User:Dorje108/FNT Within traditions

Ariya sacca (arya satya)
The Pali terms ariya sacca (Sanskrit: arya satya) are commonly translated as "noble truths". This translation is a convention started by the earliest translators of Buddhist texts into English; however, many contemporary translators have pointed out that this is not necessarily the most accurate translation of this terms. For example, contemporary scholar Paul Williams states:


 * ...as K. R. Norman has pointed out, there is no particular reason why the Pali expression ariyasaccani should be translated as 'noble truths'. It could equally be translated as 'the nobles' truths', or 'the truths for nobles', or 'the nobilising truths', or 'the truths of, possessed by, the noble ones' (1990-6, in 1993 volume: 174). In fact the Pali expression (and its Sanskrit equivalent) can mean all of these, although the Pali commentators place 'the noble truths' as the least important in their understanding (ibid.; see also Norman 1997: 16). Norman's own view is that probably the best single translation is 'the truth[s] of the noble one (the Buddha)'. This would amount to a statement of how things are seen ('truth'; Sanskrit: satya; Pali: sacca, derived from 'sat', being, how it is) by a Buddha, how things really are when seen correctly. Through not seeing things this way, and behaving accordingly, we suffer.

Contemporary Buddhist teacher Mingyur Rinpoche describes the four arya satya as "Four Pure Insights into the Way Things Are".

The term ariya (Sanskrit: arya) can be translated as "noble", "not ordinary", "valuble", "precious", "pure", etc. Paul Williams states: "The Aryas are the noble ones, the saints, those who have attained 'the fruits of the path', 'that middle path the Tathagata has comprehended which promotes sight and knowledge, and which tends to peace, higher wisdom, enlightenment, and Nibbana' (Narada 1980: 50).

Geshe Tashi Tsering states:
 * The modifier noble means truth as perceived by arya beings, those beings who have had a direct realization of emptiness or selflessness. Noble means something seen by arya beings as it really is, and in this case it is four recognitions—suffering, origin, cessation, and path. Arya beings see all types of suffering—physical and mental, gross and subtle—exactly as they are, as suffering. For people like us, who do not have the direct realization of emptiness, although we may understand certain levels of physical and mental experiences as suffering, it is impossible for us to see all the levels of suffering for what they are. Instead we may see some things as desirable when in truth they are suffering.

The term sacca (Sanskrit: satya) is typically translated as "truth"; but it also means "that which is in accord with reality", or "reality". Rupert Gethin states:
 * The word satya (Pali sacca) can certainly mean truth, but it might equally be rendered as ‘real’ or ‘actual thing’. That is, we are not dealing here with propositional truths with which we must either agree or disagree, but with four ‘true things’ or ‘realities’ whose nature, we are told, the Buddha finally understood on the night of his awakening.

Pali (and Sanskrit) terms for the four truths
The four truths are typically expressed in Pali (and Sanskrit) as follows:


 * 1) Dukkha saccã (Sanskrit. duḥkha-satya) - the Truth of Suffering
 * 2) Samudaya saccã (Sanskrit. samudaya-satya) -  the Truth of the Origin of Suffering
 * 3) Nirodha saccã (Sanskrit. nirodha-satya) - the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering
 * 4) Magga saccã (Sanskrit. mārga-satya) -  the Truth of the Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering

The key terms in these expressions can be translated as follows:
 * 1) Dukkha - "suffering", "anxiety", "uneasiness", "dissatisfaction", "unsatisfactoriness", etc. See  Dukkha etymology
 * 2) Samudaya - "origin", "source", "arising", "coming to existence"
 * 3) Nirodha - cessation; release; to confine
 * 4) Magga - "path"
 * The key terms in the longer version of this expression, Dukkha Nirodha Gamini Patipada Ariya Saccam, can be translated as follows:
 * Gamini: leading to, making for
 * Patipada: road, path, way; the means of reaching a goal or destination

Illness, diagnosis, and cure
In the Buddhist tradition, the Buddha is often compared to a great physician, and his teachings are compared to medicine. The teachings on the four noble truths in particular are related to a medical diagnosis, as follows:
 * 1) The truth of dukkha: is recognizing that there is an illness
 * 2) The truth of origin: is identifying the cause of the illness (the diagnosis)
 * 3) The truth of cessation: is identifying a cure of the illness (the prognosis)
 * 4) The truth of the path: is recommending a treatment for the illness that can bring about a cure (the prescription)

This analogy is said emphasize the compassion of the Buddha—that he was motivated by the desire to relieve the suffering of beings. It also emphasized that the Buddha was presented as physician, or healer of the spirit, rather than as a meta-physician or someone who spoke of supernatural powers. For example, Pico Iyer states: "The Buddha generally presented himself as more physician than metaphysician: if an arrow is sticking out of your side, he famously said, don’t argue about where it came from or who made it; just pull it out. You make your way to happiness not by fretting about it or trafficking in New Age affirmations, but simply by finding the cause of your suffering, and then attending to it, as any doctor (of mind or body) might do."

Contemporary Buddhist teacher Tamara Engel also emphasizes the Buddha's reluctance to comment on metaphysical matters:
 * The brilliance of this medical model is that the Buddha offers a complete spiritual path that does not depend on metaphysical speculation or belief—no speculation or belief about God. No leap of faith is required. The illness the Buddha refers to is a particular kind of suffering, and there is nothing metaphysical about it. We all experience it. In fact, it is said that the Buddha would never enter into a metaphysical discussion. He stated, “I teach one thing and one thing only. Suffering and the end of suffering.”"

There are many examples of the comparing the Buddha to a doctor both in the original suttas and in traditional and contemporary commentaries.

Differences between Theravada and Mahayana approaches
The two main traditions of Buddhism, the Theravada and Mahayana, have different approaches to learning about the four noble truths and putting them into practice. The Theravada tradition strongly emphasizes reading and contemplating the The Discourse That Sets Turning the Wheel of Truth—the first discourse of the Buddha—as a means to study the four noble truths and put them into practice. In the Mahayana tradition, practitioners are more likely to learn about the four noble truths through studying various Mahayana commentaries, and less like to study the Sanskrit-language version of the first discourse. The Mahayana commentaries typically present the four noble truths in the context of the Mahayana path of the bodhisattva.

For example, Geshe Tashi Tsering explains:
 * The two main Buddhist traditions, Theravada and Mahayana, have different sets of scriptures. The Theravada is an earlier tradition whose teachings are recorded in the Pali texts, while the Mahayana is based on Sanskrit texts that were written down later. The countries that follow the Theravada tradition strongly emphasize reading, reciting, and learning the actual discourses of the Buddha. In the Tibetan monasteries, which follow the Mahayana tradition, we study the four noble truths on many occasions over the course of our education, but we do not typically study the sutra itself. Usually we study this topic in conjunction with the teachings that emphasize the bodhisattva aspiration for enlightenment for the sake of all other beings.

In addition, the Theravada tradition emphasizes contemplating the three insights for each truth that are mentioned in The Discourse That Sets Turning the Wheel of Truth, whereas the Mayahana tradition also identifies sixteen characteristics of the four noble truths. (These alternatives are explained below.)

Twelve insights
The Discourse That Sets Turning the Wheel of Truth identifies three stages in the understanding of each truth, for a total of twelve insights. The three stages for understanding each truth are:
 * 1) sacca-ñāṇa - knowing the nature of the truth (e.g., acknowledgement, view, reflection)
 * 2) kicca-ñāṇa - knowing what needs to be done in connection with that truth (e.g., practice; motivation; directly experiencing)
 * 3) kata-ñāṇa - accomplishing what needs to be done (e.g., result, full understanding, knowing)

These three stages of understanding are emphasized particularly in the Theravada tradition, but they are also recognized by some contemporary Mahayana teachers.

The three insights for the first noble truth are:
 * Three insights for the first noble truth
 * 1) There is suffering. - Ajahn Sumedho explains: "We don’t need to make it into anything grand; it is just the recognition: ‘There is suffering’. That is a basic insight. The ignorant person says, ‘I’m suffering. I don’t want to suffer. I meditate and I go on retreats to get out of suffering, but I’m still suffering and I don’t want to suffer.... How can I get out of suffering? What can I do to get rid of it?’ But that is not the First Noble Truth; it is not: ‘I am suffering and I want to end it.’ The insight is, ‘There is suffering’."
 * 2) Suffering should be understood. - Ajahn Sumedho explains: The second insight or aspect of each of the Noble Truths has the word ‘should’ in it: ‘It should be understood.’ The second insight then, is that dukkha is something to understand. One should understand dukkha, not just try to get rid of it. [...] in Pali, ‘understanding’ means to really accept the suffering, stand under or embrace it rather than just react to it. With any form of suffering - physical or mental - we usually just react, but with understanding we can really look at suffering; really accept it, really hold it and embrace it. So that is the second aspect, ‘We should understand suffering’."
 * 3) Suffering has been understood. - Ajahn Sumedho explains: "When you have actually practised with suffering - looking at it, accepting it, knowing it and letting it be the way it is - then there is the third aspect, ‘Suffering has been understood’, or ‘Dukkha has been understood.’ "

The three insights for the second noble truth are:
 * Three insights for the second noble truth
 * 1) Desire (tanha) should be understood
 * 2) Desire should be let go of
 * 3) Desire has been let go of

This is also expressed as:
 * 1) there is an origin to dukkha;
 * 2) the origin can be penetrated by abandonment;
 * 3) it has been penetrated by abandonment.


 * Three insights for the third noble truth
 * 1) There is cessation of suffering
 * 2) Cessation should be known
 * 3) Cessation should be realized


 * Three insights for the fourth noble truth
 * 1) There is a path to the cessation of suffering
 * 2) This path should be actualized
 * 3) This path is realized

Sixteen characteristics
The Mahayana text Ornament of Clear Realization (Abhisamayalamkara) by Maitreya, identifies four characteristics of each truth, for a total of sixteen characteristics, which are presented as a guide to contemplating and practicing the four noble truths. The Ornament of Clear Realization is a key text in the curriculum of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and study colleges.

These sixteen characteristics are identified as follows:
 * Truth of suffering:
 * impermanence
 * suffering
 * emptiness
 * selflessness
 * Truth of origin
 * causes
 * origin
 * strong production
 * condition
 * Truth of cessation
 * cessation
 * pacification
 * being superb
 * definite emergence
 * Truth of the path
 * path
 * awareness
 * achievement
 * deliverance

Geshe Tashi Tsering explains the four characteristics of the truth of suffering in detail in his commentary on the four noble truths.

Theravada tradition
Within the Theravada tradition, great emphasis is placed upon reading and contemplating the The Discourse That Sets Turning the Wheel of Truth, and other suttas, as a means to study the four noble truths and put them into practice. For example, Ajahn Sumedho states:
 * "The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the Buddha's teaching on the Four Noble Truths, has been the main reference that I have used for my practice over the years. It is the teaching we used in our monastery in Thailand. The Theravada school of Buddhism regards this sutta as the quintessence of the teachings of the Buddha. This one sutta contains all that is necessary for understanding the Dhamma and for enlightenment."

Mahayana tradition
In the Mahayana tradition, the four noble truths are considered central to the teachings of Buddhism, but they been traditionally studied in conjunction with teachings on bodhisattva path.

Tibetan tradition
Within the Tibetan tradition, the four noble truths are traditionally studied from Mahayana commentaries such as the Abhisamayalamkara, rather than from reading the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. In this context, the truth of the path (the fourth truth) is traditionally presented according to a formula of five paths, rather than than as the eightfold path presented in other traditions. From the Tibetan Buddhist point of view, the noble eightfold path is implicit in this Mahayana presentation of the five paths.

However, contemporary Tibetan Buddhist teachers are likely to provide commentary on the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta and the noble eightfold path when presenting the dharma to Western students. For example, Geshe Tashi Tsering's commentary on the four noble truths emphasizes the Pali version of the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, and contemporary texts by Ringu Tulku and Lama Surya Das present the noble eightfold path.

The Tibetan tradition also emphasizes study of the sixteen characteristics of the four noble truths, as described in the Abhisamayalamkara.

Lotus Sutra
The text of the Lotus Sutra refers to the four noble truths in the context of presenting the teachings on the bodhisattva path: "In the past at Vārāṇasī, you turned the wheel of the Darma of the Four Noble Truths, making distinctions and preaching that all things are born and become extinct, being made up of the five components (skandhas). Now you turn the wheel of the most wonderful, the unsurpassed great Dharma. This Dharma is very profound and abstruse; there are few who can believe it. Since times past often we have heard the World-Honored One's preaching, but we have never heard this kind of profound, wonderful and superior Dharma. Since the World-Honored One preaches this Dharma, we all welcome it with joy."

Nichiren Buddhism
Based on the Lotus Sutra's teaching of what it describes as the "unsurpassed Dharma", Nichiren Buddhism acknowledges the Four Noble Truths as the first sermon, but not as the final teaching of the Buddha. In his letter "A Comparison between the Lotus and Other Sutras" Nichiren viewed the Four Noble Truths as a specific teaching expounded by the Buddha to the śrāvakas disciples, those who attain awakening by listening to the teachings of a Buddha.

Craving, described as the cause of sufferings in the Four Noble Truths, is called "Attachment to Earthly Desires" in Nichiren's teachings. Craving or attachment to desires, however, is not regarded here as the sole cause of suffering, but as only one among other causes which also lead to sufferings such as "Arrogance, Negligence, Refusing to believe, Hatred, Holding Grudges". These causes of evil behaviour leading to sufferings are called the Fourteen Slanders (of the Dharma).