The Four Noble Truths And The Noble Eightfold Path

How did the invasions, and attempted conquest of Alexander, aid Chandragupta Maurya to build his empire in northern India? How did his grandson Ashoka manage to govern his large and diverse empire?

Mindfulness is another way of meditation. Meditation was used to seek to improve one’s psychological or physical health, or spiritual growth. (Brantley, 2007). The history of Mindfulness comes from Buddhism and his search for enlightenment and a foundation of the four noble truths. The Buddha teaching focus on the four noble truths which consist of knowing suffering exists, there is a cause of suffering, there is cessation of suffering and there is a path that leads to the cessation of suffering. (Van Gordon, 2015). The four noble truths were not only there to represent the Buddha’s experiential understanding of suffering, but also to express the truth (Van Gordon, 2015). Studies of Buddhism and the Four Noble Truths teach us that there is always going to be suffering in our life but to find ways to overcome suffering (Tsering, 2005).

Buddhism was an incredibly intriguing religion to me due to the emphasis placed on the reality that surrounds us, it’s a rational religion based on peace, self-understanding and the ultimate goal of nirvana. Buddhist followers live their life with three main goals; morality, meditation and enlightenment. Ultimately the core teachings of Buddhism are The Noble Eightfold Path and The Four Noble Truths. It is their lives journey to understand, live kindly and find their inner-peace. In a world so full of hate, misunderstanding, war, segregation and close mindedness; it is unimaginable to not find such a peaceful and understanding religion not attractive in one way or another. However with that, how is it possible that in this same world we find ourselves, those Buddhist followers are able to find such inner peace and understanding when the world around them conducts themselves with such insanity?

Crying and laughing, people experience many different emotions during different stages of their life. Sometimes they would find themselves dissatisfied almost every single moment when they assume that the world is not fulfilling their desire, in other words, their expectations on how the world supposes to be. Dan, an ordinary college student from the story Way of the Peaceful Warrior written by Dan Millman, faces the same obstacle as many others do. Although he has lived a pleased and content life, passion suddenly disappears from him. Such depression stops when he meets Socrates, an old man at the gas station, and learns inspirational lessons which connect to the Four Noble Truths from Socrates. The lessons promote great changes in Dan’s

"Right Livelihood" is one of the requirements of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path. A Buddhist should not trade in arms, drugs and other intoxicants. Neither should a Buddhist be involved in trafficking in human beings. Selling animals as well as selling meat is banned, as refraining from destroying any life is the first precept for a Buddhist to follow. The five improper occupations (Miccha Ajiva) are also stealing, cheating, deceiving, working for a bad person and working only for a money. Buddhism emphasises the opposite virtues of killing and hating that are compassion, mercy and nurturing

The Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path and Four Noble Truth are basically the Ten Commandments. Ideas and thoughts of not lying comes from Revelations 21:8 “All liars go to hell.” Noble Eightfold Path says no lusting, not stealing, not bring harm to another are all identifications the Western bible gives us. Also Westerns know about suffering, we know that Christ let’s suffering happen to us because, in our eyes God is in control and God can work it out.

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” states Luke chapter 2, verses 10-12. These verses show the importance that Jesus had on the people of his town.

The fourth Noble Truths compose the ideologies of the “Eightfold Path”. It’s an idea Buddhist belief of how they can stop the desire that causes suffering. Following the (Eight Path) factors in Buddhism there are fundamental responsibility and accountability that are expected by Buddhist beliefs. Buddhism teaches the concepts of understanding, thoughtful mind, and freedom of speech, action livelihood, encouraging effort, mindfulness and concentration. These categories are divided into sub-sections. The first section is ethical conduct which include the concept of right to speech, right to action and right to livelihood.

Therefore the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path are two main keys in Buddhism. Without these two things, Buddhism would not be what it is today because it has had a great impact on the Indian and Asian history. The Four Truths also say how to identify the cause, claim a state in that suffering and its causes are not there and detail the path to state Buddhist are gaining more knowledge of everything with their religion. Buddhists are gaining a bigger idea and appreciating the religion more due to the foundational teachings by Buddha. Buddhism is centuries old but it is still used today and will be used for many more years to come by many varieties of people.

As I read through the book “Living Religions”, about Buddhism, The Four Noble Truths seemed like a conflicting religious claim. From my understanding, The Four Noble Truths preaches that desire is the prime reason of disappointment but still can be cured. This would mean that life itself is sadness and even death and rebirth is also a form of sorrow. If this is true than Buddhism can’t help someone achieve happiness if there is no escape from sadness. This makes The Four Noble Truths look like a doctrine of doubt, almost as if the people have nothing to look forward to. To add on, the main quote of its teaching is “All Desires as bad and leading to nothing but suffering”. The problem is how they organize every single desire into one faction

Buddhism first appeared in India between the 5th and 6th BCE and is considered to be one of the oldest practiced religion and philosophy. It is a way of life that is governed by a series of passages and countless rules. These passages and rules are meant to enable an individual to further their growth as an agent of transformations to reach the ultimate goal of enlightenment. Though Buddhism, as its original form, is a strict and non peruvious practice of life, it provides of practical outlook on life and how one should be with their environment. The first teaching or the first Dharma, dictated by Siddhartha Gautama, were the Four Noble Truths. Not only are the four noble truths the backbone of Buddhism and they help us understand the

Mindfulness has been an integral part of Buddhism for 2500 years. Mindfulness has the intention to accept and be non-judgmental, but rather to focus your attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations happening at the present moment. For example have you ever been driving somewhere and got to your destination only to realise you can’t remember anything about your journey? The practice of mindfulness is “experiencing what we are going through right now without attaching a load of past baggage to it, or trying to figure out ways to make it different”, (Barker, p.177). When practised, mindfulness helps you stay in the present moment, not to drift of in your mind about past experiences, as this can build up your anxieties and fears and make things seem worse than they are.

There are many teachings within Buddhism that make it a unique practice and religion; however, in my opinion the core of Buddhism is that to be released from all desire, and therefore from all suffering is attainable by following the ‘Noble Eightfold Path’. Desires lead one to all the suffering in this world. Constantly seeking something – be that physical, mental, or emotional – will cause one to consistently be disappointed, leading to nothing but pain. Not attaining one’s desires, forces people to experience disappointment and sorrow. Ultimately, it leads to pain and suffering. Consequently, letting go of ones’ desires will ultimately allow a being to detach themselves from the inevitable suffering that everyone else will experience.

Mindfulness is seen as something that the monks in Tibet or the pundits in India do. Even with the growing trend of meditation in the Western culture, it’s not something that is openly accepted by many people as a tool to bettering themselves. What exactly is mindfulness? The University of California, Berkeley describes it as such: “Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment” (Berkeley.edu). They state that being mindful increases connectivity, not only to outside settings, but to sensations within one’s own body. They further state that being mindful increases

Buddhism does not regard ethics as a particular set of duties, rights, imperatives or obligations that should be used to evaluate the actions of a person. Instead, Buddhism views as the “accumulated wisdom” that one acquires in the areas of life and that are related to the fundamental problem that every person encounters—suffering (Voorst 2007; Becker & Becker, 2013). This paper will attempt to argue that the four noble truths are the basis onto which Buddhist ethics are founded; therefore, understanding the truths reveals the prominent elements of Buddhist ethical concerns.