FIRST NOBLE TRUTH: All living things suffer.
All unenlightened beings experience suffering when they experience birth, illness, old age and death. They experience suffering when they do not get what they want. They experience suffering when they get what they do not want. They suffer when they have to be around disagreeable beings or situations.
SECOND NOBLE TRUTH: There is a state of mind free of suffering.
When one understands clearly that suffering is a result of ego-anguish, non-acceptance, or The Three Poisons, one begins to extinguish these impediments and, finally, over time, to extinguish them.
THIRD NOBLE TRUTH: The state of mind free of suffering is called, "Enlightenment."
This state of mind is the ability to perceive without any ego distortion or fear because illusion has been extinguished and reality is perceived "as-it-is."
FOURTH NOBLE TRUTH: The way to become enlightened is to follow 8 guidelines.
Each of us needs guidelines and the eight means told by the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, are the basic ones leading toward Enlightenment. Other ways were told by him, also, but he stated that these four truths are the most basic. |
