Search results for: "The Four Noble Truths"

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  2. Admirable Intentions
     … All of the four noble truths have their duties: *Dukkha—*suffering, stress, pain—is to be comprehended. Its cause is to be abandoned. Its cessation is to be realized. And the path to that cessation is something you develop. You don’t simply watch the mind as it gathers and then falls apart, and say, “Oh, I’ve learned something about inconstancy.” If the … 
  3. Mindfulness the Gatekeeper
     … The duties here are the duties for the four noble truths. These are duties for the sake of your well-being. The first duty, with the first noble truth, is to comprehend suffering. Now “comprehending” here means understanding suffering to the point of dispassion. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t think that we’re passionate for our suffering, but as the Buddha said, suffering isn’t … 
  4. Strength of Persistence
    One of the lessons of the four noble truths is that we suffer largely because of the way we talk to ourselves, and we can learn not to suffer by learning to talk to ourselves in new ways. This point applies especially to the question of right effort or persistence. You look at what’s required by the path, and if all you can … 
  5. The Dhamma Wheel in the Heart
     … We hear a lot about the four noble truths, but not so much about the duties. But the reason we have four noble truths is because there are four duties. Now, the Buddha’s not imposing these duties on us. He’s not a god who comes down and says, “You’ve got to do this.” He’s just saying, “If you want to … 
  6. Free Not to Suffer
     … He gives us the four noble truths to explain that we can put an end to suffering, because the suffering’s something we’re doing right now. There’s the suffering in what are called the three characteristics, which basically consists of the fact that things change, the change comes about because they’re conditioned, and the conditions are unstable. So, there’s a … 
  7. Criticism
    The basic premise of the four noble truths is that we’re suffering because we’re doing something wrong. But we can learn, we can do it right. We learn from people who’ve learned how to do it right themselves—which is one of the reasons why criticism is such an important part of the training, because sometimes you can’t see your … 
  8. Make Yourself Small
     … But notice that the Buddha didn’t go straight from that knowledge to focusing on the four noble truths in the present moment. He went through a second knowledge, which was to ask the question: “Is this just me who gets reborn like this? How about other beings? And what’s the pattern underlying all this?” And he had that vision of the whole … 
  9. Giving to the Meditation
     … When he was going to teach people about the Four Noble Truths he would start out by talking about giving and then work his way up from there. When you think about giving, you realize it’s what you’re bringing into any particular situation. If it’s a relationship with another person, what you give that other person—that’s what you bring … 
  10. Audacious & Undaunted
     … That’s how concentration leads to discernment, as your actions come more and more in line with the duties of the four noble truths. The Buddha said completing those duties was what brought about his awakening. In other words, he saw the regularity of the Dhamma, and then beyond that is something called nibbana, or unbinding. That’s the dimension where there is no … 
  11. Feeding on Right Resolve
     … It’s the same when you understand the four noble truths: The wisdom lies in seeing what should be done with those four noble truths. If something qualifies as suffering, you don’t just sit and look at it. You try to comprehend it: “What exactly is this? Where is it coming from? Where is it going?” With craving, you don’t say, “Okay … 
  12. Rebirth is Relevant
     … They wonder how it could be relevant to the four noble truths and the end of suffering, so they put it aside as something they can safely ignore. But it’s actually extremely relevant. For one thing, rebirth wasn’t universally accepted in the Buddha’s time. It was a hot issue. Some people thought that there was rebirth; other people thought that there … 
  13. Attention to Your Potentials
     … Sometimes people ask, “Where’s the wheel?” It’s in the part where the Buddha goes through the four noble truths and points out the three levels of knowledge for each. The first level is knowing the truth. The second is knowing the duty with regard to the truth. And then the third is knowing that the duty has been completed. Four truths, three … 
  14. Mindful of the Buddha’s Shoulds
     … And you’re asking questions in line with the four noble truths and their duties again: Where is the clinging here? Can you see it come and go? And what’s the craving? Can you see that come and go? To see these things, you have to get the mind very, very still. And you’ll find that better than rapture and refreshment and … 
  15. Shame & Compunction
     … They’re built into the structure of the four noble truths, the noble eightfold path—all the really basic teachings. When the Buddha taught, he didn’t simply want to describe reality out there. He wanted to show a path, a path of action. He wanted his words to perform, to inspire you to follow that path, a path that leads to true happiness … 
  16. The Path of Giving
     … The Buddha started his graduated discourse with giving, and from there he worked up to the four noble truths. What’s the connection? Well, think about what you’re doing when you give a gift. You’re breaking down a barrier. The gift goes across the barrier around your sense of who you are as opposed to who somebody else is, whether it’s … 
  17. Appropriate Attention
     … When we’re sitting and meditating, we focus more of our attention on the four noble truths, which means focusing appropriate attention on the duties of the truths. Like right now, we’re trying to get the mind to settle down, create a state of right concentration, which is something we should develop. As for anything that would come up and interfere with the … 
  18. A Skillful Heart
     … You look at the four noble truths: The whole idea of focusing a teaching on the problem of suffering has to be motivated by goodwill. You look at all of his teachings, and you can see that there’s goodwill underlying them all. When you look at a particular teaching, you should always ask yourself: “If I have goodwill for myself, goodwill for other … 
  19. Lavish Goodwill
     … Whereas the leaves in his hand did—and the leaves in his hand stood for the four noble truths. So, the whole teaching of the Dhamma has a purpose, and its purpose is the happiness of all. Now, it’s not going to make them happy by saying pleasing things all the time. But it is going to make them happy by giving them … 
  20. Going Out of Your Way
     … When he was going to explain the four noble truths and wanted to prepare his listener, he would start out with generosity. And even though generosity is not mentioned in the noble eightfold path, it is mentioned as one of the precursors to the path. As the Buddha said, if you’re stingy with material things, stingy with the Dhamma, there’s no way … 
  21. Mindful Judgment
     … You bring your full presence of mind as to what’s appropriate, what’s not appropriate, what needs to be done in terms of the four noble truths. You want to understand suffering. You want to let go of its cause and you want to develop a path to the end of suffering, to abandon its cause so that you can realize the cessation … 
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