Search results for: "The Four Noble Truths"

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  2. The Power of Truth
     … The content of insight is not the three characteristics, it’s the four noble truths. The three characteristics are helpful within that context, but they don’t form the context themselves. Actually, the word three “characteristics” doesn’t even appear in the Pali Canon. They talk about anicca as a *sañña, *a perception, or as an anupassana, something you focus on as a practice … 
  3. Things Aren’t as They Should Be
     … Let those with ears show forth their conviction.” When he went to teach the five brethren, even before he said anything about the middle way or the four noble truths, he said, “The deathless has been attained, and if you follow what I teach you, you can attain it, too.” When Sariputta heard a very short synopsis of the Buddha’s teachings and gained … 
  4. Not-self, Not No Self
     … If you take a class in Buddhism, they’ll teach you about the four noble truths, about the teaching on not-self, and about karma and rebirth. And usually these concepts are explained beginning with, “There is no self. That’s the nature of reality.” But then the question is, “If there is no self, who’s doing the karma, who’s going to … 
  5. On Deserving to Be Happy
     … We’re looking not for the three characteristics, we’re looking for the four noble truths and their duties, trying to keep those in mind. So we try to learn: How do you maintain this state of ease in the mind? First, of course, how do you give rise to it? When it’s not there, how can you nurture it? You explore. We … 
  6. Dhamma in Line with the Dhamma
     … If you take a look at the four noble truths, the duties with regard to them are all there to put an end to your suffering. The Buddha doesn’t tell you you’re here to serve some purpose that somebody else has decided for you. This is one of the reasons we don’t go with the idea that we’re all one … 
  7. A Noble Path
     … that they’re radically different. The path is something you do; something you develop. The goal is something you realize, and then you’re at the end of all duties. The four noble truths: Each of the truths has a duty. The third truth, which is the realization of nibbana, is something you realize. But then from that point on, there’s nothing you … 
  8. Endurance & Restraint
     … He doesn’t mention the four noble truths. He starts with patient endurance—the ability to be with difficult things and not react in unskillful ways. You could say that most of the talk that he gave that afternoon was about endurance and restraint. The talk recommends restraint as an expression of your endurance—you endure harsh words, you endure pains, you endure all … 
  9. Right Learning
     … So whether it’s the doctrine of karma, the four noble truths, dependent co-arising, emptiness, it’s aimed at putting an end to suffering. Where does suffering happen? Right here in our own minds. So if a teaching applies to what we’re doing right here in our mind, fine. That’s the Dhamma at that point. If a particular teaching doesn’t … 
  10. The Dhamma Wheel
     … The fact that that’s the focal point of the sutta makes clear that the Buddha didn’t just teach the four noble truths. He taught the duty appropriate to each, and the fact that when you complete all the duties, that’s awakening. For example, with regard to suffering or stress, the first noble truth, the duty is to comprehend it. Comprehending, we … 
  11. Ironies
     … So again, even though when the Buddha teaches the basic principles of the teaching, the four noble truths—suffering, the cause, the cessation of suffering, and the path to the end of suffering—these are things that can be immediately present, but we need somebody to point them out to us, because we keep missing them. Even though the Buddha’s teaching is about … 
  12. Respect, Confidence, & Patience
     … After all, the Buddha taught the four noble truths because he had the right attitude toward suffering: that there must be a way for human beings to overcome suffering, to gain release from suffering. He had the right attitude toward the amount of work it might take to do this, at the same time seeing that once this task was accomplished it would be … 
  13. Tranquility & Insight in Tandem
     … With each of the four noble truths that we chanted just now, there’s a duty. It’s not that when stress arises you just watch it, and when the cause arises you just watch it, and when the path arises you just watch it come and go. The Buddha never taught that. Stress is something you want to comprehend. In other words, you … 
  14. Decisions
     … You can see this in the structure of the four noble truths. The Buddha talks about the duty with regard to the second noble truth, which is the cause of suffering. He says you let it go. And what is the cessation of suffering? It’s precisely that: the letting-go of the cause of suffering, the letting-go of craving. But that truth … 
  15. Self-Reliance
     … learning to look at things in terms of the four noble truths, i.e., looking at things in terms of where there’s stress, where there’s a cause of stress, what things you can do to put an end to stress, and the actual fact that stress and suffering are ending. That’s a framework you want to keep in mind all the … 
  16. Self View & Conceit
     … Basically, what you’re doing is asking yourself the questions of the four noble truths: “Where’s the suffering? Where’s the stress?” In this case, it’s very subtle. It’s hard to call it suffering, but it is stress. It is a disturbance. When you notice it, the next questions are: “What action is causing it?” and “What can you do to … 
  17. Refuge for All Beings
     … Even the duties of the four noble truths are not duties he imposes. He simply says, “If you want to put an end to suffering, this is what you’ve got to do.” It’s the same with generosity. A king once asked him where should a gift be given, and the Buddha said, “Wherever you feel inspired.” After all, the Buddha was not … 
  18. The Mirror Inside
     … That’s what’s disturbing your concentration, so that’s what you want to look at. “What am I doing that’s weighing the mind down, and how can I stop?” That’s the whole message of the four noble truths, which is why the Buddha started his discussions on the Dhamma with the image of the mirror. You’re reflecting to see that … 
  19. A Sense of Yourself
     … That’s the message of the four noble truths. So you examine yourself in terms of these four qualities. See to what extent you really are an admirable friend to yourself. And then the Buddha adds two more qualities to look for. One is your learning in terms of the Dhamma. This is an aspect that’s sometimes downplayed in the forest tradition. You … 
  20. Common Sense
     … That’s how he arrived at the four noble truths, and that’s how he arrived at true awakening: simply noticing that thoughts and feelings have an effect on the mind, and that some thoughts and some feelings have a better effect than others. That’s the whole principle of the path. You try to develop thoughts and feelings that lead to an end … 
  21. A Healthy Attitude Toward Happiness
     … That’s the good news of the four noble truths, the Buddha’s teachings on suffering. Years back, I was at a commemoration for Ajaan Lee. Every year they would have a large Dhamma talk at the end. They’d either invite a senior monk from Bangkok or they’d invite one of the great ajaans from the forest to give the closing talk … 
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