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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April 22nd, 1993, Serial No. 00270 Four Noble Truths, Enemies, Mahayana, Impermanence, Anger, Attachment, Monastic... |
Apr 22 1993 |
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April 15th, 1993, Serial No. 00271 Mindfulness, Right Speech, Right Effort, Concentration, Four Noble Truths, Mahayana,... |
Apr 15 1993 |
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April 1st, 1993, Serial No. 00268 Concentration, Composure, Mindfulness, Precepts, Interdependence, Four Noble Truths,... |
Apr 01 1993 |
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March 18th, 1993, Serial No. 00262 Four Noble Truths, Culture, Attachment, Impermanence, Dependent Origination, Right... |
Mar 18 1993 |
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March 11th, 1993, Serial No. 00263 Four Noble Truths, Culture, Nirvana, Religion, Karma, Enthusiasm, Anger, Hindrances,... |
Mar 11 1993 |
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The First Noble Truth, The Three Kinds of SufferingSerial: BZ-00648B The Suffering of Impermanence, Saturday Lecture Impermanence, Four Noble Truths, Bodhisattva Vow, Attachment, Impermanence, Emotions... |
Feb 06 1993 Berkeley Zen Center |
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What is Meant by Saving All Beings?Serial: BZ-00648A Hui Neng, The Platform Sutra, One-Day Sitting Hui Neng, Bodhisattva Vow, Platform Sutra, Vows, Four Noble Truths, Buddha Nature,... |
Jan 31 1993 Berkeley Zen Center |
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October 23rd, 1992, Serial No. 00641, Side B Obstacles, Anger, Vows, Four Noble Truths, War, Absolute-and-Relative, Bodhisattva... |
Oct 23 1992 |
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October 22nd, 1992, Serial No. 00615 Four Noble Truths, Dependent Origination, Complete Perfect Enlightenment, Heart Sutra... |
Oct 22 1992 |
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September 17th, 1992, Serial No. 00610 Mahayana, Mindfulness, Silence, Subject-and-Object, Aspects of Practice, Blue Cliff... |
Sep 17 1992 |
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August 29th, 1992, Serial No. 00635, Side B Four Noble Truths, Book of Serenity, Big Mind, Greed, Happiness, War, Intuition,... |
Aug 29 1992 |
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July 25th, 1992, Serial No. 00633, Side A Lotus Sutra, Buddha Nature, Four Noble Truths, Triple Treasure, Book of Serenity,... |
Jul 25 1992 |
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Shen Shu and Daikan Eno: Enlightenment PoemsSerial: BZ-00678B Relative and Ultimate Reality; Sudden and Gradual Enlight., Saturday Lecture Daikan Eno, Enlightenment, Sixth Patriarch, Four Noble Truths, Daily Life, Priest,... |
Mar 28 1992 Berkeley Zen Center |
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March 26th, 1992, Serial No. 00603 Platform Sutra, Branching Streams, Four Noble Truths, Perfect Wisdom, Sixth Patriarch... |
Mar 26 1992 |
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March 12th, 1992, Serial No. 00651 Lotus Sutra, Buddha Nature, Mahayana, Nirvana, Karma, Eight Awarenesses, Heart Sutra... |
Mar 12 1992 |
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March 5th, 1992, Serial No. 00650 Perfect Wisdom, Mahayana, Heart Sutra, Lotus Sutra, Nirvana, Continuous, Half-Smile,... |
Mar 05 1992 |
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January 23rd, 1992, Serial No. 00281 Four Noble Truths, Impermanence, Heart Sutra, Lay, Sangha, Karma, Buddha Mind,... |
Jan 23 1992 |
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January 16th, 1992, Serial No. 00282 Four Noble Truths, Lay, Renunciation, Religion, Lineage, Fasting, Dependent... |
Jan 16 1992 |
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December 14th, 1991, Serial No. 00681, Side A Eka, Echo, Bodhidharma, Four Noble Truths, Buddha Ancestors, Soto Zen, Greed, Birth-... |
Dec 14 1991 |
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November 21st, 1991, Serial No. 00272 Soto Zen, Concentration, Liberation, Karma, Obstacles, Four Noble Truths, Commitment... |
Nov 21 1991 |
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November 7th, 1991, Serial No. 00274 Four Noble Truths, Enthusiasm, Passions, Vows, Lineage, Describe, Concentration,... |
Nov 07 1991 |
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August 17th, 1991, Serial No. 00972, Side B Fox, Four Noble Truths, Priest, Right Speech, Right Effort, Funeral, Vows, Soto Zen,... |
Aug 17 1991 |
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August 3rd, 1991, Serial No. 00971, Side B Renunciation, Four Noble Truths, Mindfulness, Mill Valley, Four Foundations, Anger,... |
Aug 03 1991 |
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February 21st, 1991, Serial No. 00265 Heart Sutra, Hindrances, Anger, Passions, Skandas, Four Noble Truths, causation,... |
Feb 21 1991 |
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February 14th, 1991, Serial No. 00266 Heart Sutra, Four Noble Truths, Complete Perfect Enlightenment, Hindrances, Don'... |
Feb 14 1991 |
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November 14th, 1990, Serial No. 00261 Precepts, Concentration, Four Noble Truths, Bodhisattva Precepts, Politics, training... |
Nov 14 1990 |
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The Eightfold PathSerial: BZ-00695A One-Day Sitting Eightfold Path, Concentration, Right Speech, Mindfulness, Four Noble Truths, Right... |
Nov 11 1990 Berkeley Zen Center |
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November 8th, 1990, Serial No. 00260 Concentration, Four Noble Truths, Liberation, Attachment, Discrimination, Enemies,... |
Nov 08 1990 |
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October 25th, 1990, Serial No. 00622 Four Noble Truths, Offering, Heart Sutra, Lotus Sutra, Karma, Sixth Patriarch,... |
Oct 25 1990 |
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Coursing in Deep Prajna ParamitaSerial: BZ-00467B Saturday Lecture Birth-and-Death, Heart Sutra, Four Noble Truths, Buddha Nature, Samadhi, Karma,... |
Sep 08 1990 Berkeley Zen Center |
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Nirvana and ParinirvanaSerial: BZ-00498A Saturday Lecture Parinirvana, Nirvana, Nirvana, Hate, Greed, Birth-and-Death, confusion, Four Noble... |
Feb 10 1990 Berkeley Zen Center |
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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 |
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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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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 17th, 1988, Serial No. 00370, Side A Enemies, Equanimity, Four Noble Truths, Impermanence, Hate, Greed, confusion,... |
Dec 17 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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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 19th, 1988, Serial No. 00826 Four Noble Truths, Precepts, Blue Cliff Record, Interview, Posture, Vows, Anger,... |
Jun 19 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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February 24th, 1988, Serial No. 01534 Two Truths, Four Noble Truths, Duality, Vows, Ego, Non-duality, Passions,... |
Feb 24 1988 |
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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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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 |