Jump to content

Four Noble Truths of the Buddha


Blessed2

Recommended Posts

In the forum guidelines, there is mentioned the four noble truths. They are listed as:

 

The truth of suffering.


The truth of the cause of suffering.


The truth of the end of suffering.

 

and


The truth of the path that frees us from suffering.

 

What does these truths mean? I'd like some commentary and explanation on each one.

 

There must be an effortless way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Blessed2 said:

The truth of suffering.

There is suffering.

 

1 hour ago, Blessed2 said:

The truth of the cause of suffering.

Self-referential thinking.

 

1 hour ago, Blessed2 said:

The truth of the end of suffering.

Unveiling identification through the emptying of self-referential thoughts, which results in a calm and peaceful mind.

 

1 hour ago, Blessed2 said:

The truth of the path that frees us from suffering.

"There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path."

 

- Buddha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

 

The truth of suffering.

Suffering is illusion.

2 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

The truth of the cause of suffering.

Believing thoughts of seperation against the direct guidance of feeling. 

2 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

The truth of the end of suffering.

Feeling itself right now, is never "A" feeling. There is no cause, there is no beginning, there is no end to what is not. 

2 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

 

The truth of the path that frees us from suffering.

Love... unconditional love... feeling itself (not "A" feeling) is the truth. Stay. 

 Youtube Channel  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In addition to the beautiful answers already shared… 🙏🏻 

3 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

The truth of suffering.

There is suffering. No more denial. 

3 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

The truth of the cause of suffering.

Judgement doesn’t resonate with Truth. 

3 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

The truth of the end of suffering.

Judgement is found only in the activity of thought. (Some thoughts, discordant thoughts).  

The practice allows all thought activity to come to rest, and therein, to be experienced with clarity. 

3 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

The truth of the path that frees us from suffering.

Not two, thus judgement - of a myself, of a my body, of a my words, of a my appearance, of a my past, of a my future, of thoughts, of others, of the world, of God - rightfully did not, does not, and can not, resonate with the infinite & unconditional love I actually am. 

3 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

What does these truths mean? I'd like some commentary and explanation on each one.

That you are God (minus the title / identity / identifying with the word which is just a thought… it’s just a pointing term & not an actual thing, higher self, separate entity which exists, etc) and God (you) is unthinkable (can not be thunk) infinite unconditional love. This is the unbelievable (can not be believed) Good News. There is only suffering because you are infinite Goodness, absolutely pure and innocent… which forgot / forgets… that ‘it’ is. The ‘remembering’ of which, can not be thunk, or that of thought activity, or believed, also thought activity. 

But the suffering, infallibly, without exception, ‘tells you’ the Truth, of you. 

Letting go, surrender, giving it to God… all different phrases… all the same pointing. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Blessed2 said:

In the forum guidelines, there is mentioned the four noble truths. They are listed as:

 

The truth of suffering.


The truth of the cause of suffering.


The truth of the end of suffering.

 

and


The truth of the path that frees us from suffering.

 

What does these truths mean? I'd like some commentary and explanation on each one.

 

There's books on this and Wikipedia has an entry on this. I like Rahula Walpola's book What the Buddha Taught

 

Y'all are just making up your own sh*t.

 

That's fine. But it's not Buddhism's Four Noble Truths. It's your own interpretation of the Four Noble Truths. If you presented your own nondual, New Age view of the Four Noble Truths to a Buddhist monk or teacher -- they'd laugh and say, well not quite. 

 

If someone wants to know what Catholicism theorizes about the Trinity -- am I free to put down my view that everything is solipsistic, "Only my mind is known to exist, everything that exists first is manifested in my mind." ? 

 

I suppose -- but what I'd worry about is that it is a view from ignorance that isn't aware of what Catholicm believes about the Trinity. It can be like the blind leading the blind. This reads harsh, but did anyone actually read the original sutta in which Gautama expounded on the Four Noble Truths? If someone wants to bring up Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, and I've never read it, is this a problem? Can I say the real message of Sermon on the Mount is to beware of bears? Because bears are in mount(ains)? 

 

For example, it's known that the path leading to the cessation of suffering is the 8 fold Noble Path. This is in fact what the Buddha taught. I think good pedagogy can be looking at different perspectives. Is the Buddha's perspective here worthwhile? Why didn't anyone post it then? 

 

FFS

 

The responses above are more New Age interpretation of the Four Noble Truths that bears little resemblance to what the Buddha taught. If you even care, which you probably don't. In which case, just carry on. 

 

I'll take this as a post calling for discussion. This is my 02

 

The truth of suffering.

 

Suffering, dukkha, is also translated as dissatisfaction or stress. Dukkha exists. We are subject to birth, sickness, old age, and death. Despite vision boards promoting health, sickness and death comes. Despite giving alms, crystals, essential oils, and rituals to promote good health and karma -- sickness and death comes. 

 

The truth of the cause of suffering.

 

The Dharma is dependent origination. This means that what happens is due to causes and conditions and our suffering happens because of causes and conditions, of which a large part may be our desire, or craving. This stands up to science. It does not mean that a 5 year old getting cancer is due to karma  somehow attracting the sickness. It's not a rape victim's karma they got raped. It's not she manifested the rape by their clothes or playing the victim.  This is obnoxious and New Age claptrap. 

 

The truth of the end of suffering.

 

There is a way out of this suffering. It is nibbana or the cessation of craving. The four noble truths follows a medical diagnosis. It is no coincidence the Buddha was called the great physician. Here, the problem is defined (suffering). The cause is listed (causes and conditions). The diagnosis is that there is a way out (if there were no solution, there's no point in seeking a remedy).

 

The truth of the path that frees us from suffering.

 

 

The remedy is the 8-fold noble path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right stability of mind. 

 

This is a comprehensive path to upend one's life and change it to be a more whole human being. It includes wisdom, stability of mind, and ethics.:

 

Please remember that contemporary Western spiritual enlightenment mostly focuses on being in the now, a non-judging mindfulness, an end to the seeker, and a sense of oneness. You might think such teachings were deep and profound. Far, far from it. This is beginner’s stuff.

 

Shortly before his death, the Buddha expressed concern about the ‘closed fist’ of the teacher such as a teacher who holds to and promotes a single insight or two at the exclusion of a rich and diverse exploration.

 

In an enlightened way of life, no stone is left unturned. There is a bringing to light to bear equally on the inner and outer life, as mentioned in the Buddha’s discourse on mindfulness. It is the enquiry into ethics, desires, depths of meditation, money, action, livelihood, love, compassion, empathy, identity, conflict, emptiness, self and non-self, truth, reality and awakening.

 

What is an enlightened application to the personal and public life, for the individual and the institution, the worldly and the spiritual?

 

What is an enlightened application to the political, corporate, religious, cultural formations and information technology? The Now? Being? A Oneness Experience?

 

We only get silence from much of the current wave of spiritual, mindfulness, non-dual and yoga teachers.

 

What much of the West offers in the way of enlightenment belongs to the kindergarten of spirituality.

   -- Christopher Titmuss

 

Edited by Aware Wolf

“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.” ― The Buddha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, Aware Wolf said:

What is an enlightened application to the personal and public life, for the individual and the institution, the worldly and the spiritual?

 

What is an enlightened application to the political, corporate, religious, cultural formations and information technology? The Now? Being? A Oneness Experience?

 

We only get silence from much of the current wave of spiritual, mindfulness, non-dual and yoga teachers.

 

IMO there is some misunderstanding in this part. The answer is silence, alignment. Inexpressible. 🤔

 

Something from the west, Jesus: 

 

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

 

@Aware Wolf @Lotus @Mandy @Phil Thanks for the responses 🙏🙏

The first one, that there is suffering or dukkha, is being realized I think. There is in fact suffering, which doesn't really mean simply feeling bad, but is 'discord'. And that there is suffering seems "off". Something has been forgotten/misunderstood. Maybe it's just a simple mistake, like just an "oops" from my part. Surely, it must be possible to not suffer. Why not?

 

There must be an effortless way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

45 minutes ago, Blessed2 said:

 

IMO there is some misunderstanding in this part. The answer is silence, alignment. Inexpressible. 🤔

 

 

Is the answer to all of life's challenges, silence? Alignment? 

 

What is an enlightened application to the political, corporate, religious, cultural formations and information technology? 

 

Does silence suffice for all of this? Rapacious capitalism? Facebook and social media usage? Internet porn addiction? Wars? 

 

The Buddha never faced the challenge of social media. However wars were a thing back then and there's suttas where the Buddha responded to wars. He did not respond with just silence, he spoke out against war. Being somehow aligned with war -- "It's what the Universe wants, bro!" -- well the Buddha would never say anything like this. There's a Thich Nhat Hanh youtube video on war and whether it is ever justified, and surprisingly, Thich (who was a great peace activist) does not rule out war but says it should be the last, last resort. 

 

 

45 minutes ago, Blessed2 said:

The first one, that there is suffering or dukkha, is being realized I think. There is in fact suffering, which doesn't really mean simply feeling bad, but is 'discord'. And that there is suffering seems "off". Something has been forgotten/misunderstood. Maybe it's just a simple mistake, like just an "oops" from my part. Surely, it must be possible to not suffer. Why not?

 

The truth of Suffering must be realized. The causes of suffering must be understood. The path to cessation of suffering must be practiced. This is in the sutta. 

 

Though it does seem the Buddha suffered, although we're getting into controversy here. The Buddha definitely had pain. There's suttas where it seems to me that the Buddha is suffering -- but I don't know his mind but from the writing, the Buddha is complaining, or venting a bit -- it seems like it's a possibility. The Buddha had back pain. The Buddha died after having dhysentary, internal bleeding, and feeling great pain. He didn't exactly just easily mentally disconnect from the pain and suffering. For his back, he took rest and layed down. Medicines are allowed even in early Buddhism. 

 

It's interesting that lepers injuries are said not to be so much due to the disease itself -- but because leprosy damages the nerves -- the leper doesn't feel pain. Pain here is a messenger. Without pain, limbs can be injured and the leper doesn't know it. 

 

There's people, Leo Gura is one, who says, if your dog dies, you're totally okay with that. I disagree. This is spiritual bypassing. Liberation is the freedom to have a range of human emotions. Liberation is not a zombified internal state. If someone believes it is, there's drugs available that can produce this. No one believes that this person is to be envied or is more awakened because they're a zombie now. 

 

I put the Dalai Lama as someone who might well be awakened. He meets with Tibetan refugees. He often tears up from their travails and misfortunes and harsh treatment. The Dalai Lama has said he believes anyone who claims to never be angry isn't quite right in the head. LOL. 

 

So I don't know how the end of suffering looks like, especially practically, as long as we're in a human body we're going to have pain. Who has achieved this liberation from all suffering? Would we even want it if we could? If so, why not go have a couple of beers and a valium right now then? It's also to be noted, there's a wonderful and powerful practice Tong Len -- giving and receiving where the practitioner asks to take on the additional suffering of others. 

 

 

Edited by Aware Wolf

“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.” ― The Buddha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Aware Wolf said:

Y'all are just making up your own sh*t.

 

That's fine. But it's not Buddhism's Four Noble Truths. It's your own interpretation of the Four Noble Truths. If you presented your own nondual, New Age view of the Four Noble Truths to a Buddhist monk or teacher -- they'd laugh and say, well not quite.

 

If I went to a Christian ordained minister and mentioned what communion means or what "The son of man has no place to lay his lead" means, he'd laugh and say not quite. 

 

2 hours ago, Aware Wolf said:

The truth of the cause of suffering.

 

 It does not mean that a 5 year old getting cancer is due to karma  somehow attracting the sickness. It's not a rape victim's karma they got raped. It's not she manifested the rape by their clothes or playing the victim.  This is obnoxious and New Age claptrap. 

Louise Hay was raped at five, got cancer, cured her cancer and she's the founder of Hay House publishing and considered New Age. I don't think I'd call her transcendence and teachings obnoxious or a trap at all. 

 

I'd guess the "Kindergarten of spirituality" is ironically where the "greatest" wisdom is, before it got forgotten in all the learning. What happened to "beginners mind?"  

 Youtube Channel  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Aware Wolf said:

 

There's books on this and Wikipedia has an entry on this. I like Rahula Walpola's book What the Buddha Taught

 

Y'all are just making up your own sh*t.

 

That's fine. But it's not Buddhism's Four Noble Truths. It's your own interpretation of the Four Noble Truths. If you presented your own nondual, New Age view of the Four Noble Truths to a Buddhist monk or teacher -- they'd laugh and say, well not quite. 

 

If someone wants to know what Catholicism theorizes about the Trinity -- am I free to put down my view that everything is solipsistic, "Only my mind is known to exist, everything that exists first is manifested in my mind." ? 

 

I suppose -- but what I'd worry about is that it is a view from ignorance that isn't aware of what Catholicm believes about the Trinity. It can be like the blind leading the blind. This reads harsh, but did anyone actually read the original sutta in which Gautama expounded on the Four Noble Truths? If someone wants to bring up Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, and I've never read it, is this a problem? Can I say the real message of Sermon on the Mount is to beware of bears? Because bears are in mount(ains)? 

 

For example, it's known that the path leading to the cessation of suffering is the 8 fold Noble Path. This is in fact what the Buddha taught. I think good pedagogy can be looking at different perspectives. Is the Buddha's perspective here worthwhile? Why didn't anyone post it then? 

 

FFS

 

The responses above are more New Age interpretation of the Four Noble Truths that bears little resemblance to what the Buddha taught. If you even care, which you probably don't. In which case, just carry on. 

 

I'll take this as a post calling for discussion. This is my 02

 

The truth of suffering.

 

Suffering, dukkha, is also translated as dissatisfaction or stress. Dukkha exists. We are subject to birth, sickness, old age, and death. Despite vision boards promoting health, sickness and death comes. Despite giving alms, crystals, essential oils, and rituals to promote good health and karma -- sickness and death comes. 

 

The truth of the cause of suffering.

 

The Dharma is dependent origination. This means that what happens is due to causes and conditions and our suffering happens because of causes and conditions, of which a large part may be our desire, or craving. This stands up to science. It does not mean that a 5 year old getting cancer is due to karma  somehow attracting the sickness. It's not a rape victim's karma they got raped. It's not she manifested the rape by their clothes or playing the victim.  This is obnoxious and New Age claptrap. 

 

The truth of the end of suffering.

 

There is a way out of this suffering. It is nibbana or the cessation of craving. The four noble truths follows a medical diagnosis. It is no coincidence the Buddha was called the great physician. Here, the problem is defined (suffering). The cause is listed (causes and conditions). The diagnosis is that there is a way out (if there were no solution, there's no point in seeking a remedy).

 

The truth of the path that frees us from suffering.

 

 

The remedy is the 8-fold noble path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right stability of mind. 

 

This is a comprehensive path to upend one's life and change it to be a more whole human being. It includes wisdom, stability of mind, and ethics.:

 

Please remember that contemporary Western spiritual enlightenment mostly focuses on being in the now, a non-judging mindfulness, an end to the seeker, and a sense of oneness. You might think such teachings were deep and profound. Far, far from it. This is beginner’s stuff.

 

Shortly before his death, the Buddha expressed concern about the ‘closed fist’ of the teacher such as a teacher who holds to and promotes a single insight or two at the exclusion of a rich and diverse exploration.

 

In an enlightened way of life, no stone is left unturned. There is a bringing to light to bear equally on the inner and outer life, as mentioned in the Buddha’s discourse on mindfulness. It is the enquiry into ethics, desires, depths of meditation, money, action, livelihood, love, compassion, empathy, identity, conflict, emptiness, self and non-self, truth, reality and awakening.

 

What is an enlightened application to the personal and public life, for the individual and the institution, the worldly and the spiritual?

 

What is an enlightened application to the political, corporate, religious, cultural formations and information technology? The Now? Being? A Oneness Experience?

 

We only get silence from much of the current wave of spiritual, mindfulness, non-dual and yoga teachers.

 

What much of the West offers in the way of enlightenment belongs to the kindergarten of spirituality.

   -- Christopher Titmuss

 

Hmm i get kind of a high horse vibe, i might be wrong though 🙂 I just remember you writing something similar previously, calling Eckhart Tolle beginners spirituality (not that i care about him, but more that it matters for you to view it that way). 

 

You might (people generally, not you) be really well read in buddhism/spirituality/any subject really, and still have no grasp about it at all other than just parroting it. It's all just meaningless words unless you "see" it real time in your experience and are able to make change (my way of explaining it, might be bad).

The words Buddha wrote poinst to an experience he wants you to realize yourself. If you don't experience it, it's worth nothing. There might be more ways to get people to realize/have that experience than the exact words he used, as the "transformation" is only in having the experience yourself, no words in a book will give you that.

 

To say that "Western spirituality"  is only about the mentioned things, and is therefor beginners stuff is a bit lol.. in many ways.. It's not like realizing The Now or waking up (to use new age terms) is where it ends, thats where it all begins for real insights into all the things you mention (ethics, personal/public life, etc etc, all of the mentioned). And insights you make yourself, not something you read in a 3000 year old book. Remember, the Buddha realized what he did not from reading words in a book. How did he do that?

 

And yes some yoga-teacher in my fitness gym or some mindfulness teacher might not be able to have an answer for all of these things you mention, but that doesn't make it kindergarten spirituality. 


To me dividing things like that seems like missing the point, but thats just me.. I am only a few years into it all.

 

Sorry in advance if it seems harsh ❤️ No hard feelings

 

 

 

 

Edited by WhiteOwl
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Mandy You're free to sign up for whatever you want. 

 

I'm a big fan of Mandyism. 

 

However, this thread is about Buddhism's Four Noble Truths. 

 

And y'all are making up your own sh*t. 

 

If there was a thread on Judaism's core beliefs, I wouldn't post Wolfisms. If it was a thread : "Why do people suffer?"; "Why is there suffering?" ; "Is there a way to end suffering?"; and "what is the path to end suffering?" -- then ya, on a forum, it's anything goes. There's Mandyism and Wolfism. s 

Maybe I'm wrong that I expect if the question is Buddhisms Four Noble Truths, posts should be aware of the base doctrine. Maybe it's anything goes. 

 

If someone posts, what is the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection -- I can post "There is no meaning. There is no self, no Christ. There is no birth, no death." -- it just seems a bit weird doing dat.  If it's a post on Sermon on the Mount -- and the person hasn't read the sermon, doesn't allude to any of it, and instead goes off into a New Age warning about be careful about bears in the mountains, because they see everything through a Bear filter -- I don't know what to say. 

The Four Noble Truths is a thing. You can read it. Filtering it through a Louise Hay, Eckhart Tolle, Nondual, Infinity-ness -- says more about you than it does about the Four Noble Truths. The four noble truths has nothing at all to do with nonduality and infinityness. The Sermon on the Mount has nothing to do with bears. 

 

 

Edited by Aware Wolf

“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.” ― The Buddha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

13 minutes ago, Aware Wolf said:

If someone posts, what is the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection -- I can post "There is no meaning. There is no self, no Christ. There is no birth, no death." -- it just seems a bit weird doing dat.  

I would not find that weird.

 

doctrine, a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a Church, political party, or other group. "the doctrine of predestination"

 

Are we really about perpetuating beliefs here? Was the Buddha really about that? Was Christ? Don't think so. I think, they were just making up their own shit. 

 Youtube Channel  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Aware Wolf Just the fact that we are talking about 3000 year old text written in ancient Indian language, in english, puts it straight in the new age category. It's all already pure interpretation, and not even close to what he wrote. Probably went through 10+ language translations before english. Looks like you are fooling yourself if you think you are getting the only "real deal". Its not in the words

Edited by WhiteOwl
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Mandy

 

Nonduality is a doctrine.  Infinityness is a doctrine.  

 

Just not in the Four Noble Truths. 

 

Bears are a thing. One should be wary of bears.

 

But bears are not a thing in Sermon in the Mount. 

 

If in your Harvard Divinity class, you're asked a test question about the Sermon the Mount, and you go to bear thing because that's why you believe -- you'll fail. You might not like the original Sermon on the Mount. Maybe you believe in something different. Fine, cool. 

But I don't believe you're free to change around the teaching. I think there's value to be gained in looking at what the Buddha taught here

 

I'd prefer people to be aware of this, and then ya, feel free to expand upon it. There's other perspectives on the Four Noble Truths. There's a mahayana Buddhist perspective. There's one own take on it, how does one apply it in daily life. But when the thread is Four Noble Truths -- and one goes off their merry way and posts one own philosophical doctrine that has nothing to do with the Four Noble Truths at all, I wonder if we've lost something here. 

“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.” ― The Buddha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, WhiteOwl said:

@Aware Wolf Just the fact that we are talking about 3000 year old text written in ancient Indian language, in english, puts it straight in the new age category. It's all already pure interpretation, and not even close to precisely what he wrote. Probably went through 10+ language translations before english. Looks like you are fooling yourself if you think you are getting the only "real deal". Its not in the words

 

Maybe I missed it, but I don't see anyone posting anything, bad translation or not, pali or sanskrit, about the Four Noble Truths. I don't see many posts that seem to give any evidence people have read the source material and know anything, at all, about it. 

 

If you want to discard an "3000 year old text" -- why is there even a thread about it then? 

 

You're also wrong in that my case is based that the Four Noble Truths is what was said 3000 years ago. I'm not saying it is exactly what the Buddha said. That's almost irrelevant. Did Christ really say every word on Sermon on the Mount? If he didn't -- why should we put any emphasis that it might be worth reading in a thread ON SERMON ON THE MOUNT ?? 

 

What I'm doing is calling people out that you're putting your own interpretation and doctrine and spin on the Four Noble Truths and it really doesn't  apply to what is in the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths is literally words. It's a sutta. You can read it if you want. 

 

What's the message of Jesus's Sermon the Mount? 

 

If someone answered: 

 

" No Self"  -- I'd think the same thing, They're putting their own spin. Ya, the Bible is old. Ya, the Bible has been translated into different languages. I don't think that's sufficient defense for such an answer.  It's a surprise how proud people are of not having read the source material. If it was a sermon on the mount thread, if I hadn't read the sermon on the mount, i might, possibly keep my mouth shut.

 

We're in a post-truth world. It really doesn't matter what was actually taught in the suttas or in the sermon. if you want the Four Noble Truths to be about nonduality, infinityness -- it is. If you want the Sermon on the Mount to be about Bears -- it now is. 

 

I stand corrected. You guys win. 

 

 

“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.” ― The Buddha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Aware Wolf I surely haven't read any buddhist source material, probably very few people have. And i haven't read Sermon on the mount either. I am quite sure though, that the story about Sermon is intended to make you have an insight into some matter for yourself, not for you to hear a nice story about a guy called Sermon. Just like the 4 Noble Truths are pointing to some truth that is not the words, but is trying to convey it so you might have a chance to get it yourself. 

We are not going to pass an exam here, we try to look at what the text points to, not get +A in a religion exam name droppinng Dukkha, nibanna etc etc. (nothing wrong with knowing these things, but thats not the point).

From what i read you did the exact same thing as the others.. you just wrote a few more lines on each of the 4 truths. Still an interpretation

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Aware Wolf said:

Is the answer to all of life's challenges, silence? Alignment? 

 

What is an enlightened application to the political, corporate, religious, cultural formations and information technology? 

 

Does silence suffice for all of this? Rapacious capitalism? Facebook and social media usage? Internet porn addiction? Wars? 

 

The Buddha never faced the challenge of social media. However wars were a thing back then and there's suttas where the Buddha responded to wars. He did not respond with just silence, he spoke out against war. Being somehow aligned with war -- "It's what the Universe wants, bro!" -- well the Buddha would never say anything like this. There's a Thich Nhat Hanh youtube video on war and whether it is ever justified, and surprisingly, Thich (who was a great peace activist) does not rule out war but says it should be the last, last resort. 

 

I am not talking about a my silence or a your silence, or a Buddhas silence. And not silence tomorrow.

 

Silence now.

 

There must be an effortless way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, WhiteOwl said:

@Aware Wolf I surely haven't read any buddhist source material, probably very few people have. And i haven't read Sermon on the mount either. I am quite sure though, that the story about Sermon is intended to make you have an insight into some matter for yourself, not for you to hear a nice story about a guy called Sermon. Just like the 4 Noble Truths are pointing to some truth that is not the words, but is trying to convey it so you might have a chance to get it yourself. 

We are not going to pass an exam here, we try to look at what the text points to, not get +A in a religion exam name droppinng Dukkha, nibanna etc etc. (nothing wrong with knowing these things, but thats not the point).

From what i read you did the exact same thing as the others.. you just wrote a few more lines on each of the 4 truths. Still an interpretation

 

You're right I did make an interpetation of the Four Noble Truths, based on the sutta, my .02.

 

I would like to now edit that. 

 

The Four Noble Truths is about Four great truths: devotion to God, the joy of coffee, Sexual Freedom, and pets (dogs & cats). 

 

This is great! Thank you guys for putting up with me. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.” ― The Buddha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Aware Wolf well.. funny.. 🤪 not a fair comparison though. To me from the outside with little knowledge about buddhism in general, what you wrote and what other people wrote about the 4 truth seems to POINT to somewhat the same thing. It might not pass with A+ against the stubborn religion teacher, but who cares. But now we are just going in circles.. 

I'll agree with you on your new truths surely though.

Edited by WhiteOwl
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By clicking, I agree to the terms of use, rules, guidelines & to hold Actuality of Being LLC, admin, moderators & all forum members harmless.