The Four Noble Truths

The Buddha said,  "And I discovered that profound truth, so difficult to perceive, difficult to understand, tranquilizing and sublime, which is not to be gained by mere reasoning, and is visible only to the wise

The world, however, is given to pleasure, delighted with pleasure, enchanted with pleasure. delighted with pleasure, enchanted with pleasure, Truly, such beings will hardly understand the law of conditionally, the dependent origination of everything, Yet there are beings whose eyes are only a little covered with dust; they will understand the truth, and what now is

1. The Truth of Suffering:    That the world is full of suffering,  Birth is suffering,  Old age is suffering, Sickness and Death are suffering, Sorrow-Lamentation -- pain -- (Physical -- mental -- pain -- despair is suffering; Association with the disliked is suffering. Separation from the like is suffering. Not to get what one wishes, that also is suffering, In fact, life that is not free from desire and passion is always involved with distress. This is called the Truth of Suffering.

2. The Cause of Suffering:   The Cause of human suffering is undoubtedly found in the thirst of the physical body and in the illusions of worldly passion. If these thirsts and illusions are traced to their source, they are found to be rooted in the intense desires of physical instincts, A strong passion for this and that. Thus, Desire, having a strong will to live as its basic, seek that which it feels desirable even if it is sometimes death. Sensual craving, the craving for the process of life, and the craving for the negation of the process of life, This is called The Cause of Suffering.

3. The Cessation of Suffering:   If  Craving desire, which lies at the root of all human passion can be removed, then the entire passion will die out and all human suffering will be ended. This is called the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering.

4.  The Path Leading to Cessation of Suffering:    In order to enter into a state where there is no desire and no suffering, One must follow a certain Path. The stages of this is Called The Eight fold Noble Path:  Right Views, Right Thought,  Right Speech,  Right Behavior, Right Livelihood Right Effort,  Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration.

What is Right View? To begin treading the Path, we must see life as it is, in accord with its three characteristics of impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), and no-soul (anatta); we must possess a clear understanding of the nature of existence, of moral law, of the factors and component elements (dhammas) that go make up this Samaras or conditioned realm of life, In short, we must have the clear understanding of Twelve Nidanas or the Dependent Origination (Paticcasamuppada) and the Four Noble Truths.  We should therefore, make these the bases of our acceptance of vicissitudes of life.

What is Right Thought?   This means that our mind should be pure, free from lust, ill will, cruelty and the like and at the same time, we should be willing to relinquish anything that obstructs our onward march and unselfishly transfer merit obtained to all sentient begins, Three other steps conjoin with and accompany Right Thought, namely: Right understanding (1st step), Right Effort (6th step), and Right Mindfulness (7th step).

What is Right Speech?    By refraining from lying, backbiting, harsh talk and idle gossip, we create a connecting link between thought and action, One, moreover, which is characterized by wisdom and kindness, Correct speech should not be unduly loud or excitable, not prompted by infatuation, ill-will or selfish interests; it should be free from dogmatic assertions and discrimination; finally, it should not be such as to inflame passions. Three steps are accompany be Right Speech as in Right Thought.

What is Right Action?  This generally consists in observing the Five Precepts, which can be shown in both their negative and positive aspects: 1)  Not to kill, but to praxes love and harmlessness to all, 2)  Not to take that which is not given, but to practice charity and generosity, 3)  Not to commit sexual misconduct, but to practice purity and self-control, 4)  Not to indulge in false speech, but to praxes sincerity and honesty, 5)  Not to partake on intoxication drinks or drugs which cause heedlessness, but to practice restraint and mindfulness

What is Right Livelihood?   The layman should only pursue and occupation that does not cause harm or injustice to other beings, He should be free from acquisitiveness or any connections with moneymaking legalized or otherwise, prostitution of any kind and should have a sense of service and duty in life, as 'the homeless life' is the ideal state at which to aim, he should although encumbered with family and business responsibilities simplify his needs and devote more  time to meditation

What is Right Effort?   Self-perfection can be achieved by avoiding and rejection ignoble qualities while acquiring and fostering noble qualities, This stage is, therefore, subdivided in four parts: 1) The effort to prevent the arising of evil which has not yet arisen, 2) The effort to expel that evil which is already present, 3) The effort to induce good which has not yet arisen, 4) The effort to cultivate that good which is already present 

What is Right Mindfulness?   This implies a state of constant awareness with regard to the 1) body 2) feeling 3) mind and 4) ideas engendered therein and is in effect, an additional sense, the development of this type of mindfulness is necessary to prevent to practitioner from being led astray by erroneous views, it is the culmination of the intellectual process which links up with the intuitive process namely vipassana or direct insight into things as they truly are, and finally

What is Right Concentration?    At the final stage, we should aim at one-pointed ness of mind directed towards a wholesome object, through desire and craving, the root of all evil, kamma is accumulated making rebirth necessary to overcome this process, we must understand that  everything is impermanent, unsatisfactory and substances, True knowledge of this nature is acquired through the practice of mediation of which there are two aspects the active of practice, and the passive of realization of the truths.

People should keep these Truths clearly in mind, for the world is filled with suffering and if anyone wishes to escape from suffering, he must sever the ties of worldly passion which is the sole cause of suffering. The way of life which is free from all worldly passion and suffering can only be know throughout Enlightenment, and Enlightenment can only be attained through the discipline of the Noble Eight fold Path

When a man clearly understands the Four Noble Truth, then the Noble Eight fold Path will lead him away from greed, and if he is free from greed, he will not quarrel with the world, he will not kill, nor steal, nor commit adultery, nor cheat or abuse, following the Noble Path is like entering a dark room with a light in the hand: the darkness will all be cleared away and the room will be filled with light.

                                          This is called The Four Noble Truths