfying, and to dwell on all the bad things in your life. Such pessimism is actually a major cause of suffering.

We could just choose to ignore this aspect of Buddhism, and enjoy the peace and quiet of Buddhist meetings, venues and meditation instead, especially the stillness of meditation retreats. Just let other people have a different view.

Or we could consider; what is the reality of suffering? How much suffering are we actually experiencing, and how much are we ignoring or covering up this problem?

This ignorance; how does it feed destructive addictions and harmful addictive behaviour?

Suffering and Defilements

To illustrate, consider the full range of defilements, besides just greed, hate and delusion. The full range can be grouped to aid identification and ensure none are overlooked to fester in the dark.

  • 1. Fear of attack or ridicule, fear of loss or failure, embarrassment, feeling uncomfortable or unsafe or awkward or vulnerable
  • 2. Friction, irritation, resentment, criticisms, back stabbing, hostility, suspicion, miserliness,
  • 3. Guilt, shame, feeling excluded or disempowered or useless or
  • 4. Feeling hurt or disappointed or betrayed or cheated
  • 5. Arrogance, manipulation, exploitation, blackmail, corruption
  • 6. Malice, destructiveness, hate, vindictiveness, revenge, violence,
  • 7. Grief, sense of loss, broken heart, yearning,
  • 8. Exhaustion, apathy, despair, loss of purpose, dullness, impotence, hopelessness, laziness, boredom
  • 9. Stupidity, ignorance, confusion, blind to the problem, delusion,
  • 10. Disrespect, dishonesty, surliness, no appreciation, untrustworthy,
  • 11. Indiscipline, indulgence, comfort eating, addictions and addictive behaviour,
  • 12. Anger, rage, wanting to fight and destroy the restrictions,
  • 13. Agitation, haste, can’t rest or sleep, compulsive thinking, impatience, feeling disturbed or frustrated.
  • 14. Lust, greed, jealousy

When suffering is the norm, it is usually accepted and expected. We can’t properly remember better times. In truth, if the full enormity of the suffering was suddenly to be revealed, it might be too much to bear.

According to tradition, the first thing the historical Buddha said about suffering is that it should be recognised and understood (SN 56.11). We need to stop ignoring and denying it.

Second Truth

According to seven different scriptures chosen by Nyanatiloka, the historical Buddha described the origin or cause of suffering like this –

“Suffering is caused by desire and craving; the desire for sensory pleasure (kaama - tanha)*, the desire for the (renewed) existence of favourable things (bhava – tanha), or the desire for the annihilation of unfavourable things (vibhava – tanha).

Desire arises from pleasant sensory experience. (D 22 and especially SN 56.11)

Pleasure causes attraction and pain causes repulsion. If you cherish of approve of the pleasure or pain, this causes clinging (to the object or its removal), which causes the situation to recur (bhava), which then causes renewed birth, decay, death, loss, fear, bodily and emotional pain and not getting what you want (dukkha). (MN 38)

Desire for sensory pleasure causes wars, fighting, theft, adultery, and the punishment for these. These are suffering. (MN 13)

Nowhere on earth are people free from such evil. (Dhp 127)

It is the intention (cetanaa) of your actions (kamma) (thought, word and deed) that governs the outcome; happiness or suffering. (AN 6. 63)

We are all owners to our kamma, heirs to our kamma, and governed by our kamma. (note : kamma = karma) (AN 10. 206)

Suffering will never end for those who are driven by desire and ignore this doctrine. (SN 22. 99)

(* This is kaama-tanha = sensory desire, and not karma-tanha = desire for intentional action)

Comment

It is true that the desire to get something that’s unavailable, or the desire to get rid of something that’s unavoidable (SN 56.11; 1st truth), is a common cause of suffering. But this is misdirected desire. It is the misdirection that is the problem, not the desire itself.

The pedantic will say that the scholars use the word craving, not desire to translate suttas DN 22 and SN 56. 11. But from my extensive experience of Buddhism, I know that to choose the word desire in this context better explains Buddhist thinking on this matter.

It is hardly wise to view desire as the root cause of your suffering. Desire is the driving force behind all human interest and endeavour. And craving is just a more urgent desire because the need is more real.

Problems are often caused by inadequate determination, commitment, or interest in either building up some positive, supportive thing, or facing and resolving problems.

They also can be caused by lack of connections and ties to the outside world, so that the necessary help is not available.

This issue of encouraging detachment in meditators in important. Such people might have turned to meditation because they lack adequate connections and relationships to the outside world. They want to learn to be happy by themselves.

How can there be can be effective determination, commitment and interest without desire? How can there be effective ties and connections without attachment?

In the Second Noble Truth, what might be the origin?

It most likely arose from the monastic traditions, which were central to Buddhism.

Traditional Vinaya (the monks’ rules) and other restrictions could exclude many things from monastic life that are available in the outside community. Many are helpful, wholesome and important, but tradition bans them, and conflicts arise if the monks access them.

A traditional doctrine concerning desire that turns attention away from these “lay” pursuits, and towards monastic rules and the status and influence of the religious director, is to be expected under such difficulties.

But whatever the origin, our criteria requires that which is relevant, practical, helpful and truthful. What relevance does this four fold theme on suffering and freedom have for people living in this modern western world ? They are not living in a traditional Buddhist monastery, nor training to become a Buddhist monk.

What Can We Do About the Doctrinal Basis?

We could choose to ignore unsuitable ideas, and just enjoy the peace and quiet of Buddhist meetings, venues and meditation, especially meditation retreats. Just let other people have a different view.

Or we could consider some pertinent questions.

What really causes our suffering? How can we best deal with our defilements? What have we done in our lives to protect our happiness and avoid or solve problems?

My forthcoming article is called “How Does Desire Cause Suffering?” (2400 words). From my experience I believe that careful examination of this theme is very helpful for spiritual practice.

But let’s first examine the causes of suffering other than desire.

The Causes of Suffering.

Many factors effect our happiness or cause suffering. The wise person learns the skills, seeks the favourable conditions, seeks escape routes from intolerable conditions, and teaches their children accordingly. Much of our suffering now depends on how diligent we were in the past in this effort.

Skills.

  • · Income earning skills, to get and keep well paying work or clientele, or at least be eligible for Social Security support, and manage or control expenses for oneself and any dependants.
  • · Social, communication and persuasive skills.
  • · Personal skills, knowing how to clear the mind and make the right decision, how to deal with the prevailing defilements, how to be happy and enjoy life.
  • · Health and exercise; be willing to stretch and exercise regularly, eat well, avoid or minimise indulgent habits, and get effective treatment when sick.
  • · Recreation ; be willing to enjoy wholesome activity like exercise, time in Nature, creativity, socialising, spirituality and relaxation.

Conditions.

  • · Economic : does income exceed the cost of real needs ?
  • · Basic essentials : can good food, water, accommodation, work, transport, communication, and treatment be readily accessed ?
  • · Social : are people positive, supportive, reliable, honest ?
  • · Environment : is it too exposed to weather or biohazards, too noisy, exhausting, cramped, isolated, uncomfortable or ugly ?
  • · Peace : is there any support for military activity ? Modern warfare is the greatest cause of suffering to those exposed to it.

But to those on the spiritual path, it is clear that happiness and the end of suffering depend on more than just conditions and skills that one has succeeded in attaining and retaining. This ‘something else’ is the unconditioned, also named the unmanifested, the unborn, the undying.

I will elaborate in my next article, on the third “noble truth” of Buddhism.

My Experience.

I offer this material to you based on my experience –

  • · A lifetime’s commitment to the spiritual path.
  • · Many years of regular attendance to 3 Buddhist centers in Australia, from 1982 to 2004, and visiting many other Buddhist centers and events.

  • · Attending numerous silent residential lay Buddhist retreats, from 3 to 14 days long, mostly led by a senior Buddhist monk or nun.
  • · Listening to hundreds of talks by leading Buddhist speakers, nearly all monks.
  • · Numerous attempts to study Buddhist scripture and doctrinal works.
  • · 5000 hours of formal meditation practice, practised every day for 25 years.
  • · 500 days and nights of intense meditation practice, all day every day, in a meditative, renunciate Buddhist monastery.

Coding of Buddhist Scripture

Buddhist scripture is different from the Christian Bible.

The Sutta Pitaka; “the basket of Buddhist discourses and verses” comprises many nikayas; Digha Nikaya, Anguttara Nikaya, Majjhima Nikaya, Samyutta Nikaya, the Dhammapada, Sutta Nipata, Udana. These comprise many thousands of pages; a whole bookshelf. Most are attributed to the historical Buddha or his direct disciples.

Each sutta is encoded by a letter (the initial of the nikaya), then volume and sutta number. Dhp = dhammapada.

Eg. the discourse that says ; “if you enjoy your sense impressions, you will suffer”, (SN 22. 29) is Samyutta Nikaya vol 22, sutta 29. Read them on accesstoinsight.org

Use a full stop, not a comma between volume and sutta number for this website’s search engine.

Feed back.

If you find my material useful, please send me useful comment. My yahoo address is mikebrowvic

Best wishes, Mike Browning of Queensland, Australia

Copyright © Mike Browning, 2011