Monday, June 10, 2013

The gist of the Four Noble Truths

1. All Buddhist traditions are based on 'The Four
Noble Truths' (Buddha's 1st wheel of dharma).
For example, 3rd Noble Truth developed into 
'The Heart Sutra' (Buddha's 2nd wheel of dharma).
And the concept of The Four Noble Truths is based
on the Law of Causality.
2. The 1st Noble Truth: The truth of suffering
There are 3 types of sufferings:
(1) Suffering of suffering
(2) Suffering of change
(3) Suffering of conditioning ⇒ caused by
attachment to body through mental projection
due to ignorance
* All destructive emotions are caused by delusions
through mental projection

 3. The 2nd Noble Truth: The truth of the origin of

suffering
(1) Everything (Result) is caused by actions.
(2) Actions are caused by motivations.
(3) If motivation is based on ignorance⇒suffering
(4) If motivation is based on wisdom⇒happiness

4. The 3rd Noble Truth: The truth of the cessation of

suffering
(1) Ignorance can be eliminated by single-pointed
mind (concentration).
(2) 3 methods for training of mind are as follows:
Morality (Ethical discipline)
Concentration (Single-pointed meditation)
Wisdom (Emptiness: Absence of 
independent existence)

5. The 4th Noble Truth: The truth of the path leading

to the cessation of suffering
 Abandonment of body, feeling, mind and
phenomena, through mindfulness
There are 4 foundations of mindfulness:
(1) Mindfulness of Body
⇒ reduce attachment to body (imagine full of
dirty things in body: skin, flesh, bone)
(2) Mindfulness of Feeling
① Basis of pleasure = attachment
Basis of pain = anger
(3) Mindfulness of Mind
  ⇒ reduce self-grasping through analysis of 
past, present and future
① Things are momently changing.
② So, there is no present. Just past & future.
③ But how can we define past and future
without present?
④ Impossible. 
⑤ So, there are no past, present and future.
(4) Mindfulness of Phenomena
 Virtuous actions ⇒ Create!
  Non-virtuous actions Eliminate!
☆★ http://www.slideshare.net/compassion5151/wisdom-20948408 ★☆
☆★ http://www.slideshare.net/compassion5151/self-as-mere-designation ★☆