THE FOUR NOBLE
TRUTHS
Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha
The Four Stages



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“blissful stage of meditation”
“beyond reasoning”
“attentive & conscious, with equal mind to joy
or aversion”
“beyond pain & pleasure, with equal mind to
joy and aversion”
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS


The Noble Truth of Pain
 Birth, age, sickness, death, sorrow &
despair are painful.
The Noble Truth of the Cause of Pain
 It is craving, which leads to rebirth,
pleasure & passion, existence & nonexistence.
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
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
The Noble Truth of the Cessation of
Pain
 It is the cessation of craving without
remainder, forsaking detachment and
release from it.
The Noble Truth that of the Way that
leads to the Cessation of Pain
 It is the Noble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path

Right Views


Right Motive
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
Gives aspiration to renunciation & benevolence
Right Speech


Give the knowledge of Pain, its Cause,
Cessation & the Path
Abstains from lies and slander
Right Action

Abstains from stealing, killing & self-indulgence.
The Noble Eightfold Path

Right Livelihood

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Right Effort

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Turns against evil states and towards good
Right Mindfulness


Follows right pursuits
Looks on mind & body with self-control
Right Contemplation

Rises above evil and abides in equanimity &
bliss
“I have found the deathless
and teach the truth …”

Why is the body not the soul?


Because it is subject to sickness
It is the same with the feelings, perception,
elements & consciousness.

Because they are impermanent & painful
The Buddha does not a teach a
dogma to follow …

The religious life does not depend on dogmas
concerning whether the world is or is not
eternal. Or finite – or infinite. Why not?


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Because birth, old age, death, sorrow,
lamentation, misery and despair still exist.
These are what the Buddha is addressing.
“Bear in mind what I have not explained and
what I have explained.”

The questions you ask lead away from the
path.