Questions tagged [four-noble-truths]

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How to explain what Buddhism is?

My mother and I come from a non-Buddhist culture/background/society/country/family. At one point when I had an opportunity to explain to her what Buddhism is, I was doing well (i.e. she was listening ...
ChrisW's user avatar
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11 votes
6 answers
644 views

Compassion to friends: stepping in vs. letting them learn on their own

There is a story about how the Buddha will knock on your door if your house is on fire, but he will not kick it down because you have to answer the door yourself. This is analogous to the Four Noble ...
Nick's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
726 views

Justifying the Four Noble Truths without rebirth [duplicate]

In the article entitled A Secular Evaluation of Rebirth, Doug Smith, of the Secular Buddhist Association, wrote: It is for reasons such as these that any contemporary, scientifically informed ...
ruben2020's user avatar
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10 votes
6 answers
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What are the Four Noble Truths?

What are they? Where are they found in the literature? Are there any significant differences in them among the traditions?
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9 votes
5 answers
9k views

What is idle chatter?

In AN 10.176 idle chatter is defined as He speaks in season, speaks what is factual, what is in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, & the Vinaya. He speaks words worth treasuring, ...
Crab Bucket's user avatar
8 votes
8 answers
2k views

Why is the Heart Sutra so important in Mahayana Buddhism?

So the Heart Sutra is one of the most popular sutra in Mahayana Buddhism, said to be the summary and heart of the Prajna Paramita Sutra. It was popularized by the famous monk Xuanzang. It was said ...
Yinxu's user avatar
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7 votes
6 answers
1k views

Why do the Noble Truths talk about 'craving', instead of about 'attachment'?

Further to these comments, why do the Noble Truths talk about 'craving', specifically, instead of about 'attachment'? Wouldn't they make as much sense, or even make more sense, if they identified ...
ChrisW's user avatar
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7 votes
4 answers
335 views

What is the object of Faith in Buddhism

I am quite new to Buddhism. One of the reasons for starting practice was that I don't believe in God. But I belive in the four Noble Truths. I believe it because the more I think about it, the more I ...
Mr. Concept's user avatar
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7 votes
3 answers
3k views

Was Buddhism a rebellion against the Aryans?

I read and learned many areas in Buddhism, for example the Seven Arya Dhana (Saptharyadhana - The Sevenfold Noble Wealth), the Four Noble Truths (Chathurarya Sathya) and the Eightfold Path (arya ...
Lasitha Benaragama's user avatar
7 votes
5 answers
481 views

How does the first noble truth associate dukkha with each of the five skandhas?

I'm looking at this definition of dukkha: Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, & despair are dukkha; association with the unbeloved is ...
ChrisW's user avatar
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6 votes
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Does Buddhism focus on suffering too much?

The core of the Buddhist teachings are the four noble truths which talks about the existence of suffering. Other religions criticize Buddhism telling that this focusing on suffering makes the ...
Luis Orantes's user avatar
6 votes
4 answers
811 views

'Dukkha': What is the difference between 'suffering' & 'unsatisfactoriness'?

In Buddhism, the English words 'suffering' & 'unsatisfactoriness' are often used as translations of the Pali word 'dukkha'. What is the difference between 'suffering' & 'unsatisfactoriness'?
Dhamma Dhatu's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
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What are the twelve aspects of the Four Noble Truths?

For each of the Four Noble Truths, there are three aspects. The three aspects for each Noble Truth follows a pattern of Recognition (understanding it), Encouragement (what is to be done), and ...
FullPeace.org's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
1k views

Should Buddhists give their time to helping others?

I'm new to Buddhism. I was familiarizing myself with the "Four Seals" in This Article. The article connects the first truth, that all compounded things are impermanent, to charity. He said that ...
User1996's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
138 views

Trouble understanding the path factor of Right Effort

The path factor Right Effort in the noble eight-fold path contains 4 steps which are; Prevent the unwholesome that has not yet arisen in oneself. Let go of the unwholesome that has arisen in oneself. ...
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5 votes
3 answers
810 views

What is the relation between Pratītyasamutpāda and Four Noble truths?

First two truths are relate to "samsara". But how 3rd and 4th truths relate to Pratītyasamutpāda?
Shrawaka's user avatar
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5 votes
4 answers
143 views

Does the saṅ­kha­ta­lak­kha­ṇa of dukkha apply to the noble path?

Dukkha is usually clarified as an intrinsic characteristic of everything conditioned and to be as such a direct derivative of the characteristic of impermanence. Does this also apply to the noble ...
Simo's user avatar
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4 votes
6 answers
1k views

Is there such a thing as craving for enlightenment and would it be unwholesome?

I was wondering if for example an obsession or craving that someone has for attaining Nirvana would be considered something unwholesome. On one hand it seems to me like it would, since that person ...
sirangelo's user avatar
4 votes
4 answers
715 views

What do Birth, Age, and Death mean in the first noble truth?

Below is from Ariyapariyesana Sutta "Monks, there are these two searches: ignoble search & noble search. And what is ignoble search? There is the case where a person, being subject himself ...
Isuru's user avatar
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4 votes
8 answers
304 views

Can someone address this critique?

I found a rather compelling critique on the Internet and would like to ask you to answer this. He probably misunderstood dukkha, however, he is somewhat right on the nihilism aspect of buddhism. In ...
Val's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
90 views

How do we focus on stress for the first noble truth?

Do we focus on suffering as the suffering we're experiencing in the present moment or do we focus on suffering how the Buddha and Sariputta put forth and analyzed the four noble truths like: "Now what,...
Buddhistdude's user avatar
4 votes
5 answers
3k views

Can we consider any core Buddhist teaching as dogma?

Can we consider the four noble truth or any other core teachings in Buddhism as dogmas that we should accept, or could be learn/understand reality only by experience and mindfulness? Is it possible to ...
toupper's user avatar
  • 143
3 votes
4 answers
1k views

What is meant by setting the "wheel" of Dharma in motion?

Namo Buddhaya. At many places in the texts it is said that the Buddha had set the wheel of dhamma in motion and that it can not be rolled back by anyone. This sutta is devoted to the understanding of ...
Dheeraj Verma's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
772 views

What is the most accurate translation of the word 'dukkha'?

This question is a sequel to my previous question about First Noble Truth. It seems that there is discord about the exact rendering of the word 'dukkha'. Sorry if I sound like a pedantic dou*h. I am ...
The White Cloud's user avatar
3 votes
8 answers
348 views

The four noble truths

H.E Tsem Rinpoche says the following on his website. "Through a lack of understanding of how things truly exist, we create and recreate an independent self entity called “me.” The whole of our ...
Arturia's user avatar
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3 votes
6 answers
923 views

Sequence in the noble eightfold path

It's clear right view is the foremost factor as without the right view one would not go for practicing the noble eightfold path at all. But when the rest is considered, is there a real sequence? My ...
seeker's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
216 views

Can contemplation of the four noble truths lead to penetration of them?

Like can you gain insight into the four noble truths by contemplating them? In this sutta the Buddha says that "your duty is the contemplation" and then goes into the four noble truths http://www....
Buddhistdude's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
589 views

Did the Buddha teach the four noble truths to laypeople?

Sometimes I see comments like, "the Buddha never taught the four noble truths to laypeople". Is that so? If so, why didn't he? Aren't the 4NT the best, most succinct and most helpful, part of the ...
ChrisW's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
244 views

how desire for cessation, never to be reborn, is different from desire for non-being?

The Second Noble Truth identifies three aspects of craving, one of them being craving for non-being. How does the desire for cessation, to attain final Nibbāna, never to be reborn, differ from the ...
user avatar
3 votes
6 answers
307 views

How to reconcile the "right view" in the Noble Eightfold path with Snp 4.5?

The Four Noble Truths include the Noble Eightfold Path which importantly includes “right view” as the first step on that path. However, it is said in Snp 4.5 that a Realized One does not hold any “...
Yeshe Tenley's user avatar
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3 votes
4 answers
194 views

How does the 2nd Noble truth explain the cause of suffering-as-suffering (e.g. resulting from a severe burn)?

I would like to ask question regarding the 4 Noble Truths. The second Noble Truth broadly speaking is that suffering is a result of craving, aversion and ignorance. I can see how this can been seen as ...
user12231's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
623 views

The path and the desire to reduce the suffering of others?

It seems to me that the Noble Eight-fold Path is designed to reduce the suffering of the self. But how do we use its guidance to reduce the suffering of others? If the Buddha was walking down a road ...
Vasu Devan's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
90 views

What is meant by 'dukkhe loko patiṭṭhito'?

In SN68 Pihitasutta; Kenassu pihito loko, kismiṁ loko patiṭṭhito; Kenassu uḍḍito loko, kenassu parivāritoti. Maccunā pihito loko, dukkhe loko patiṭṭhito; Taṇhāya uḍḍito loko, jarāya parivāritoti. ...
Sampath's user avatar
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2 votes
7 answers
985 views

Four Noble Truths contradicting?

I don't even like to post a question like this but I just want to share a misconception that people from other beliefs have regarding Buddhism. Please what this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...
Heisenberg's user avatar
2 votes
8 answers
595 views

Why aren't there 5 Noble Truths?

Consider the fact that our Nirvana depends on one crucial truth and that is law of Karma. Good karma bear good fruit and bad karma generates bad results. Why didn't Buddha say that Fifth Noble Truth ...
Dheeraj Verma's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
221 views

Aversion and dukkha

I seem to have only a rough understanding of the first two noble truths. dukkha and dosa Apparently 'dukkha' and 'aversion (dosa)' are not the same thing. So, why or how not: in what way are they ...
ChrisW's user avatar
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2 votes
4 answers
165 views

Is dukkha conventional or ultimate? Is it different from the other two marks of existence?

Is the existence of dukkha a conventional or ultimate truth? I am confused, because on the one hand, it is usually mentioned together with two other marks of existence, which clearly look like the ...
michau's user avatar
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2 votes
5 answers
202 views

Who was ignorant about the Truth in the beginning?

In the dependent origin co-arising, ignorance came before consciousness and self.In fact we begin with ignorance. This ignorance is the ignorance about the 4 noble truths. My questions are : Who is ...
Dheeraj Verma's user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
211 views

Why does the third noble truth not include the ten fetters?

The Four Noble Truths are defined in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta as: "The Noble Truth of Suffering (dukkha), monks, is this: Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, ...
ruben2020's user avatar
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2 votes
4 answers
158 views

Second Noble Truth

I am reading multiple interpretations of the 2nd noble truth. Most of the sources indicate that it is craving, desires, wanting. Some sources talk about wrong understanding of reality and itself, ...
Ilya's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
187 views

Good method to start finding the core values of Buddhism?

I've recently joined a meditation center that is very welcoming. I have went to a few meditation sessions, and so far I have felt focus on a deeper level. The community is small, though so they don't ...
tuskiomi's user avatar
  • 273
1 vote
3 answers
318 views

What does "this" stands for in the observation "This is suffering."?

This is suffering is one of the noble truths. But it is not clear what does "this" stands for ? Similarly in the statement "This is the way leading to the cessation of suffering." ,...
SacrificialEquation's user avatar
1 vote
5 answers
170 views

Someone has an illness which is inevitably going to kill them. Why?

Imagine following situation: A person who thinks of themself as a good person, meaning they are mostly nice to people and act and think almost always morally. Said person is diagnosed with an illness ...
palkonimo's user avatar
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1 vote
5 answers
281 views

Is there a mistranslation of definition of ignorance?

Ignorance is the cause of suffering. Buddha says in SN 12.2 : “And what, bhikkhus, is ignorance? Not knowing suffering, not knowing the origin of suffering, not knowing the cessation of ...
Dheeraj Verma's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
417 views

What to do when experience is different to teaching examples?

What does Buddhism say to do when a specific Buddhist teaching or example of a teaching, is in disagreement with lived experience? This is not about rejecting the whole way but maybe small parts based ...
P.S.'s user avatar
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1 vote
5 answers
200 views

Is liberation possible for those practicing unskillful means?

Is it possible for a person to gain liberation while simultaneously practicing unskillful means? Is it possible for a person to understand profound universal truths while simultaneously practicing ...
Yeshe Tenley's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
97 views

Buddhism, Symbolism, and Notions

In reading about Zen I see encouragement to question "notions". Understand them as to some extent misrepresenting the things they represent. The map is not the territory. I'm not sure how to interpret ...
R. Romero's user avatar
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1 vote
6 answers
391 views

Cessation of suffering is the main goal of Buddhism, but is cessation of suffering the end goal or does Buddhism pursue Joy beyond end of suffering?

I ask the above because Socrates in the Republic has proven that the cessation of suffering is a quietude of the mind, an illusion or a jugglery not real. What we should we aim according to him is not ...
user12965's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
89 views

Are these simple sentences right? They are about 4 noble truths, 3 characteristics, craving, etc

The sentences I want to check with you are: Reducing suffering (or eliminating it) is the main goal. The main reason we keep suffering is desire and aversion. We can experience craving to any of the ...
Sora's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
69 views

What exactly is a Desire? [duplicate]

What exactly is the anatomy of a Desire and why does it have such a potent effect on our psyche and life? Is it a thought of wanting something we don't have, but then we have so many thoughts about so ...
The White Cloud's user avatar