The Noble Truth of Buddhism

Whereas other religions try to delineate the nature of the sacred and our involvement with it, Buddhism addresses one of the most fundamental problems of human existence, suffering[1] and the way out of suffering[2], which culminates in the state of nirvana[3]. It is even hard to classify Buddhism as a religion, because it can be seen more of as a path.[4]  The Buddha himself was not interested in metaphysical theology[5], only pointing a student towards an experiential understanding.[6] In outlining this, he gave Buddhism the Four Noble Truths[7], and the Noble Eight Fold path[8].

            Just as the mind contains impermanent thoughts, the Buddhists have the notion of impermanence (aniccaa). Thus all forms are seen to be empty and empty of a self (anatta). Another thing that Buddhists accept is that life carries with it suffering (dukka). These are known as the Three Marks of Existence[9] and tie heavily into Buddhist philosophy. The sacred is thus revered in Buddhism, but as things are seen to be impermanent, this view is reflected in their artwork such as mandalas, tormas, and dances[10]. 

            According to Buddhism, a human being is composed of different elements[11], and it is in dis-identifying with these objects of consciousness[12] or transcending them, that a person can become liberated from them. The practice of meditation is therefore extremely important in order to attain insight (jnana)[13] into the nature of things. Along with meditation, a Buddhist takes refuge in the three jewels; Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.[14]

            These are fundamentals of Buddhist thought, but there exists a host of qualities that can be developed by an individual. These include the Four Immeasurable Minds[15], the Six Pamitas[16], the Five Powers[17], the Three Doors of Liberation[18], and the Seven Factors of Awakening[19].

            Depending on which tradition one adheres to, the means to reach enlightenment and the ideals are emphasized differently. In Theravada or "School of the Elders", the course of the individual is prominent. This is usually reflected in a tightly grouped together monastic community which the laity supports. By supporting each other, both the laity and monks acquire merit.  Metaphysics and rituals are minimized, while the practice of meditation remains central.[20]

            Mahayana sees itself as the greater vehicle for an individual's transformation utilizing the ideal of the bodhisattva[21]. It emphasizes compassion for others over the individual. There are usually various metaphysics in its cosmology[22], and contains many rituals, but also very advanced sutras. The distinctions between lay people and priests aren't as pronounced as in Theravada.

             Varjnara, or the "Diamond Vehicle" is the Buddhism of Tibet, and incorporated the ideas of tantra[23] and the religion of Bon into it. A Buddhist on this path goes through a high level of education and philosophy in order to perform esoteric rituals in which their identity becomes merged into that of a tutelary diety[24]. This is another way of dis-identifying with a role and identifying with one's divine nature.

            Zen takes a very austere approach out of all the schools, and points directly to the Buddha-nature within an individual. A qualified Zen master (roshi) gives the student a problem, and confirms or rejects the experience of the student. Through intense meditation (zazen), puzzling koans, and daily practices of mindfulness, it is hoped that the practitioner's body-mind connection will drop away in a state of enlightenment (satori).[25]

            One of the largest strengths of Buddhism is that it allows a space for the sacred, without overwhelming people with its presence[26]. Buddhism has much to say for the contemporary world and is still very relevant for ideas on interdependence, the ethics of morality, freedom, and states of consciousness. The popularity of Buddhism is now having a large effect on western science[27], which in turn brings awareness to the Dalai Lama's plight and of the Tibetan people. A number of Buddhist magazines, books, meditation centers, and teachers have sprung up in North America. Psychologists and medical centers are recognizing the importance of mindfulness training and implementing it in their programs[28]. Buddhism has even affected the awareness of the environmental movement[29].

            Buddhism provides a means of looking at the nature of truth[30], but more than that, it is a way of living, a path, that arises out of a shared compassion for suffering sentient beings.  Buddhism can be both a path to bring about the transformation of one's own mind, and seeking self-realization, as well as help others with theirs. The answer to how one should live in the world is answered unanimously by the Buddhists; with loving-kindness and compassion[31], as well as awareness. Only by transforming one's own suffering is one able to look past it, and expand one's own identity.

            The sacred in Buddhism is not seen as an ‘other' transcendent reality, but one that fully exists in the world.[32]As long as human beings are suffering, and not looking at their suffering, the Buddha's medicine will continue to be administered by his disciples; with skillful means.

[1] This is, in effect, the core issue of Buddhism. Every religion has within it a problem and an answer. Whereas, Christianity has the problem of ‘sin', and offers salvation, and Hinduism has maya (illusion) and seeks liberation (moksa), Buddhism deals with the problem of suffering, and of its cessation.

[2] Pain and suffering are two different concepts. This is a very important distinction and one that needs to be understood fully in order to understand Buddhism. Pain is a felt bodily response, whereas suffering is a mental resistance or aversion to something. The Buddha likened it to two darts:

                "Monks when the uninstructed worldling experiences a painful feeling, he sorrows, grieves, and laments; he weeps beating his breast and becomes distraught. He feels two feelings-a bodily one and a mental one. Suppose they were to strike a man with a dark, and then strike him immediately afterward with a second dart, so that the man would feel a feeling caused by two darts. So too, when the uninstructed worldling experiences a painful feeling, he feels tow feelings-a bodily one and mental one...

                Monks when the instructed noble disciple experiences a painful feeling, he does not sorrow, grieve, or lament; he does not weep beating his breast and become distraught. He feels one feeling-a bodily one, not a mental one. Suppose they were to strike a man with a dart, but they would not strike him immediately afterward with a second dart, so that the man would feel a feeling caused by one dart only. So too when the instructed noble disciple experiences a painful feeling, he feels one feeling-a bodily one, and not a mental one.

                 While experiencing that same painful feeling, he harbors no aversion toward it. Since he harbors no aversion toward painful feeling, the underlying tendency to aversion toward painful feeling does not lie in this. While experiencing a painful feeling, he does not seek delight in sensual pleasure. For what reason? Because the instructed noble disciple knows of an escape from painful feeling other than sensual pleasure...

                If he feels a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he feels it detached. This, monks, is called a noble disciple who is detached from birth, aging, and death; who is detached from sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and despair; who is detached from suffering, I say."  --Bhikku Bodhi Pgs 31-32.    

                The book Mindful Therapy states,

                 " Buddhist teacher Shinzen Young clarifies the relationship between pain and suffering with the following equation:

                Suffering = Pain x Resistance

Pain comes and goes in life. But that is not yet suffering. Suffering is the product of the pain and our resistance to it. If RESISTANCE equals zero then SUFFERING also equals zero. The more we tighten up against pain, the more we suffer. The more we ease up and open out of the pain, softening to it, allowing and experiencing it, the less we suffer."    --Bien, Thomas, pg 87.

                Thus Buddhism teaches one to not ‘contract' their consciousness from pain, but rather to meet it, and be able to embrace it. This is a way in which people can ‘sit with their pain' and still have a clear mind.

By not resisting pain or mental ideas of suffering, they are transcended.

[3] Nirvana means ‘extinction" and is meant as the extinguishing of all concepts and the ‘flame' of desire.

This state is an experiential state of heightened consciousness reached via meditation and mindfulness.

(   Thich Nhat Hahn, pg 129)

 As an experiential understanding, though, all nominal descriptions are inaccurate (See footnote 6).   

[4]   Buddhism can be labeled a religion, a psychology, a science of the mind, a philosophy, a method of  mindful healing, etc. Buddhism doesn't seem to be too concerned with the permanence of labels.

[5] Smith, pgs 112-115.

[6]               "But the actual answer to the question, What is the relation of the One and the Many, the absolute, and the relative, free will and fate, consciousness and form, mind and body? --the technically correct and precise answer is: satori. The technically correct answer is: take up the injunction, perform the experiment, gather the data (the experiences), and check them with a community of the similarly adequate.

                We can't state what the answer is other than that, because if we did, we would have merely words without injunctions, and they would be utterly meaningless. It's very much like baking a pie: you follow the recipe (the injunctions), you bake the pie, and then actually taste it. To the question, ‘What does the pie taste like?' we can only give the person the recipe and let them make it and taste it themselves. We cannot theoretically or verbally or philosophically or rationally describe the answer in any other satisfactory fashion: if you want to know this, you must do this.

                And thus: take up the injunction or paradigm of meditation; practice and polish that cognitive tool until awareness learns to discern the incredibly subtle phenomena of transcendalia; check your observations with others who have done so, much as mathematicians will check their proofs with others who have completed the injunctions; and thus confirm or reject your results. And in the verification of that transcendelia, the relation of the One and the Many will become perfectly clear-at least as clear as rocks are to the eye of flesh and geometry is to the eye of mind-and thus will that most intractable of dualisms quite literally come unglued...

                And, much more to the point, even if this answer could be stated in worlds-and in fact, the answer can be stated in words, because Zen masters talk about it all the time! ---nonetheless, it would make no sense to anybody who had not performed the injunction, just as mathematical symbols can be seen by anybody but understood only by those who have completed the training.

                But open the eye of contemplation and the answer is as obvious, as perfect, as unmistakable as the play of sunlight on a crystal clear pond, early on a cool spring morning."   ---Ken Wilber, The Eye of Spirit, pgs 82-83.

[7] The Four Noble Truths are

• 1) There exists suffering (dukka).
• 2) The origin of suffering is caused by craving (trishna) or grasping (upadana).
• 3) There exists a cessation of suffering.
• 4) The Noble Eightfold path is the way out of suffering

                "Now this, monks, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation with what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is sufferings; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.

                Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving that leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination.

                Now this, monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonattachment.

                Now this monks is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration."        --- trans by Bodhi, In the Buddha's Words, pg 76.

[8] The Noble Eightfold path is

                1)Right View    (samyag drishti)

                2)Right Concentration  ( samyak samadhi)

                3)Right Thinking     (samyak samkalpa)

                4)Right Mindfulness   (samyak smriti)

                5)Right Speech   (samyag vac)

                6)Right Effort     (samyak pradhana)

                7)Right Livelihood (samyag ajiva)

                8)Right Action        (samyag karmata)

All of the elements of the noble eightfold path have inter-being, that is, they are all related and affect one another. Out of these Right View is one of the most important, because out of it arises all the others.  -Thich Nhat Hahn, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching.

[9] These are also known as the Three Dharma Seals. In the Southern tradition, they are impermanence, suffering (dukka), and non-self. However, Thich Nhat Hahn, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk makes the case that impermanence, nirvana, and non-self are the Three Buddhist Seals that the Buddha taught in the Samyukta Agama.  - Thich Nhat Hahn, pg 131.

[10] These are all prominent features of Tibetan Buddhism which is heavily artistic. Mandalas come in the form of impermanent sand paintings, Tormas are butter sculptures which are decorated and then melt, and dances are a big part of Tibetan celebrations. -- Tibetan Buddhist Life.

[11] These elements are the five aggregates (skandas); form (rupa), feelings (vedana), perceptions (samjna), mental formations (samskara), and consciousness (vijnana). ---Thich Nhat Hahn, pg  176-183.

The five aggregates are basically how we know about anything. They are the Buddhist epistemology. 

[12]  An example of one practice, although not for beginners, is the Buddha's Six Element Practice in which earth (solidness), water, fire (metabolism), air, space, and consciousness, are contemplated in the world, and in ones body, and dis-identified with. -Bodhipaksa, pg 38-43.

[13] Thich Nhat Hahn, pg 145.

[14] Ken Wilber, expanding Buddhist philosophy, explains this in terms of Integral theory.

                "Because Spirit manifest equally in all four quadrants, or equally in the Big Three, then we can describe Spirit subjectively as one's own Buddha-mind-the "I" of Spirit, the Beauty. And we can describe Spirit objectively as Dharma-the "It" of Spirit, the ultimate Truth. And we can describe Spirit culturally as Sangha-the "We" of Spirit, the ultimate Good."  --Wilber, The Simple Feeling of Being pg 83. 

[15] The Four Immeasurable Mind qualities are love (metta), compassion (karuna), equanimity (upeksha), and joy (mudita). Thich Nhat Hahn pg 169.

[16] The Six Paramitas are giving (dana paramita), mindfulness training (shila paramita), inclusiveness (kshanti paramita), diligence (virya paramita), meditation (dyana paramita) and wisdom (prajna paramita).

These are perfections of qualities that Mahayanists specifically cultivate, although its in all Buddhism.

--Thich Nhat Hahn, pg 192-193.

[17] The Five Powers are faith (shraddha), energy (virya) , mindfulness (smirti), concentration (samadhi) and insight or wisdom (prajna). Thich Nhat Hahn pgs 184-186.

[18] The three dharma seals are the way a practitioner can enter the Three Doors of Liberation-emptiness (shunyata), signlessness (animitta), and aimlessness (apranihita).  Thich Nhat Hahn pg 146.

[19] The Seven Factors of Awakening (sapta-bodhyanga) are mindfulness (smriti), investigation of phenomena (dharma-pravichaya), diligence (virya), joy (priti), ease (prashrabdhib), concentration (samadhi), and letting go (upeksha).  -Thich Nhat Hahn pg 214-218.

[20] Smith, pgs 120-127.

[21] The term bodhissatva is "one whose essence is perfected wisdom"or prajna paramita.  Smith, pg 124.

A bodhisattva was also seen as a mythological figure or divine being by earlier Buddhists, (see footnote below).

[22]             "While devotional Mahayana took Buddhism closer to the realm of a deistic religion, Mahayana philosophers led the system in the opposite direction...To these Mahayana thinkers, all devotional symbols such as the bodhisattva, heaven and the three bodies of the Buddha are fictions. Such images are useful, firstly in that they offer devotees an experience of sublime mystification; secondly, because they point beyond the unsayable. But, argue the philosophers, metaphor and devotion themselves are an illusory stage furniture. Furthermore, the whole dharma, the notion of enlightenment, even the Buddha himself, are simply intellectual constructs whose value is metaphorical: they point to transcendent reality. Total reality has nothing to do with anything that can be named. Only emptiness exists, and even to say this is to mask reality from the intuitive, silent meditational experience in which it may be non-verbally, non-conceptually apprehended." 

                The most influential of the new Mahayana schools was the Madhimika school (Those who Hold the Middle View) led by Nagarjuna (2^nd Century AD). Thus while the laity might consider the many deities as real, the true philosopher would see their illusory nature, as expounded in the Mahayana sutra, the Prajna Paramita.

                                    --Lowenstein, pg62-65

[23] "Known by Tibetans Buddhists as Vajrayana, tantric practice involves advanced techniques of meditation that harness the forces of human imagination and the body's natural energy centers. These practices are considered to be a highly effective tool that can accelerate our ability to overcome negative states of mind. To successfully engage in tantra, practitioners need to develop certain qualities, such as compassion, meditative concentration, and at least a good intellectual understanding of emptiness-the lack of separate and inherent existence of self and phenomena. After receiving instructions from a teacher in the form of an ‘empowerment,' they learn to visualize themselves as the deity and their environment as a sacred realm, while generating the deity's enlighten qualities within themselves. Practitioners utilize sacred art as a tool for visualization. For the unprepared, these practices are ineffectual and can even be harmful, so great importance is placed on learning from a qualified teacher. The secrecy surrounding tantric practice is to avoid misunderstandings about the symbolism, and to protect us from projecting our delusions and misconceptions onto these practices. For example, wrathful deities may look like monsters, but they are actually compassionate beings who embody the force sometimes required to break through mental and emotional blocks that keep us from realizing our positive potential. The buddhas manifest in many different forms, but all buddhas share the same ultimate nature of perfect compassion and wisdom."

Tibetan Buddhist Life  pg 123.

[24]             Sometimes the diety is the tutelary diety chosen specifically for the student. All vajra practitioners have a tutelary diety chosen from their initiation by their teaching lama. Each of these tutelary deities corresponds with a specific defilement that is found in the practitioner. Examples are Vairocana (Delusion), Ratnasambhava (Ill-will), Amithabha (Greed), Amoghavajra (Envy) and Aksobya (Anger).

 At the center of the mandala sits one of the celestial Buddhas or one of the Buddhas embracing his consort. By visualizing the diety, the practitioner can start to identify with that diety and transform the defilement into its corresponding opposite manifestation. Buddhas with consorts represent the dualities between samsara/nirvana, male/female, light/darkness that the practitioner tries to integrate. - Lowenstein, pg146-147

[25] Lowenstein pgs 114-119.

[26]             I will argue that for this essay that although, traditionally, the notions of the sacred are meant to be timeless, and ancient (hence outdated), Buddhism's notion of the timeless is when time is suspended, hence "timeless."  This "timelessness" or world without time is reached through a ‘mindfulness' of the world, and is exemplified by such popular Buddhists such as Thich Nhat Hahn and Pema Chodron. Buddhism has transitioned very well to the modern and postmodern world and offers both a ‘timelessness' to Americans, and also a means of development at the same time. This method of being and becoming merge into one as ‘nondual' as one furthers his or her own conscious development (see footnote 6).

[27] "If students learn the Four Noble Truths, while they learn other subjects including science, they won't find any contradictions. Many Tibetans just learn by heart a few mantras and short prayers. At worst, they believe in some kind of superstition including the controversial Shukten deity in which followers believe that all their future depends on the deity. They believe that if they make an offering of some milk or beer on their altar, this protector will help them. They have that kind of Buddhist attitude...This the scriptures say, is not at all reliable, not genuine faith. The other faith, in the beginning, is the kind where one remains skeptical. Then, through study experimentation, they gain some understanding...In facing so many different ideas and religious influences, Buddhist study should include learning in the original Indian way...One should know how Buddhism compares, have a deep knowledge of Buddhist explanations, and know what is the fault of a particular philosophy's concerns. Without that, you can't survive. So, I feel we have the potential... Now in the future, some Tibetans who know English and have studied Western philosophy and religion, they could explain through our own language, about Western thought on modern non-buddhist schools and philosophies. This should be done. So, these are some of the long-term ways I've thought to preserve the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition."-H.H. The Dalai Lama    [italics mine]

Tibetan Buddhist Life, pg 58-61

Also see his book, The Universe in a Single Atom: the Convergence of Science and Spirituality.

[28] Shambala, Sun "Celebrating Buddhism in America: 30 Great Years" pgs 58-65. 

[29] This "Eco-Buddhism" is seen in works such as Stephanie Kaza's book, Mindfully Green: A Personal and Spiritual Guide to Whole Earth Thinking.

[30] Buddhism distinguishes between two types of truths; relative truth (samvriti satya) and absolute truth (paramartha satya)  Thich Nhat Hahn pg 121.

[31]             "We noted earlier that all the world's major religions stress the importance of cultivating love and compassion. In the Buddhist philosophical traditions, different levels of attainment are described. At the basic level, compassion (nying je) is understood mainly in terms of empathy-our ability to enter into and, to some extent, share others' suffering. But Buddhists-and perhaps others-believe that this can be developed to such a degree that not only does our compassion arise without any effort, but it is unconditional, undifferentiated, and universal in scope. A feeling of intimacy toward all other sentient beings, including of course those who would harm us, is generated, which is likened in the literature to the love a mother has for her only child...In Tibet, this ultimate level of attainment is called nying je chenmo, literally ‘great compassion."   ---His Holiness the Dalai Lama, "The Ethics of Compassion" A World of Ideas pg 732.

[32] Theravada sees enlightenment as being able to happen in this world. Mahayana takes this a step further, and says not only is liberation in this lifetime possible, but it's also possible for your friends!

                The best example of this is the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra in which it states:

                "Form is none other than emptiness, Emptiness none other than Form"

                "The ‘perfection of wisdom' refers to nirvana on the other side of the ocean of samsara. Mahayana writers extended their paradoxical negations further. Once arrived on the other shore the spiritual traveler would find it identical with ‘this shore'. Nirvana is not over there. It is here in samsara. ‘Gone! Gone! Gone beyond! Gone altogether beyond!' concludes the Heart Sutra. But that ‘beyond is neither in the bodhisattva's myth realm nor in some distant aeon. It is here in form and emptiness, now, in samsara." -Lowenstein pg 65.

                Thus it takes the perfection of wisdom (prajna) and an experiential understanding, in order to realize it.