In His first sermon to the five ascetics in the Deer Park near Varanasi, the Buddha spoke of the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths summed up, in a systematic formula, are the central teaching of the Buddha.
The Noble Eight-fold Path, discovered by the Buddha Himself, leads to Nirvana. It avoids the extreme of self-torture that weakens ones intellect and the extreme of self-indulgence that retards ones spiritual progress. The Truth of Suffering The Buddha's discovery of the
solution to the problem of suffering began with the recognition
that life is suffering. This is the first of the Four
Noble Truths. If people examine their own experiences or look
at the world around them, they will see that life is full of suffering.
Suffering may be Physical or Mental Physical SufferingPhysical suffering takes many forms. People must have observed at one time or another, how their aged relatives suffer. Most of these aged suffer aches and pains in their joints and many find it hard to move about by themselves. With advancing age, the elderly find life difficult because they cannot see, hear or eat properly. The pain of disease, which strikes young and old alike, is unbearable, and the pain of death brings much grief and suffering. Even the moment of birth gives pain both to the mother and the child that is born. The truth is that suffering of birth, old age, sickness and death are unavoidable. Some fortunate people may now be enjoying relatively happy and carefree lives, but it is only a matter of time before they , too, will experience suffering. What is worse, this suffering must be borne alone .
Mental Suffering Beside physical suffering, there
are also various forms of mental suffering. People feel sad, lonely
or depressed when they lose someone they love through separation
or death. They feel irritated or uncomfortable when they are forced
to be company of those whom they dislike or those who are unpleasant.
People also suffer when they unable to satisfy their limitless
needs and wants. Happiness in Life When the Buddha said that there is suffering in life, He did not deny that there is happiness also. On the contrary, He spoke of various kinds of happiness, such as the happiness of friendship, the happiness of family life, and so on. But all these kinds of happiness are impermanent and when one loses them, one suffers. For example, one may like a pleasant and charming person and enjoy his or her company. But when one is separated from that person, the happiness turns into suffering. One suffers because of one's attachment to pleasures that do not last. People often remain
unaware of the inevitable sufferings of life because they are
distracted by temporary pleasures.
Cause of SufferingThe Buddha had observed that life is suffering. Before He Could find a solution to the problem of suffering in life, He had first to look for the cause of suffering. The Buddha was just like a good doctor who first observes a patient's symptoms and identifies the cause of the illness before prescribing a cure. The Buddha discovered that the direct causes of suffering are desire or craving, and ignorance. This is the truth of the cause of suffering, which is the Second Noble Truth. Craving Craving is the deep-seated desire that all living beings have for the pleasures of the senses, and for life itself. For instance, people always seek to enjoy good food, entertainment and pleasant company. Yet none of these can give them complete and lasting satisfaction. After the fine meal has been eaten , the beautiful music heard and the pleasant company shared, one is still not content. One would like to enjoy these pleasures again and again, and for as long as possible. People who desire to own many things can never be fully satisfied too. Like children in a toy shop, they crave for all the attractive things they see around them. But like children too, they soon become dissatisfied with what they already have and desire for more. Sometimes, they can hardly eat or sleep until they get what they want. Yet when they succeeded in getting what they want, they may still find their happiness short-lived. Many will be too worried for the safety and condition of their new possessions to enjoy it. Then when the object they possess eventually breaks into pieces and has to be thrown away, they will suffer its loss even more. When we have obtained something that we desire, we may want more and more of it, and so greed arises. Because of desire and greed, people will lie, cheat and steal to get what they want. Uncontrolled desires can also lead to addiction, for example, to smoking, drinking and overeating, all of which lead to suffering and cause mental and physical harm. If one is prevented by another person from getting what one desires, one may feel anger with that person. Desire when obstructed can lead to illwill and anger. This in turn can lead to harsh words, violent quarrels and even fights or killings. All this is suffering. Ignorance Craving or desire is like a great tree having many branches. There are branches of greed, of ill will and of anger. The fruit of this tree is suffering, but how does the tree of craving arise ? Where does it grow ? The answer is that the tree of craving is rooted in ignorance. It grows out of ignorance. Ignorance is the inability to see the truth about things, to see things as they really are. There are many truths about the world which people are ignorant of because of the limitations of their understanding. Science has shown, for instance, that there are sounds that people are unable to hear and waves of light which they are unable to see. People would be totally unaware of radio waves, or ultraviolet light rays if special instruments had not been developed to enable them to observe these things. So long as people remain ignorant of things about the world in which they live, they suffer from all kinds of misunderstandings and delusions. When people develop their minds and acquire wisdom through study, careful thought and meditation they will see the Truth. They will see things as they really are They will understand the suffering and impermanence of life, the Law of Cause and Effect and the Four Noble Truths. By overcoming craving and ignorance, they will attain happiness and Enlightenment just as the Buddha did about 2500 years ago. The Buddha's realization of the end of suffering and his attainment of Nirvana at the age of thirty-five, crowed his search for Truth with success. For six years, the Bodhisattva had spared no effort to find a solution to the problems of suffering. He had tried the principal method of ending suffering and had found them wanting. Eventually he found his own solution to the problems of life. Confidence in the Buddha's Teaching Having realized the Truth through his own efforts, the Buddha offered it to all who ready to listen. There is an old story of a turtle and a fish. The turtle lived on land as well as in the water while the fish only lived in the water. One day, when the turtle had returned from a visit to the land, he told the fish of his experiences. He explained that creatures walked rather than swam. The fish refused to believe that dry land really existed because that was something beyond his own experience. In the same way, people may not have experienced the end of suffering, but it does not mean that the end of suffering is not possible. A patient must have confidence in an experienced doctor, otherwise he will never take the medicine that the doctor has prescribed him and will not cured of his sickness. Similarly, people must have confidence in the Teaching of the Buddha, who has shown that end of suffering is really possible. Truth of the End of Suffering The end of suffering is the final goal of the Buddha's Teaching. It can be experienced by anyone here and now. For example, when greed and anger arise in one's mind, one experiences unhappiness and when thoughts of greed and anger cease, one's mind becomes happy and peaceful. To end suffering completely, one must remove desire, ill will and ignorance. This is the Third Noble Truth of the End of Suffering. Happiness The Buddha taught that the end of suffering is supreme happiness. Every step towards the end of suffering is accompanied by ever-increasing joy. Those who follow the Teaching of the Buddha live happily without greed among those who are overwhelmed by desire. They live happily without anger among those who harbour ill will. The more people free themselves from desire, ill will and ignorance, the greater will be their happiness. When they have completely overcome desire, ill will and ignorance, they will know the supreme happiness as experienced by the Buddha. Enlightenment By putting the Buddha's Teaching into practice, people too can achieve supreme Enlightenment. Enlightenment has countless qualities, of which perfect wisdom and great compassion are the most important. Through perfect wisdom, the great compassion, He is able to help countless beings to overcome their suffering. Experiencing Nirvana for Oneself The end of suffering has been
described as supreme happiness and Enlightenment. However, these
terms do not fully express the real nature of the end of suffering,
or Nirvana. Nirvana cannot be exactly put into words. Attempting
to describe Nirvana is like saying that a mango is sweet, and
that it is not like banana or an apple. One has to eat a mango
in order to know for oneself what the taste is really like. Similarly
Nirvana has to experienced for oneself.
Therefore, if people have confidence in the Buddha's Teaching and put into practice, they can achieve happiness peace and Enlightenment.
The Middle Path As a youth, Prince Siddhartha enjoyed the indulgent life of pleasure in his father's palace. Later, when he renounced the worldly life and become an ascetic, he experienced the hardship of torturing his mind and body. Finally, not long before attaining Enlightenment, he realized the fruitlessness of these two extreme ways of life. He realized that the way to happiness and Enlightenment was to lead a life that avoids these extremes. He described this life as the Middle Path. These three ways of life may be compared to the the strings of different tensions on a lute. The loose string, which is like a life of indulgence, produces a poor sound when struck. The overly tight string, which is like a life of extreme asceticism, similarly produces a poor sound when struck and is moreover, likely to break at any moment. Only the middle string which is neither too loose nor too tight, and is like the Middle Path, produces a pleasant and harmonious sound when stuck. So these who follow the Middle Path which avoid the extreme of indulging one's desires and opposite extreme of torturing one's mind and body unreasonably, will find happiness, peace of mind and Enlightenment. This is the Fourth Noble Truth of the path leading to the end of suffering.
What you are is what you have been, and what you will be is what you do now |