3/15/2015
Midterm Essay
Richter
The Four Noble Truths Most people try to prevent suffering in their life because it is the mental or physically feeling of pain, hardships, or distress. There are many cultures that believe that suffering is necessary for the understanding of life. In the religion of Buddhism, their teachings are based on the idea of human suffering. In Buddha’s first sermon, after his enlightenment, he explained the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths are: the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. It is evident that everyone experiences suffering at some point in his or her life and that there is a cause
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This truth is dukkha, which means “ the truth of suffering.” The second noble truth is the “truth of the cause of suffering.” In Buddha’s sermon, he explained what cause of suffering is tanha. Tanha means craving or thirst. Once tanha is extinguished, a person is released from the cycle of life.
According to the book the cycle of life is “birth, suffering, death, and rebirth” (Hopfe 134). According to Buddhism, people’s wants are what causes their sufferings. People are never satisfied with the things they have because they always want more or better. People in general want happiness, material goods, and satisfaction. For example, people want bigger homes, want higher paying jobs, want money, want to look better, want to be popular, etc. The problem is that desiring so many things causes suffering because it is not possible to be completely satisfied. The third noble truth is the truth of the end of suffering. In other words, what is the cure to suffering? Buddha teaches that through practice, people can end their cravings. Reaching the end is either ending their spiritual life, Nirvana, or ending their suffering in this life one
suffering hurts man spirit is does more good then constant happiness and power. We have to beat
In order to understand the concepts of the Four Noble Truths, one needs to understand the aim of Buddhist practice. “The aim of Buddhist practice is to cure craving, the desire conditioned by ignorance that leads to suffering” (Demoss 1).2 Buddhism advocates meditation, and a “…goal of Buddhist meditation is to produce right mindfulness, an alert awareness of what is happening in body, mind, and world at the present moment” (Demoss 318).3 “Traditionally, ‘right action’ is defined in Buddhist ethics by the five percepts: do not kill, do not steal, do not engage in illicit sex, do not lie, and do not become intoxicated” (Demoss 319).4 “According to Buddhism a person does not have an intrinsic permanent changeless identity. There is no core self. The self is empty” (Demoss 1).5 The Four Noble Truths provide a conceptual framework for all Buddhist thought. According to the Four Noble Truths, craving leads to suffering, but craving can cease if one cultivates a path of mental discipline, wisdom, and moral conduct (Demoss 309).6 An understanding of Buddhism is...
In Cause of Suffering, everyone craves a lust for satisfaction, whether it is hunger, power, or entertainment. We never forget the thirst for attentiveness as it becomes repetitive until the thirst subsides for a while. For this reason,
The Three Jewels, the Five Precepts, the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path greatly influence individuals and the Buddhist community through their everyday lives, whether it be guiding the adherent’s actions, ethical decision making, or practice. Adherents who follow the teachings become more aware that having an ignorant mindset distracts one from living a good life and happy life; “The purpose of life is to be happy” (Dalai Lama). This was explained in Buddha’s first Sermon, “There is addiction to indulgence of sense-pleasures, which is low… the way of ordinary people, unworthy, and unprofitable; and there is addiction to self-mortification, which is painful, unworthy and unprofitable.” (Buddha), thus avoiding both these extremes,
A man of noble birth, living in the time before the Common Era, preached a way to extinguish the fire of self-centered delusion. This state of Nirvana can be achieved by understanding The Four Noble Truths, suffering in life, he explains can be avoided by following an Eightfold Path. Sounds simple? This must have been an awaking for people of his time seeking a more personal religion, away from the rigidities of a priest-dominated Hinduism of India. The man, the Buddha, spent the rest of his life teaching the religion he discovered and its doctrine based upon his Dharma (cosmic law and order). The first written evidence of the existence of Buddhism is found over 400 years ago after the life of the Buddha. (Kozak) Historians pose the
to state suffering as the entirety of the first noble truth, is not enough because the expression of
In addition, Buddhism places emphasis on the Four Noble Truths, which is the teaching of Buddha, a guide to enlightenment. These are a set of guidance that basically teaches the followers of Buddha the essence of...
The way to end all suffering is to end all desires. 4) The way to overcome such desires and attain enlightenment is to follow the Eightfold Path, which is called the Middle Way between desires and self-denial. “The Eightfold Path was like a staircase. those seeking enlightenment had to master one step at a time.”
... the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. More simply put, suffering exists; it has a cause; it has an end; and it has a cause to bring about its end. The notion of suffering in Buddhism then, is not intended to convey a negative world view, but rather, to connote a pragmatic perspective that deals with the world as it is, and subsequently attempts to remedy it. The concept of pleasure is not denied, but is rather acknowledged as fleeting in that the pursuit of pleasure can only sustain what is ultimately an unquenchable thirst.
Furthermore, even the happiest and carefree of people will eventually experience some kind of suffering. The Buddha taught people to recognize that suffering is part of life and that it cannot be avoided. However, this suffering does not only come from the body—it also comes from within. Those who experience loneliness, depression, anxiety, or cannot satisfy their needs and wants are suffering. Despite the negative aspects of suffering, Siddhartha also spoke of happiness through friendships, family life, or health. Though, the downfall to this is that happiness is impermanent—or annica—and will not end all suffering. Buddhists believe that the way to end suffering is to first accept the fact that suffering is a fact of life. The next aspect to recognize is what causes such suffering?
The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism capture ethos of the spirituality and its teachings. By just these four lessons, Buddha preaches the principles of tranquility within meditation of mere concentration. From these truths he developed a guidance referred to as the Eightfold Path, a series of principles that lead to awakening when practiced and understood. He preaches that inevitable suffering comes from desire, however he concludes with a solution to a life lived in nirvana. The first two of the Four Noble Truths are Dukha and Avidya, focusing on the primitive presence of suffering within day to day life. The other two are Nirodha and Magga, contributions to having faith that solvents for all suffering do exist and how it is accomplished. The combination of each understanding is a simple recipe to ultimate salvation, hence the contribution to development of self awareness and happiness within cultures across the map.
The Second Noble Truth points to the origin of suffering, namely craving or tanha (literally thirst'). At its most simple, this relates to our constant craving for what is pleasurable in what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch and think. (Hanh 44)
The pursuit of happiness ultimately leads to disappointment and a lack of satisfaction because people’s cravings can never be entirely fulfilled. Dalai Lama once said “When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, ‘Oh yes – I already have everything that I really need.’” This quote shows that having high expectations of anything leads to disappointment when the expectation is not met. Also, having anticipations for what happiness is makes attained happiness irrelevant and inadequate relative to what one wanted to get
...to face reality. We gain true happiness in suffering because the greatest happiness is known that when we really suffered. And I'm pretty sure all the characters like Mandela, Ghandi could be happy to know that their fight eventually pay today. Even as a human, suffering has become a part of our existence. Any good marriage is based on periods of discord, relations between parents and children are often in tension. Every birth is preceded by the suffering of the mother. Therefore overcome suffering is not about something that happened, but how you respond to life after these tests.
The Buddha stated that to live means to inescapably experience sorrow and dissatisfaction. Each new obstacle needs to be analyzed and understood so a solution can be found. Suffering cannot be avoided but the four noble truths indicate how each person can respond to it (Ellwood, McGraw, 121).