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Four Noble Truths

Decent Essays

Four noble truths exist within Buddhism – all revolving around suffering (Duhka). ‘Duhka’ is a term commonly translated as ‘suffering’ in Buddhist terminology. The term can mean ‘pain’, ‘unease’ or the ‘ultimate unsatisfactoriness’ of moments within human life (Kelly, 2008). Buddha preached that life is full of suffering, there is a cause of the suffering, it is possible to stop suffering and there is a way to extinguish suffering (Aich, 2013). Kelly (2008) describes the cause of suffering as a result of craving something missing from our lives (also translated as ‘grasping’ or ‘attachment’). An earlier description of the four noble truths was proposed by Mikulas (1978), suggesting suffering is caused by attachment, delusions or hatred and …show more content…

Mikulas (2007) claimed Buddhism is often confused with religion or philosophy, yet it is in fact a form of psychology. Firstly, Buddha did not claim to be a god – merely a human being. Furthermore, Buddhism does not involve rituals or worshipping intrinsic to many other religions; “rather it is a set of practices and free inquiry by which one sees for oneself the truth and usefulness of the teachings” (Mikulas, 2007). Mikulas (2007) declared that Buddha did not want to establish a religion – describing the Buddhist community as educational rather than religious. Moreover, Buddha even avoided discussing metaphysical questions which were deemed “ethically useless and intellectually uncertain” (Aich, 2013). This is vastly different from debates inherent to other religions such as life after death, the soul being opposed to the body and the eternalness of the world. The themes surrounding Buddhism are very closely shared with those frequently propositioned within Western psychology. Topics such as “sensation, perception, emotion, motivation, cognition the mind and consciousness” for example (Mikulas, 2007). Of all the existing world religions, de Silva (2000) suggests Buddhism is the most concerned with and closely related to psychology with a great focus on looking “inwards to the intricate dynamics of our mental and spiritual life”. Further harmonies exist between Buddhism and Western psychology, including the shared concern with easing suffering, the interpretation of the human condition as natural rather than religious, the importance of positive regard towards others and the functioning of the mind at a conscious and unconscious level (Mikulas, 2007). Ultimately, whether Buddhism is considered a religion or not, the fundamental teachings of Buddha run parallel with essential concepts of Western

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