The Four Noble Truths are basic Buddhist principles that promote positive human behavior. The first Noble Truth is suffering, the second is the creation or arising of suffering, the third is the cessation of suffering and the fourth is the Eightfold Path, according to chapter three in Thich Nhat Hanh’s “The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching.”
Basically, the Buddha taught there is suffering in the world. If we notice the creation or arising of our suffering then the cessation of our suffering was possible – healing and happiness in our lifetime is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path.
To see that healing is possible let’s look at each Truth a little bit closer. First, how did Buddha define suffering and how do we define suffering today? To suffer, according to Merriam-Webster.com, is “To endure death, pain or distress.” Buddha meant the same thing and he indicated in his teachings that suffering could be in the mind, body or spirit. We suffer mentally as well as physically and sometimes suffering in the mind leads to physical suffering.
What the Buddha meant when he said there is suffering was that suffering is universal. Every being in the universe suffers at one point in their lives whether they realize it or not. Everybody has a sad story to tell or there’s a sad story buried in our minds somewhere. So, with that first Noble Truth Buddha meant everyone, at some point, suffers some form of sadness. I think that point is irrefutable and evident today.
Mental or emotional suffering is a growing trend in Western society. We can see two articles published recently. The first article is from the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s web site published on Sept. 1, 2011 that stated “About half of all Americans will experience some form of mental health problem at some point in their life, a new government report warns, and more must be done to help them.”
The Yahoo Health Network also published a similar article on Sept. 6, 2011 that stated “Some 38 percent of Europeans, or 165 million people, suffer from mental illness or neurological disorders on a broad spectrum ranging from anxiety to dementia….”
Buddha wanted to point out that although sadness is universal, healing that sadness and finding happiness was also universal. We are so accustomed to suffering that we fail to see that happiness is possible every day. With the Four Truths Buddha wanted to teach us how to ease our mental or emotional suffering. To ease suffering we had to see it or catch it as it came to be. Then we had to accept that suffering as a part of life. Suffering should be viewed in a positive way – sometimes as a blessing because once we saw the cause of suffering we could figure out how to change that into happiness. Buddha taught that happiness and healing was possible by practicing “Right View, Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Diligence, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration” – the Eightfold Path.
We’ll take a deeper look at the Eightfold Path in the next article. Since I’m not an authority on Buddha or Buddhism I urge everyone to continue with their own research by reading the books that speak to your unique personality or by checking out Hanh’s books referenced in my Buddha Dharma articles: “Old Path White Clouds” and “The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching.”