Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths (or The Four Truths of the Noble OnesDuff (2008), p. 17) (; ; ) is one of the most fundamental Buddhist teachings. This Dharma Enlightenment makes ordinary person become the Buddha (Khun Weera Boontanorm, 2000). In broad terms, these truths relate to suffering (or dukkha), its nature, its origin, its cessation and the path leading to its cessation. They are among the truths Siddhartha Gautama is said to have realized during his experience of enlightenment.Nanamoli (1995), p. 106 
The Four Noble Truths appear many times, throughout the most ancient Buddhist texts, the Pali Canon. The early teaching and the traditional understanding in Theravada is that the Four Noble Truths are an advanced teaching for those who are ready for them. Mahayana Buddhism regards them as a preliminary teaching for people not ready for its own teachings.Harvey (1990), p. 92. 
Some may see "truths" as a mistranslation (one author cites "realities" as a possibly better choice: these are things, not statements, in the original grammarGethin (1998), p. 60.). However, the original Tibetan Lotsawas (Sanskrit: locchāwa; Tibetan: lo ts'a ba), who studied Sanskrit grammar thoroughly, did translate the term from Sanskrit into Tibetan as "bden pa" which has the full meaning of "truth".
==Background==
Why the Buddha is said to have taught in this way is illuminated by the social context of the time in which he lived. The Buddha was a – a wandering ascetic whose "aim was to discover the truth and attain happiness."Warder (1970), p. 34. He is said to have achieved this aim while under a bodhi tree near the River Neranjana; the Four Noble Truths are a formulation of his understanding of the nature of "suffering",The term used by the Buddha is dukkha. While suffering – i.e., being in a state of physical or mental pain – is one aspect of dukkha, it is believed by many that suffering is too narrow a translation and that it is best to leave dukkha untranslated. the fundamental cause of all suffering, the escape from suffering, and what effort a person can go to so that they themselves can "attain happiness."
These truths are not expressed as a hypothesis or tentative idea; rather, the Buddha says:
The Buddha says that he taught them...
This teaching was the basis of the Buddha's first discourse after his enlightenment. In early Buddhism this is the most advanced teaching in the Buddha's Gradual Training.
==Pali and Chinese canon text==
#The Nature of Suffering (Dukkha):"This is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering."Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11), trans. Bodhi (2000), pp. 1843-47.
#Suffering's Origin (Samudaya):"This is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination."
#Suffering's Cessation (Nirodha):"This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it."
#The Way (Magga) Leading to the Cessation of Suffering:"This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration."SN 56.11, trans. Bodhi (2000), p. 1844. In this translation, Bodhi elides the six middle factors of the Noble Eightfold Path (between right view and right concentration). Thus Bodhi's translation for the six middle factors was taken from his translation of SN 45.1 (Bodhi, 2000, p. 1523-24). See also Feer (1976), p. 421f.In AN 3.61, the Buddha provides an alternate elaboration on the second and third noble truths identifying the arising and cessation of suffering in accordance with Dependent Origination's Twelve Causes, from ignorance to old age and death (Thanissaro, 1997).
==See also==
* List of Buddhist topics
==Notes==
==References==
* Duff, Tony (2008). Contemplation by way of the Twelve Interdependent Arisings. Kathmandu, Nepal: Padma Karpo Translation Committee. Retrieved on 2008-8-19 from http://www.tibet.dk/pktc/gelugpa.htm
* How to Solve Our Human Problems: The Four Noble Truths, by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Tharpa Publications (2005, US ed., 2007) ISBN 978-09789067-1-9
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* 
* Gethin, Rupert (1988). Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford University Press.
* Harvey, Peter (1990). Introduction to Buddhism. Cambridge University Press. 
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* Thanissaro, Bhikkhu (trans.) (1997). Tittha Sutta: Sectarians (AN 3.61). Retrieved 2007-11-12 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.061.than.html.
* 
* Yamamoto, Kosho (1999-2000, ed. & rev. by Dr. Tony Page). The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra in 12 Volumes. Nirvana Publications.
==External links==
*Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama speaks of the "Four Noble Truths" in a four part video series at youtube.com:
**Part 1
**Part 2
**Part 3
**Part 4
*The Four Noble Truths as in the Buddhist Encyclopedia.
* Buddhism: The Four Noble Truths by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.
* At Access to Insight:
** The Four Noble Truths: A Study Guide (by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
** Wings to Awakening Section 3.H.i: The Four Noble Truths (translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)
* Talks given by Ajahn Sumedho:
** At Amaravati Monastery's web: The Four Noble Truths
** PDF version at Buddhanet.net: The Four Noble Truths eBook
* From the Ten Lecture Series, Lecture on the Four Noble Truths by Bhikkhu Bodhi: The Four Noble Truths
*A View on the Four Noble Truths
*The Light of Asia (Book Eight), a poem in iambic pentameter by Sir Edwin Arnold.
*Buddhism - the Four Noble Truths
* The Feeling Buddha: An alternate interpretation of the Four Noble Truths.
*Sixteen Aspects of the Four Noble Truths
Category:Buddhist terms
4 Four Noble Truths
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ar:الحقائق النبيلة الأربع
bg:Четирите благородни истини
ca:Quatre Nobles Veritats
cs:Čtyři ušlechtilé pravdy
da:De fire hellige sandheder
de:Vier Edle Wahrheiten
el:Οι τέσσερεις ευγενείς αλήθειες
es:Cuatro nobles verdades
eo:Kvar noblaj veroj
fr:Quatre nobles vérités
ko:사제 (불교)
is:Göfugu sannindin fjögur
it:Quattro nobili verità
he:ארבע האמיתות האצילות
la:Quattuor Veritates Nobiles
lv:Četras cildenās patiesības
lt:Keturios tauriosios tiesos
ms:Empat Kebenaran Mulia
my:သစ္စာလေးပါး
nl:Vier nobele waarheden
ja:四諦
no:De fire edle sannheter
pl:Cztery Szlachetne Prawdy
pt:Quatro Nobres Verdades
ro:Cele patru adevăruri nobile
ru:Четыре Благородные Истины
simple:Four Noble Truths
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zh:四谛