Buddhism's Four Noble Truths
Siddharta Gautama was twenty-nine years of age when he abandoned his family to search for a means to bring to an end his and other's suffering. He studied meditation with many teachers. At the age of thirty-five, Siddharta Gautama sat down under the shade of a fig or bo tree to meditate; he determined to meditate until he received enlightenment. After seven weeks he received the Great Enlightenment: the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-fold Path. Henceforth he became known as the Buddha. This Middle Way is a psychological-philosophical insight into the cause and cure of suffering and evil. In The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh provides a citation from the Buddha, which gives insight into the cure of our distress. "I teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering." When we recognize and acknowledge our own suffering, the Buddha -which means the Buddha in us -will look at it, discover what has brought it about, and prescribe a course of action that can transform it into peace, joy, and liberation. Suffering is the means the Buddha used to liberate himself, and it is also the means by which we can become free. The teachings of the Buddha revolve around this central tena
Nirvana is the extinction of all notions. Birth is a notion. Death is a notion. Being is a notion. Nonbeing is a notion. As the devil's advocate one may suggest that if we stopped wanting altogether, we would never get or achieve anything. This is true. But what the Buddha says is that when our desires, our craving, our constant discontent with what we have, and our continual longing for more and more does cause us suffering, then we should stop doing it. He asks us to make a difference between what we need and what we want and to strive for our needs and modify our wants. He tells us that our needs can be fulfilled but that our wants are endless - a bottomless pit. There are needs that are essential, fundamental and that can be obtained and this we should work towards. Desires beyond this should be gradually lessened. After all, what is the purpose of life, to get or to be content and happy? Batchelor, Stephen. Buddhism Without Beliefs. New York, NY: Riverhead Books, 1997 societies, journals, mailing lists, news groups and other resources is maintained at: The Second Noble Truth is that craving causes all suffering. When we look at psychological suffering, it is easy to see how craving causes it. When we want something but are unable to get it, we feel frustrated. When we expect someone to live up to our expectation and he or she do not, we feel let down and disappointed. When we want others to like us and they don't, we feel hurt. Even when we want something and are able to get it, this does not often lead to happiness either because it is not long before we feel bored with that thing, lose interest in it and commence to want something else. Put simply, the Second Noble Truth says that getting what you want does not guarantee happiness. Rather than constantly struggling to get what you want, try to modify your wanting. Wanting deprives us of contentment and happiness. A lifetime wanting and craving for this and that and especially the craving to continue to exist creates a powerful energy that causes the individual to be reborn. When we are reborn, we have a body and, as stated above, the body is susceptible to injury and disease; it can be exhausted by work; it ages and eventually dies. Thus, craving leads to physical suffering because it causes us to be reborn.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3187
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)
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