At the heart of most Buddhist teachings are the Four Noble Truths ("the truths of the noble ones"). These are supposedly the first teachings of the Buddha. They start with the idea that life inevitably includes dukkha, often translated as suffering, difficulties, or unsatisfactoriness, posit that dukkha arises from cravings, attachments, clinging, greed, excessive/ non-virtuous desires and self-centeredness, and conclude that there is path to overcome dukkha (the Eightfold Path). Life also includes happiness, pleasure, ease, joy, bliss, equanimity, etc., and one can obviously experience and cultivate these- the idea is not being attached to or craving anything such that it leads to dukkha.
The Four Noble Truths can be summarized as:
1. Life includes “dukkha” - translated as suffering, difficulty, frustration, dis-ease, unease, distress, discomfort, unsatisfactoriness, misery, etc. - dukkha is inevitable and universal and can be subtle or intense
2. Dukkha has a cause, primarily craving/attachment - craving for and attachment to sensory pleasures; dukkha emerges from the desire to attain that which is presently unattainable, the desire for life to be other than it actually is - broadly, the "three poisons" lead to dukkha: greed/desire, hatred/aversion, and ignorance/delusion (lack of insight into the causes of dukkha)
3. there is a cessation of/absence of dukkha
4. there is a path to the cessation of/absence of dukkha- the Eightfold Path - understanding and practicing the Eightfold Path addresses the causes and perpetuation of dukkha
A Secular Buddhist interpretation (After Buddhism, Stephen Batchelor)
Embrace suffering, let go of reactivity, behold the ceasing of reactivity, cultivate the path
Embracing dukkha entails letting go of one's views about suffering in order to open oneself to the mystery of suffering.
Understanding suffering. The fourfold task is at the heart of Buddhist practice. The first step is to embrace suffering (dukkha), which means acknowledging and accepting the inherent unsatisfactoriness and imperfection of life. This is not about wallowing in misery, but developing a clear-eyed understanding of the human condition.
Cultivating freedom. The next two steps involve letting go of reactivity (our habitual responses to suffering) and beholding the ceasing of that reactivity. This creates a space of freedom where we can respond to life's challenges more skillfully. The final step is to cultivate the eightfold path, which provides a framework for living ethically and mindfully.
The fourfold task in practice:
Embrace suffering: Accept life's inherent challenges
Let go of reactivity: Observe habitual responses without acting on them
Behold the ceasing of reactivity: Experience moments of non-reactivity
Cultivate the path: Develop ethical conduct, meditation, and wisdom
There is this Noble Truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering, sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering, association with the loathed is suffering, not to get what one wants is suffering...
There is the Noble Truth of the origin of suffering: it is craving, which produces the renewal of being, is accompanied by relish and lust, relishing this and that; in other words, craving for sensual desires, craving for being, craving for non-being.
There is the Noble Truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading and ceasing, the giving up, the relinquishing, letting go, and rejecting of that same craving.
There is the Noble Truth to the way leading to the cessation of suffering; it is the Noble Eightfold Path, that is to say: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
("Right" may also be translated as complete, genuine, wise, or in perfect harmony- or viewed as "to right," as in restoring an accurate position, in alignment with what is "true," like an arrow or instrument that is finely crafted or tuned and fit for its purpose)
Buddha: "If, Mahali, forms, feelings, perceptions, inclinations, and consciousness were exclusively suffering (dukkha) and pervaded by suffering, but if they were not also pervaded by pleasure (sukha), beings would not become enamored of them. But because these things are pleasurable, beings become enamored of them. By being enamored of them, they are captivated by them, and by being captivated by them, they are afflicted"
