The Four Noble Truths
and some
Modern Variations

Key points of Buddhism

"Suffering, origin of suffering and getting over suffering, and the noble Path of eight elements that brings one to the cessation of sufferings ... one is liberation from all sufferings."

(from the Dhammapada, chpt 14, verses 13 & 14)

"Light arose in me about things not heard before."

1) The Buddhist original:
- I do proclaim
  - that suffering exists
  - the origin of suffering
  - the cessation of suffering
  - the path leading to the cessation of suffering.
- I do proclaim
  - the world
  - the origin of the world
  - the cessation of the world
  - the path leading to the cessation of the world.
  "Just as one looks at a bubble, just as one looks at a mirage, one who looks at the world in this way, him the Lord of Death, will not find out."
  - 1. There is suffering.
  - 2. There is a single cause of suffering.
  - 3. The complete cessation of suffering is possible.
  - 4. There exists a path to the ending of all suffering, to immortality
  - (5. and I have walked that path to its end, to the other shore, beyond the reach of death.).
  dukkha = (du - difficult) (kha - to endure)
  - 1. suffering:
    - a) birth (separation)
    - b) decay
    - c) disease (hunger is the greatest illness)
    - d) death
    - e) impeded wishes, ungratified desire
    - f) accumulation of what is evil (even a water jar gets filled by drops of water falling in)
    - g) skandhas, residual impressions, residues of activity
  - 2. origin of suffering:
    - a. thirst, desire, craving, attachment
    - b. separation
    From craving springs grief,
    from craving springs fear,
    For him who is wholly free from craving,
    there is no grief, nor fear.
    
    All desire springs from separation,
    from separation springs all fear,
    For him for whom separation does not exist,
    there is neither desire nor fear.
    
    Cut the forest (of desires), not the tree;
    from that forest there arises fear.
  - 3. the complete cessation of suffering, a state called Nirvana, is achieved by the eradication of all thirsts, of all forms of craving.
  - 4. the noblest path leading to the cessation of suffering is the eightfold path:
    - I) wisdom (panna):
      - 1.. Right Understanding: the knowledge, the perception, of the four noble truths.
        nil illusory views: idols; ignorance; superstition
      - 2.. Right Thoughts, right ideas:
        a. self-less-ness
        b. benevolence
        c. harmlessness, compassion
        d. nil
        he abused me;
        she injured me;
        he overcame me;
        she deprived me
      "Without study, without having earned wealth,
      they lie down completely wasted, wailing"
      
      Action is best after discrimination
      between the goal and what is other than the goal.
      
      "One shall employ oneself in such a way
      that there will be the growth of knowledge."
      
      "Hesitant study yields no great fruit."
    - II) morality (sila)
      - 3.. Right Speech:
        kind,
        truthful,
        helpful
        nil
        falsehood;
        gossip;
        harsh words;
        frivolous talk;
        slandering
        
        "Not the shortcomings of others.
        not what is done or not done by others"
        
        "It is easy to perceive the avoidable things in others,
        it is difficult to perceive in oneself"
      - 4.. Right Action - with forbearance
        nil:
        a. killing
        b. stealing(taking that which is not offered in this world)
        c. sexual misconduct (sensory immoderation)
        d. idleness
        e. injuring, punishing by beating
      - 5.. Right Livelihood
        nil:
        a. manufacturing or trading in weapons & munitions
        b. trading in human beings: forced labour, slavery prostitution, conscription
        c. raising or trading animals for slaughter
        d. manufacturing or trading in intoxicants: fermented drinks, drugs
        e. manufacturing or trading in poisons
    - III) Meditation (samadhi)
      - 6.. Right Effort - (nil defaulting) the endeavour to:
        a. discard evil that has already arisen (ripe, fruiting, sprouted)
        b. prevent the arising of unarisen evil
        c. develop unarisen good
        d. promote the good which has already arisen
      - 7.. Right Mindfulness - (continuous: nil occasionally; when I remember; if convenient, most days, when my partner is away) awareness of, restrained in
        a. body
        b. feelings
        c. thoughts
        d. & mind-objects kept steady, guarded, vigilant, self-controlled, self-limited, disciplined without haste, without rest
      - 8.. Right Concentration, one-pointedness of the mind Having noticed some similarity in the form, I include two appendices:
2) HP Blavatsky; p435 CW volume 12:
Daily practical wisdom consists of four things:
- To know the root of truth
- to know the branches of truth
- to know the limit of truth
- to know the opposite of truth.
3) James Redfield; The Celestine Prophecy: from the table of contents:
- chpt 3 There is Energy
- chpt 4 There is conflict (for energy)
- chpt 5 There is a path to the cessation of all conflict
- Redfield's (three chapter) Noble Path:
  - chpt 6 Clearing the Past (nil control dramas)
  - chpt 7 Engaging the Flow
  - chpt 8 The Interpersonal Ethic

Key points of Buddhism

Four Noble Truths

1. Suffering exists
2. Suffering arises from attachment to desires
3. Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases
4. Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path

Noble Eightfold Path
Three Qualities

1. Wisdom (panna)
- a. Right View
- b. Right Thought
2. Morality (sila)
- a. Right Speech
- b. Right Action
- c. Right Livelihood
8. Meditation (samadhi)
- a. Right Effort
- b. Right Mindfulness
- c. Right Contemplation

Three Characteristics of Existence

1. Transiency (anicca)
2. Sorrow (dukkha)
3. Selflessness (anatta)

Five Aggregates (skandhas)

1. Form (rupa) is made up of
- earth
- water
- fire
- wind
2. Feeling (vedana) is one of
- pleasant,
- unpleasant
- neutral
Feelings arise when there is contact between the six internal organs (Eye Ear Nose Tongue Body Mind) and the six external objects (Sight Sound Odour Taste Touch Mental Object).
3. Perception (samjna) is related to the six external objects
4. Volition (samskara) is the response of the will to the six external objects
5. Consciousness (vijnana) grasps the characteristics of the six external objects
- Visual consciousness
- Auditory consciousness
- Olfactory consciousness
- Gustatory consciousness
- Tactile consciousness
- Mental consciousness
Five Hindrances
- Sensuous lust
- Aversion and ill will
- Sloth and torpor
- Restlessness and worry
- Skeptical doubt
Seven Factors of Enlightment
- Mindfulness
- Investigation
- Energy
- Rapture
- Tranquillity
- Concentration
- Equanimity
- Perfections (paramis)
- Generosity (dana)
- Morality (sila)
- Renunciation (nekkhamma)
- Wisdom (panna)
- Energy (viriya)
- Patience (khanti)
- Truthfulness (sacca)
- Resolution (adhitthana)
- Loving-Kindness (metta)
- Equanimity (upekkha)
Four Boundless States
The boundless states or brahmaviharas are considered friends on the way to Nirvana. They help in dissolving the idea of a separate self.
- Loving kindness
- Compassion
- Sympathetic Joy
- Equanimity

Near enemy is a quality that can masquerade as the original, but is not the original.

Far enemy is the clearly opposite quality.

Pali	English	Description	Near Enemy	Far Enemy or Antidote for
metta	loving kindness	good-will, friendship, unconditional love for all	beings	selfish love	hatred
karuna	compassion empathy	to feel with someone instead of for someone	pity	cruelty
mudita	sympathetic joy	spontaneous joy in response to others success	hypocrisy	envy
upekkha	equanimity	even-mindedness based on insight into the nature of things	indifference	anxiety

Ten Fetters of Existence
- Self-delusion
- Doubt
- Clinging to Ritual
- Sensuous Lust
- Ill Will
- Greed for Fine Material Existence
- Greed for Immaterial Existence
- Conceit
- Restlessness
- Ignorance

a portion of The Heart Sutra in English

Then, through the power of the Buddha, venerable Shariputra said to noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, "How should a son or daughter of noble family train, who wishes to practice the profound prajnaparamita?"

Addressed in this way, noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva majasttva, said to venerable Shariputra, "O Shariputra, a son or daughter of noble family who wishes to practice the profound prajnaparamita should see in this way: seeing the five skandhas to be empty of nature. Form is emptiness; emptiness also is form. Emptiness is no other than form; form is no other than emptiness. In the same way, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness are emptiness. Thus, Shariputra, all dharmas are emptiness. There are no characteristics. There is no birth and no cessation. There is no impurity and no purity. There is no decrease and no increase. Therefore, Shariputra, in emptiness, there is no form, no feeling, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no appearance, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no dharmas, no eye dhatu up to no mind dhatu, no dhatu of dharmas, no mind consciousness dhatu; no ignorance, no end of ignorance up to no old age and death, no end of old age and death; no suffering, no origin of suffering, no cessation of suffering, no path, no wisdom, no attainment, and no non-attainment. Therefore, Shariputra, since the bodhisattvas have no attainment, they abide by mens of prajnaparamita.

END

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The Four Noble Truths and some Modern Variations

"Light arose in me about things not heard before."

"Just as one looks at a bubble, just as one looks at a mirage, one who looks at the world in this way, him the Lord of Death, will not find out."

dukkha = (du - difficult) (kha - to endure)

From craving springs grief, from craving springs fear, For him who is wholly free from craving, there is no grief, nor fear.

All desire springs from separation, from separation springs all fear, For him for whom separation does not exist, there is neither desire nor fear.

Cut the forest (of desires), not the tree; from that forest there arises fear.

"Without study, without having earned wealth, they lie down completely wasted, wailing"

Action is best after discrimination between the goal and what is other than the goal.

"One shall employ oneself in such a way that there will be the growth of knowledge."

"Hesitant study yields no great fruit."

"Not the shortcomings of others. not what is done or not done by others"

"It is easy to perceive the avoidable things in others, it is difficult to perceive in oneself"

Key points of Buddhism

Near enemy is a quality that can masquerade as the original, but is not the original.

Far enemy is the clearly opposite quality.

a portion of The Heart Sutra in English

Acknowledgements

The Four Noble Truths
and some
Modern Variations

From craving springs grief,
from craving springs fear,
For him who is wholly free from craving,
there is no grief, nor fear.

All desire springs from separation,
from separation springs all fear,
For him for whom separation does not exist,
there is neither desire nor fear.

Cut the forest (of desires), not the tree;
from that forest there arises fear.

"Without study, without having earned wealth,
they lie down completely wasted, wailing"

Action is best after discrimination
between the goal and what is other than the goal.

"One shall employ oneself in such a way
that there will be the growth of knowledge."

"Not the shortcomings of others.
not what is done or not done by others"

"It is easy to perceive the avoidable things in others,
it is difficult to perceive in oneself"