Four Noble Truths Talks
In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: चतुरार्यसत्यानि, romanized: caturāryasatyāni; Pali: caturāriyasaccāni; "The Four Arya Satya") are "the truths of the Noble Ones", the truths or realities for the "spiritually worthy ones". The truths are:
dukkha ("not being at ease", "suffering", from dush-stha, "standing unstable,") is an innate characteristic of the perpetual cycle (samsara, lit. 'wandering') of grasping at things, ideas and habits; samudaya (origin, arising, combination; "cause"): there is dukkha (unease, disbalance) when there is, or it arises simultaneously with, taṇhā ("craving," "desire" or "attachment," lit. 'thirst'). nirodha (cessation, ending, confinement): dukkha can be ended or contained by the confinement or letting go of this taṇhā; marga (path, Noble Eightfold Path) is the path leading to the confinement of tanha and dukkha.The four truths appear in many grammatical forms in the ancient Buddhist texts, and are traditionally identified as the first teaching given by the Buddha. While often called one of the most important teachings in Buddhism, they have both a symbolic and a propositional function. Symbolically, they represent the awakening and liberation of the Buddha, and of the potential for his followers to reach the same liberation and freedom as him. As propositions, the Four Truths are a conceptual framework that appear in the Pali canon and early Hybrid Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures, as a part of the broader "network of teachings" (the "dhamma matrix"), which have to be taken together. They provide a conceptual framework for introducing and explaining Buddhist thought, which has to be personally understood or "experienced".
As a proposition, the four truths defy an exact definition, but refer to and express the basic orientation of Buddhism: unguarded sensory contact gives rise to craving and clinging to impermanent states and things, which are dukkha, "unsatisfactory," "incapable of satisfying" and painful. This craving keeps us caught in saṃsāra, "wandering", usually interpreted as the endless cycle of repeated rebirth, and the continued dukkha that comes with it, but also referring to the endless cycle of attraction and rejection that perpetuates the ego-mind. There is a way to end this cycle, namely by attaining nirvana, cessation of craving, whereafter rebirth and the accompanying dukkha will no longer arise again. This can be accomplished by following the eightfold path, confining our automatic responses to sensory contact by restraining oneself, cultivating discipline and wholesome states, and practicing mindfulness and dhyana (meditation).
The function of the four truths, and their importance, developed over time and the Buddhist tradition slowly recognized them as the Buddha's first teaching. This tradition was established when prajna, or "liberating insight", came to be regarded as liberating in itself, instead of or in addition to the practice of dhyana. This "liberating insight" gained a prominent place in the sutras, and the four truths came to represent this liberating insight, as a part of the enlightenment story of the Buddha.
The four truths grew to be of central importance in the Theravada tradition of Buddhism by about the 5th-century CE, which holds that the insight into the four truths is liberating in itself. They are less prominent in the Mahayana tradition, which sees the higher aims of insight into sunyata, emptiness, and following the Bodhisattva path as central elements in their teachings and practice. The Mahayana tradition reinterpreted the four truths to explain how a liberated being can still be "pervasively operative in this world". Beginning with the exploration of Buddhism by western colonialists in the 19th century and the development of Buddhist modernism, they came to be often presented in the west as the central teaching of Buddhism, sometimes with novel modernistic reinterpretations very different from the historic Buddhist traditions in Asia.
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Unknown year, July talk, Serial 00301 Liberation, Four Noble Truths, difficulty, Delusion, Describe, Emotions, Chanting,... |
Jul 27 |
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YYYY.MM.DD-serial.00206 Intimacy, Four Noble Truths, Interview, Teacher-and-Student, Buddha Ancestors,... |
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Unknown Date, Serial 00951, Side B Heart Sutra, Buddha Nature, Four Noble Truths, Non-duality, Platform Sutra, Subject-... |
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Unknown Date, Serial 00287, Side B Nirvana, confusion, Four Noble Truths, Hindrances, Mahayana, Samsara, Heart Sutra,... |
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Unknown Date, Serial 00394 Attachment, Religion, Community, Meditation, Addiction, Heart Sutra, Four Noble... |
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QuestionsSerial: SF-05126E Tape 3 Summer Sesshin July 1965 - Wednesday July 28 1965 Tape 3 side 2 Wed July 28th 6pm lecture - transcribed; copied June 30 1973; SR001 Sesshin, Question-and-Answer, Four Noble Truths, Emotions, Faith, Passions, Delusion... |
Jul 28 1965 D Sokoji |
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Esalen Institute: First of two lecturesSerial: SF-05870 This is the first of two talks given at Esalen. Dogen, Time, Four Noble Truths, Lotus Sutra, New Year, Continuous, Emptiness, soto,... |
Jun 28 1968 Esalen |
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Lotus Sutra, Lecture No. II-7Serial: SF-06043 Fall 1968 Lotus Sutra, Four Noble Truths, Emptiness, Mahayana, Precepts, Nirvana, Enemies,... |
Oct 1968 Series 2, Talk 7 Tassajara |
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October 1971 talk, Serial No. 00044 Bell, Suffering, Four Noble Truths, Building, stubbornness, Samadhi, Patience,... |
Oct 1971 |
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October 2nd, 1971, Serial No. 00059 Four Noble Truths, stubbornness, Suffering, Soto Zen, Instruction, Nirvana,... |
Oct 02 1971 |
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October 2nd, 1971, Serial No. 00060 stubbornness, Suffering, Four Noble Truths, Soto Zen, Instruction, Posture, Nirvana,... |
Oct 02 1971 |
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October 3rd, 1971, Serial No. 00061 Precepts, stubbornness, Four Noble Truths, Observe, Pain, Mindfulness, Greed,... |
Oct 03 1971 |
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October 3rd, 1971, Serial No. 00062 Precepts, stubbornness, Four Noble Truths, Observe, Pain, Mindfulness, Tassajara,... |
Oct 03 1971 |
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March 1972 talk, Serial No. 00177 Mahayana, Four Noble Truths, Emotions, Consciousness, Nirvana, Community, Attachment... |
Mar 1972 |
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The Four Truths Happiness, Four Noble Truths, Religion, New Year, Don't Know Mind, Gratitude,... |
Oct 21 1979 |
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Book of Serenity: Case #2Serial: BZ-00418A The Highest Truth is Emptiness, Rohatsu Day 6 Emptiness, SER-2, Enlightenment, Bodhidharma, Two Truths, Four Noble Truths, Practice... |
Dec 1983 Part 1 of 2 Berkeley Zen Center |
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Mumonkan: Case #42Serial: BZ-00418B The Girls Comes Out of Samadhi, Rohatsu Day 7 Samadhi, MM-42, Four Noble Truths, Manjushri, Samadhi, Hindrances, Concentration,... |
Dec 1983 Part 2 of 2 Berkeley Zen Center |
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The Spirit of Mahayana Buddhism, Serial 00032 Four Noble Truths, difficulty, New Year, Monks, Nirvana, Intuition, Conversation,... |
May 15 1984 4th session New York City |
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Chanting PracticeSerial: BZ-01523B Saturday Lecture Chanting, Chanting, Offering, Four Noble Truths, Heart Sutra, Bell, American, War,... |
Jan 26 1985 Berkeley Zen Center |
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First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma Serial 00014 Four Noble Truths, Freedom, Concentration, Lay, Six Realms, Precepts, Mahayana,... |
Feb 04 1985 |
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Second Turning of the Wheel of Dharma Serial 00015 Four Noble Truths, Two Truths, Mahayana, Freedom, Sutra, Ego, Monks, resistance,... |
Feb 06 1985 |
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After the Bodhisattva CeremonySerial: BZ-00865B Four Vows and Four Noble Truths, Saturday Lecture Precepts, Fifth Precept, Bodhisattva Ceremony, Four Noble Truths, Vows, Fifth Precept... |
Oct 26 1985 Berkeley Zen Center |
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November 9th, 1985, Serial No. 00866, Side B Concentration, Evil, Berkeley Zen Center, Silence, Passions, Four Noble Truths,... |
Nov 09 1985 |
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Four Noble Truths, Four VowsSerial: BZ-00889A Saturday Lecture Four Noble Truths, Vows, Bodhisattva Vow, Vows, Four Noble Truths, Attachment,... |
May 02 1987 Berkeley Zen Center |
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Four Truths and Heart SutraSerial: BZ-00309 Rohatsu Day 1 Heart Sutra, Four Noble Truths, Passions, Mundane Life, Attachment, Karma, Obstacles... |
Dec 08 1987 |
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February 24th, 1988, Serial No. 01534 Two Truths, Four Noble Truths, Duality, Vows, Ego, Non-duality, Passions,... |
Feb 24 1988 |
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February 28th, 1988, Serial No. 01536 Discrimination, Duality, Four Noble Truths, Oneness, Non-discrimination,... |
Feb 28 1988 |
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June 19th, 1988, Serial No. 00826 Four Noble Truths, Precepts, Blue Cliff Record, Interview, Posture, Vows, Anger,... |
Jun 19 1988 |
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June 29th, 1988, Serial No. 01494 Precepts, Four Noble Truths, Bodhisattva Vow, Vows, Evil, Chanting, Bell, Karma,... |
Jun 29 1988 |
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June 30th, 1988, Serial No. 01474 Duality, Four Noble Truths, Building, Hindrances, Interdependence, Oneness, Chanting... |
Jun 30 1988 |
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December 17th, 1988, Serial No. 00370, Side A Enemies, Equanimity, Four Noble Truths, Impermanence, Hate, Greed, confusion,... |
Dec 17 1988 |
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Dzogchen Teachings Transmission, Four Noble Truths, Doubt, Peace, Don't Know Mind, Daily Life,... |
Oct 08 1989 1 San Jose |
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Dzogchen Teachings Happiness, Delusion, Four Noble Truths, Transmission, Dependent Origination, Karma,... |
Oct 08 1989 2 San Jose |
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December 23rd, 1989, Serial No. 00502, Side A Peace, Impermanence, Buddha Nature, Four Noble Truths, Bodhisattva Ceremony,... |
Dec 23 1989 |
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Four Vows, Four Noble TruthsSerial: BZ-00500 Saturday Lecture Vows, Bodhisattva Vow, Nirvana, Four Noble Truths, Samsara, Daily Life, Two Truths,... |
Jan 27 1990 Berkeley Zen Center |