The Four Noble Truths

About 2,600 years ago in Northern India, a man named Siddhartha Gotama, who became the Buddha, discovered the Four Noble Truths. According to what we understand, after being somewhat shocked when coming in contact with what we now call the Four Messengers — Old Age, Illness, and Death, and then seeing a homeless spiritual seeker or mendicant — Siddhartha had a realization that his sheltered life as a Prince would no longer do. In my understanding he had some sort of an existential crisis and left his home seeking answers.

Siddhartha studied with two of the greatest teachers of his day but still did not experience the awakening and answers to his questions he so deeply desired. At some point he decided to meditate until the answers came. The result is what we call the Buddha's Four Noble Truths. Since that time people have been practicing with these teachings and finding a way to reduce and eliminate their suffering. I hope you find them as helpful as I do.

1. Dissatisfaction exists. Often the ancient word Dukkha is described as suffering, but this is misunderstood. Stress, difficulty, dissatisfaction is probably closer to what we experience.

2. The cause of suffering is craving. We crave for things to be different than they actually are. This ends up causing us suffering. Samudaya is the Pali word for arising, which is what we experience when a craving "arises." Tanha is the Pali word meaning thirst or desire, describing the feeling of the craving which arises and leads to suffering.

3. The end of suffering is possible. Nirodha is the word to describe the ending — which is what this Third Noble Truth tells us: that there is an ending to the suffering we experience, and it is available to us with the right effort.

4. The path to the end of suffering is available. The word Magga means path — that the Noble Eightfold Path is what leads us to the end of suffering. Dukkhanirodhagaminipatipada is another word used in this Fourth Noble Truth; it means "the way leading to the ending of pain." That is where this path can lead for all of us.