Английская Википедия:Four Noble Truths
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Шаблон:Buddhist term Шаблон:Buddhism
In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths (Шаблон:Lang-sa; Шаблон:Lang-pi; "The Four Arya Satya") are "the truths of the Noble Ones", the truths or realities for the "spiritually worthy ones".Шаблон:Sfn[web 1]Шаблон:Sfn The truths are:
- dukkha ('not being at ease', "suffering,"Шаблон:Refn from dush-stha, "standing unstable,"Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnpШаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp) is an innate characteristic of the perpetual cycle (samsara, Шаблон:Literally) of grasping at things, ideas and habits;[web 2][1]Шаблон:Sfn
- samudaya (origin, arising, combination; "cause"): there is dukkha (unease, disbalance) when there is, or it arises simultaneously with, taṇhā ("craving," "desire" or "attachment," Шаблон:Lit).[web 3][2]Шаблон:SfnШаблон:RefnШаблон:Sfn
- nirodha (cessation, ending, confinement): dukkha can be ended or contained by the confinementШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn or letting go of this taṇhā;Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn[3]Шаблон:Sfn
- marga (path, Noble Eightfold Path) is the path leading to the confinement of tanha and dukkha.[4]Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
The four truths appear in many grammatical forms in the ancient Buddhist texts,Шаблон:Sfn and are traditionally identified as the first teaching given by the Buddha.Шаблон:Refn While often called one of the most important teachings in Buddhism,Шаблон:Sfn they have both a symbolic and a propositional function.Шаблон:Sfn 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.Шаблон:Sfn As propositions, the Four Truths are a conceptual framework that appear in the Pali canon and early Hybrid Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures,Шаблон:Sfn as a part of the broader "network of teachings"Шаблон:Sfn (the "dhamma matrix"),Шаблон:Sfn which have to be taken together.Шаблон:Sfn They provide a conceptual framework for introducing and explaining Buddhist thought, which has to be personally understood or "experienced".Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn
As a proposition, the four truths defy an exact definition, but refer to and express the basic orientation of Buddhism:Шаблон:Sfn unguarded sensory contact gives rise to craving and clinging to impermanent states and things,Шаблон:Sfn which are dukkha,Шаблон:Sfn "unsatisfactory,"Шаблон:Sfnp "incapable of satisfying"[web 4] and painful.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn This craving keeps us caught in saṃsāra,Шаблон:Refn "wandering", usually interpreted as the endless cycle of repeated rebirth,Шаблон:Refn and the continued dukkha that comes with it,Шаблон:Refn but also referring to the endless cycle of attraction and rejection that perpetuates the ego-mind.Шаблон:Refn There is a way to end this cycle,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn namely by attaining nirvana, cessation of craving, whereafter rebirth and the accompanying dukkha will no longer arise again.Шаблон:RefnШаблон:Sfn This can be accomplished by following the eightfold path,Шаблон:Refn confining our automatic responses to sensory contact by restraining oneself, cultivating discipline and wholesome states, and practicing mindfulness and dhyana (meditation).Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
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.Шаблон:Sfn This tradition was established when prajna, or "liberating insight", came to be regarded as liberating in itself,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn instead of or in addition to the practice of dhyana.Шаблон:Sfn 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.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
The four truths grew to be of central importance in the Theravada tradition of Buddhism by about the 5th-century CE,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn which holds that the insight into the four truths is liberating in itself.Шаблон:Sfn 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.Шаблон:Sfn The Mahayana tradition reinterpreted the four truths to explain how a liberated being can still be "pervasively operative in this world".Шаблон:Sfn 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,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn sometimes with novel modernistic reinterpretations very different from the historic Buddhist traditions in Asia.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Шаблон:TOC limitШаблон:Example needed
The Four Truths
Full set – Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
The four truths are best known from their presentation in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta text,Шаблон:Refn which contains two sets of the four truths,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn while various other sets can be found in the Pāli Canon, a collection of scriptures in the Theravadan Buddhist tradition.Шаблон:Sfn The full set, which is most commonly used in modern expositions,Шаблон:Refn contains grammatical errors, pointing to multiple sources for this set and translation problems within the ancient Buddhist community. Nevertheless, they were considered correct by the Pali tradition, which did not correct them.Шаблон:Sfn
According to the Buddhist tradition, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, "Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion",[web 5] contains the first teachings that the Buddha gave after attaining full awakening, and liberation from rebirth. According to L. S. Cousins, many scholars are of the view that "this discourse was identified as the first sermon of the Buddha only at a later date,"Шаблон:Sfn and according to professor of religion Carol S. AndersonШаблон:Refn the four truths may originally not have been part of this sutta, but were later added in some versions.Шаблон:Sfn Within this discourse, the four noble truths are given as follows ("bhikkus" is normally translated as "Buddhist monks"): Шаблон:Quote
According to this sutra, with the complete comprehension of these four truths release from samsara, the cycle of rebirth, was attained: Шаблон:Blockquote
The comprehension of these four truths by his audience leads to the opening of the Dhamma Eye, that is, the attainment of right vision: Шаблон:Quote
Basic set
According to K.R. Norman, the basic set is as follows:Шаблон:Sfn
- idam dukkham, "this is pain"
- ayam dukkha-samudayo, "this is the origin of pain"
- ayam dukkha-nirodha, "this is the cessation of pain"
- ayam dukkha-nirodha-gamini patipada, "this is the path leading to the cessation of pain." The key terms in the longer version of this expression, dukkha-nirodha-gamini Patipada, can be translated as follows:
Mnemonic set
According to K. R. Norman, the Pali canon contains various shortened forms of the four truths, the "mnemonic set", which were "intended to remind the hearer of the full form of the NTs."Шаблон:Sfn The earliest form of the mnemonic set was "dukkham samudayo nirodho magga", without the reference to the Pali terms saccaШаблон:Sfn or arya,Шаблон:Sfn which were later added to the formula.Шаблон:Sfn The four mnemonic terms can be translated as follows:
- Dukkha – "incapable of satisfying",[web 4] "the unsatisfactory nature and the general insecurity of all conditioned phenomena"; "painful".Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Dukkha is most commonly translated as "suffering". According to Khantipalo, this is an incorrect translation, since it refers to the ultimately unsatisfactory nature of temporary states and things, including pleasant but temporary experiences.Шаблон:Sfn According to Emmanuel, Dukkha is the opposite of sukha, "pleasure", and it is better translated as "pain".Шаблон:Sfn
- Samudaya – "origin", "source", "arising", "coming to existence";[web 8] "aggregate of the constituent elements or factors of any being or existence", "cluster", "coming together", "combination", "producing cause", "combination", "rising".[web 9] Conjunct of:
- Nirodha – cessation; release; to confine;Шаблон:Sfn "prevention, suppression, enclosing, restraint"[web 10]
- Marga – "path".[web 7]
Alternative formulations
According to L.S. Cousins, the four truths are not restricted to the well-known form where dukkha is the subject. Other forms take "the world, the arising of the world" or "the āsavas, the arising of the āsavas" as their subject. According to Cousins, "the well-known form is simply shorthand for all of the forms."Шаблон:Sfn "The world" refers to the saṅkhāras, that is, all compounded things,[web 11] or to the six sense spheres.Шаблон:Sfn
The various terms all point to the same basic idea of Buddhism, as described in five skandhas and twelve nidānas. In the five skandhas, sense-contact with objects leads to sensation and perception; the saṅkhāra ('inclinations', c.q. craving etc.) determine the interpretation of, and the response to, these sensations and perceptions, and affect consciousness in specific ways. The twelve nidānas describe the further process: craving and clinging (upādāna) lead to bhava (becoming) and jāti (birth).
In the orthodox interpretation, bhava is interpreted as kammabhava, that is , karma, while jāti is interpreted as rebirth: from sensation comes craving, from craving comes karma, from karma comes rebirth. The aim of the Buddhist path is to reverse this causal chain: when there is no (response to) sensation, there is no craving, no karma, no rebirth.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn In Thai Buddhism, bhava is interpreted as behavior which serves craving and clinging, while jāti is interpreted as the repeated birth of the ego or self-sense, which perpetuates the process of self-serving responses and actions.[8][web 12]
Truths for the noble ones
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. According to K.R. Norman, this is just one of several possible translations.Шаблон:Sfn According to Paul Williams,Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Quote
The term "arya" was later added to the four truths.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The term ariya (Sanskrit: arya) can be translated as "noble", "not ordinary", "valuable", "precious".Шаблон:Refn "pure".Шаблон:Sfn Paul Williams: Шаблон:Quote
The term sacca (Sanskrit: satya) is a central term in Indian thought and religion. It is typically translated as "truth"; but it also means "that which is in accord with reality", or "reality". According to Rupert Gethin, the four truths are "four 'true things' or 'realities' whose nature, we are told, the Buddha finally understood on the night of his awakening."Шаблон:Sfn They function as "a convenient conceptual framework for making sense of Buddhist thought."Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn According to K. R. Norman, probably the best translation is "the truth[s] of the noble one (the Buddha)".Шаблон:Sfn It is a statement of how things are seen by a Buddha, how things really are when seen correctly. It is the truthful way of seeing.Шаблон:Refn Through not seeing things this way, and behaving accordingly, we suffer.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn
Symbolic and propositional function
According to Anderson, the four truths have both a symbolic and a propositional function: Шаблон:Quote
As a symbol, they refer to the possibility of awakening, as represented by the Buddha, and are of utmost importance: Шаблон:Quote
As a proposition, they are part of the matrix or "network of teachings", in which they are "not particularly central",Шаблон:Sfn but have an equal place next to other teachings,Шаблон:Sfn describing how release from craving is to be reached.Шаблон:Sfn A long recognized feature of the Theravada canon is that it lacks an "overarching and comprehensive structure of the path to nibbana."Шаблон:Sfn The sutras form a network or matrix, and the four truths appear within this "network of teachings", which have to be taken together.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn Within this network, "the four noble truths are one doctrine among others and are not particularly central",Шаблон:Sfn but are a part of "the entire dhamma matrix".Шаблон:Sfn The four noble truths are set and learnt in that network, learning "how the various teachings intersect with each other",Шаблон:Sfn and refer to the various Buddhist techniques, which are all explicitly and implicitly part of the passages which refer to the four truths.Шаблон:Sfn According to Anderson,
Explanation of the Four Truths
Dukkha and its ending
As a proposition, the four truths defy an exact definition, but refer to and express the basic orientation of Buddhism:Шаблон:Sfn sensory contact gives rise to clinging and craving to temporary states and things, which is ultimately unsatisfactory, dukkha,Шаблон:Sfn and sustains samsara, the repeated cycle of bhava (becoming, habitual tendencies) and jāti ("birth", interpreted as either rebirth, the coming to be of a new existence; or as the arising of the sense of self as a mental phenomenon[8][web 12]). Шаблон:Refn By following the Buddhist path, craving and clinging can be confined, peace of mind and real happinessШаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Refn can be attained, and the repeated cycle of repeated becoming and birth will be stopped. Шаблон:Refn
The truth of dukkha, "incapable of satisfying",[web 4] "painful",Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn from dush-stha, "standing unstable,"Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnpШаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp is the basic insight that samsara, life in this "mundane world",[web 13] with its clinging and craving to impermanent states and things"Шаблон:Sfn is dukkha,Шаблон:Sfn unsatisfactory and painful.[web 4]Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn[web 13] We expect happiness from states and things which are impermanent, and therefore cannot attain real happiness.
The truth of samudaya, "arising", "coming together", or dukkha-samudaya, the origination or arising of dukkha, is the truth that samsara, and its associated dukkha arises, or continues,Шаблон:Refn with taṇhā, "thirst", craving for and clinging to these impermanent states and things. Шаблон:Refn In the orthodox view, this clinging and craving produces karma, which leads to renewed becoming, keeping us trapped in rebirth and renewed dissatisfaction.Шаблон:Sfn[web 14]Шаблон:Refn Craving includes kama-tanha, craving for sense-pleasures; bhava-tanha, craving to continue the cycle of life and death, including rebirth; and vibhava-tanha, craving to not experience the world and painful feelings.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn While dukkha-samudaya, the term in the basic set of the four truths, is traditionally translated and explained as "the origin (or cause) of suffering", giving a causal explanation of dukkha, Brazier and Batchelor point to the wider connotations of the term samudaya, "coming into existence together": together with dukkha arises tanha, thirst. Craving does not cause dukkha, but comes into existence together with dukkha, or the five skandhas.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn It is this craving which is to be confined, as Kondanna understood at the end of the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: "whatever arises ceases".Шаблон:Sfn
The truth of nirodha, "cessation," "suppression,"Шаблон:Sfn "renouncing," "letting go",Шаблон:Sfn or dukkha-nirodha, the cessation of dukkha, is the truth that dukkha ceases, or can be confined,Шаблон:Sfn when one renounces or confines craving and clinging, and nirvana is attained.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Alternatively, tanha itself, as a response to dukkha, is to be confined.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Nirvana refers to the moment of attainment itself, and the resulting peace of mind and happiness (khlesa-nirvana), but also to the final dissolution of the five skandhas at the time of death (skandha-nirvana or parinirvana); in the Theravada-tradition, it also refers to a transcendental reality which is "known at the moment of awakening".Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn According to Gethin, "modern Buddhist usage tends to restrict 'nirvāṇa' to the awakening experience and reserve 'parinirvāṇa' for the death experience.Шаблон:Sfn When nirvana is attained, no more karma is being produced, and rebirth and dissatisfaction will no longer arise again.Шаблон:Refn Cessation is nirvana, "blowing out", and peace of mind.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Joseph Goldstein explains: Шаблон:Quote
The truth of magga, refers to the path to the cessation of, or liberation from dukkha c.q. tanha. By following the Noble Eightfold Path, to moksha, liberation,Шаблон:Sfn restraining oneself, cultivating discipline, and practicing mindfulness and meditation, one starts to disengage from craving and clinging to impermanent states and things, and rebirth and dissatisfaction will be ended.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The term "path" is usually taken to mean the Noble Eightfold Path, but other versions of "the path" can also be found in the Nikayas.Шаблон:Sfn The Theravada tradition regards insight into the four truths as liberating in itself.Шаблон:Sfn
The well-known eightfold path consists of the understanding that this world is fleeting and unsatisfying, and how craving keeps us tied to this fleeting world; a friendly and compassionate attitude to others; a correct way of behaving; mind-control, which means not feeding on negative thoughts, and nurturing positive thoughts; constant awareness of the feelings and responses which arise; and the practice of dhyana, meditation.Шаблон:Sfn The tenfold path adds the right (liberating) insight, and liberation from rebirth.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn
The four truths are to be internalised, and understood or "experienced" personally, to turn them into a lived reality.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Ending rebirth
The four truths describe dukkha and its ending as a means to reach peace of mind in this life, but also as a means to end rebirth.
According to Geoffrey Samuel, "the Four Noble Truths [...] describe the knowledge needed to set out on the path to liberation from rebirth."Шаблон:Sfn By understanding the four truths, one can stop this clinging and craving, attain a pacified mind, and be freed from this cycle of rebirth and redeath.[web 13]Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn Patrick Olivelle explains that moksha is a central concept in Indian religions, and "literally means freedom from samsara."[web 15]Шаблон:Refn Melvin E. Spiro further explains that "desire is the cause of suffering because desire is the cause of rebirth."Шаблон:Sfn When desire ceases, rebirth and its accompanying suffering ceases.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn Peter Harvey explains:
The last sermon, the Maha-parinibbana Sutta (Last Days of the Buddha, Digha Nikaya 16)", states it as follows: Шаблон:Quote
Other interpretations
According to Bhikkhu Buddhadasa, "birth" does refer not to physical birth and death, but to the birth and death of our self-concept, the "emergence of the ego". According to Buddhadhasa, Шаблон:Quote
Some contemporary teachers tend to explain the four truths psychologically, by taking dukkha to mean mental anguish in addition to the physical pain of life,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn and interpreting the four truths as a means to attain happiness in this life.Шаблон:Sfn In the contemporary Vipassana movement that emerged out of the Theravada Buddhism, freedom and the "pursuit of happiness" have become the main goals, not the end of rebirth, which is hardly mentioned in their teachings.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn
Yet, though freedom and happiness is a part of the Buddhist teachings, these words refer to something different in traditional Asian Buddhism. According to Gil Fronsdal, "when Asian teachers do talk about freedom, it is primarily in reference to what one is free from – that is, from greed, hate, delusion, grasping, attachment, wrong view, self, and most significantly, rebirth".Шаблон:Sfn Nibbana is the final freedom, and it has no purpose beyond itself. In contrast, freedom in the creative modern interpretation of Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path means living happily and wisely, "without drastic changes in lifestyle".Шаблон:Sfn Such freedom and happiness is not the goal of Four Noble Truths and related doctrines within traditional Buddhism, but the vipassana teachings in the West make no reference to traditional Theravada doctrines, instead they present only the pragmatic and experiential goals in the form of therapy for the audience's current lives.Шаблон:Sfn The creative interpretations are driven in part because the foundational premises of Buddhism do not make sense to audiences outside of Asia.Шаблон:RefnШаблон:Refn According to Spiro, "the Buddhist message is not simply a psychological message", but an eschatological message.Шаблон:Sfn
Historical development in early Buddhism
According to Anderson, "the four truths are recognized as perhaps the most important teaching of the Buddha."Шаблон:Sfn Yet, as early as 1935 Caroline Rhys Davids wrote that for a teaching so central to Theravada Buddhism, it was missing from critical passages in the Pali canon.Шаблон:Sfn According to Gethin, the four truths and the eightfold path are only two lists of "literally hundreds of similar lists covering the whole range of the theory and practice of ancient Buddhism."Шаблон:Sfn The position of the four truths within the canon raises questions, and has been investigated throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.Шаблон:Sfn
Scholarly analysis of the oldest texts
According to academic scholars, inconsistencies in the oldest texts may reveal developments in the oldest teachings.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn While the Theravada-tradition holds that the Sutta Pitaka is "the definitive recension of the Buddha-word",Шаблон:Sfn and Theravadins argue that it is likely that the sutras date back to the Buddha himself, in an unbroken chain of oral transmission,[web 16][web 17]Шаблон:Refn academic scholars have identified many such inconsistencies, and tried to explain them. Information of the oldest teachings of Buddhism, such as on the Four Noble Truths, has been obtained by analysis of the oldest texts and these inconsistencies, and are a matter of ongoing discussion and research.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn According to Schmithausen, three positions held by scholars of Buddhism can be distinguished regarding the possibility to retain knowledge of the oldest Buddhism:Шаблон:Sfn
- "Stress on the fundamental homogeneity and substantial authenticity of at least a considerable part of the Nikayic materials;"Шаблон:Refn
- "Scepticism with regard to the possibility of retrieving the doctrine of earliest Buddhism;"Шаблон:Refn
- "Cautious optimism in this respect."Шаблон:Refn
Development
Growing importance
Buddhologist Eviatar Shulman proposes that in its original form the Four Truths were rooted in meditative perception of mental events, building on his analysis of the Pāli term ayam which is equivalent, he claims, to an immediate perception, such as this here right now in front of me.[9]
According to Bronkhorst, the four truths may already have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, but did not have the central place they acquired in later buddhism.Шаблон:Sfn According to Anderson, only by the time of the commentaries, in the fifth century CE, did the four truths come to be identified in the Theravada tradition as the central teaching of the Buddha.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn According to Anderson,
According to Feer and Anderson, the four truths probably entered the Sutta Pitaka from the Vinaya, the rules for monastic order.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn They were first added to enlightenment-stories which contain the Four Jhanas, replacing terms for "liberating insight".Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn From there they were added to the biographical stories of the Buddha.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn
Substituting "liberating insight"
Scholars have noted inconsistencies in the presentations of the Buddha's enlightenment, and the Buddhist path to liberation, in the oldest sutras. They argue that these inconsistencies show that the Buddhist teachings evolved, either during the lifetime of the Buddha, or thereafter.Шаблон:Refn According to the Japanese scholar Ui, the four truths are not the earliest representation of the Buddha's enlightenment. Instead, they are a rather late theory on the content of the Buddha's enlightenment.Шаблон:Sfn According to Vetter and Bronkhorst, the earliest Buddhist path consisted of a set of practices which culminate in the practice of dhyana,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn leading to a calm of mind and awareness (mindfulness)Шаблон:Sfn which according to Vetter is the liberation which is being sought.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn Later on, "liberating insight" came to be regarded as equally liberating.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn This "liberating insight" came to be exemplified by prajna, or the insight in the "four truths",Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn but also by other elements of the Buddhist teachings.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn According to Vetter and Bronkhorst, this growing importance of "liberating insight" was a response to other religious groups in India, which held that a liberating insight was indispensable for moksha, liberation from rebirth.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn This change is reflected in the canon, where, according to Bronkhorst,
According to Vetter and Bonkhorst, the ideas on what exactly constituted this "liberating insight" was not fixed but developed over time.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn According to Bronkhorst, in earliest Buddhism the four truths did not serve as a description of "liberating insight".Шаблон:Sfn Initially the term prajna served to denote this "liberating insight". Later on, prajna was replaced in the suttas by the "four truths".Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn This happened in those texts where practicing the four jhanas preceded the attainment of "liberating insight", and where this practice of the four jhanas then culminates in "liberating insight".Шаблон:Sfn This "liberating insight" came to be defined as "insight into the four truths", which is presented as the "liberating insight" which constituted the awakening, or "enlightenment" of the Buddha. When he understood these truths he was "enlightened" and liberated,Шаблон:Refn as reflected in Majjhima Nikaya 26:42: "his taints are destroyed by his seeing with wisdom."Шаблон:Sfn
Bronkhorst points to an inconsistency, noting that the four truths refer here to the eightfold path as the means to gain liberation, while the attainment of insight into the four truths is portrayed as liberating in itself.Шаблон:Sfn According to Bronkhorst, this is an inconsistency which reveals a change which took place over time in the composition of the sutras.Шаблон:Sfn An example of this substitution, and its consequences, is Majjhima Nikaya 36:42–43, which gives an account of the awakening of the Buddha.Шаблон:Sfn
According to Schmithausen, the four truths were superseded by pratityasamutpada, and still later, in the Hinayana schools, by the doctrine of the non-existence of a substantial self or person.Шаблон:Sfn Schmithausen further states that still other descriptions of this "liberating insight" exist in the Buddhist canon: Шаблон:Quote
In contrast, Thanissaro Bikkhu presents the view that the four truths, pratityasamutpada and anatta are inextricably intertwined.[web 18]
Acquiring the dhamma-eye and destroying the āsavās
In their symbolic function, the sutras present the insight into the four truths as the culmination of the Buddha's path to awakening. In the Vinayapitaka and the Sutta-pitaka they have the same symbolic function, in a reenactment by his listeners of the Buddha's awakening by attaining the dhamma-eye. In contrast, here this insight serves as the starting point to path-entry for his audience.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn These sutras present a repeated sequence of events:Шаблон:Sfn
- Annupubbikathā ("graduated talk"), in which the Buddha explains the four truths; this talk frees the listener from the hindrances;
- This talk opens the dhammacakkhu ("dhamma eye"), and knowledge arises: "all that has the nature of arising has the nature of ending";Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn
- The request to become a member of the Buddhist order;
- A second talk by the Buddha, which destroys the āsavās, impurities;
- The statement that "there are now x arahats in the world."
Yet, in other sutras, where the four truths have a propositional function, the comprehension of the four truths destroys the corruptions.Шаблон:Sfn They do so in combination with the practice of the jhanas and the attainment of the divine eye, with which past lives and the working of rebirth are being seen.Шаблон:Sfn
According to Anderson, following Schmithausen and Bronkhorst, these two presentations give two different models of the path to liberation, reflecting their function as a symbol and as a proposition.Шаблон:Sfn Most likely, the four truths were first associated with the culmination of the path in the destruction of the āsavās, where they substituted the unspecified "liberating insight"; as the canon developed, they became more logically associated with the beginning of the Buddhist path.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Popularisation in the west
According to Anderson there is a strong tendency within scholarship to present the four truths as the most essential teaching of Buddhism.Шаблон:Sfn According to Anderson, the four truths have been simplified and popularized in western writings, due to "the colonial project of gaining control over Buddhism."Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn According to Crosby, the Buddhist teachings are reduced to a "simple, single rationalized account", which has parallels in the reinterpretation of the Buddha in western literature.Шаблон:Sfn
The presentation of the four truths as one of the most important teachings of the Buddha "has been [done] to reduce the four noble truths to a teaching that is accessible, pliable, and therefore readily appropriated by non-Buddhists."Шаблон:Sfn There is a great variety of teachings in the Buddhist literature, which may be bewildering for those who are unaware of this variety.Шаблон:Sfn The four truths are easily accessible in this regard, and are "readily [understood] by those outside the Buddhist traditions."Шаблон:Sfn For example Walpola Rahula's What the Buddha Taught, a widely used introductory text for non-Buddhists, uses the four truths as a framework to present an overview of the Buddhist teachings.Шаблон:Sfn
According to Harris, the British in the 19th century crafted new representations of Buddhism and the Buddha.Шаблон:Sfn 19th century missionaries studied Buddhism, to be more effective in their missionary efforts.Шаблон:Sfn The Buddha was de-mystified, and reduced from a "superhuman" to a "compassionate, heroic human", serving "western historical method and the missionary agenda of situating the Buddha firmly below the divine."Шаблон:Sfn The four truths were discovered by the British by reading the Buddhist texts, and were not immediately granted the central position they later received.Шаблон:Sfn
The writings of British missionaries show a growing emphasis on the four truths as being central to Buddhism, with somewhat different presentations of them.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn This colonial project had a strong influence on some strands of Buddhism, culminating in so-called Protestant Buddhism, which incorporated several essentially Protestant attitudes regarding religion, such as the emphasis on written texts.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn According to Gimello, Rahula's book is an example of this Protestant Buddhism, and "was created in an accommodating response to western expectations, and in nearly diametrical opposition to Buddhism as it had actually been practised in traditional Theravada."Шаблон:Refn
Hendrik Kern proposed in 1882 that the model of the four truths may be an analogy with classical Indian medicine, in which the four truths function as a medical diagnosis, and the Buddha is presented as a physician.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn Kern's analogy became rather popular,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn but "there is not sufficient historical evidence to conclude that the Buddha deliberately drew upon a clearly defined medical model for his fourfold analysis of human pain."Шаблон:Sfn
According to Anderson, those scholars who did not place the four truths at the center of Buddhism, either "located the four truths in a fuller reading of the Theravada canon and the larger context of South Asian literature", or "located the teaching within an experience of Buddhism as practiced in a contemporary setting."Шаблон:Sfn According to Anderson, "these autors suggest a more complex reading of the four noble truths than those who locate the teaching as the key to or as a crucial element within the grand scheme of Buddhism."Шаблон:Sfn
Appearance within the discourses
The developing Buddhist tradition inserted the four truths, using various formulations, at various sutras.Шаблон:Sfn They are being used both as a symbol of all dhammas and the Buddha's awakening, and as a set of propositions which function within a matrix of teachings.Шаблон:Sfn According to Anderson, there is no single way to understand the teachings; one teaching may be used to explain another teaching, and vice versa. The teachings form a network, which should be apprehended as such to understand how the various teachings intersect with each other.Шаблон:Sfn
Symbolic function
Mahasaccaka Sutta
The Mahasaccaka Sutta ("The Greater Discourse to Saccaka", Majjhima Nikaya 36) gives one of several versions of the Buddha's way to liberation.Шаблон:Refn He attains the three knowledges, namely knowledge of his former lifes, knowledge of death and rebirth, and knowledge of the destruction of the taints,Шаблон:Refn the Four Noble Truths.Шаблон:Sfn After going through the four dhyanas, and gaining the first two knowledges, the story proceeds: Шаблон:Quote
Bronkhorst dismisses the first two knowledges as later additions, and proceeds to notice that the recognition of the intoxicants is modelled on the four truths. According to Bronkhorst, those are added the bridge the original sequence of "I directed my mind to the knowledge of the destruction of the intoxicants. My mind was liberated", which was interrupted by the addition of the four truths. Bronkhorst points out that those do not fit here, since the four truths culminate in the knowledge of the path to be followed, while the Buddha himself is already liberated at that point.Шаблон:Sfn
Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
According to the Buddhist tradition, the first talk of Gautama Buddha after he attained enlightenment is recorded in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta ("Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma", Samyutta Nikaya 56.11). The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta provides details on three stages in the understanding of each truth, for a total of twelve insights. The three stages for understanding each truth are:Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
- sacca-ñāṇa – knowing the nature of the truth (e.g., acknowledgement, view, reflection)
- kicca-ñāṇa – knowing what needs to be done in connection with that truth (e.g., practice; motivation; directly experiencing)
- 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.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
According to Cousins, many scholars are of the view that "this discourse was identified as the first sermon of the Buddha only at a later date."Шаблон:Sfn According to Stephen Batchelor, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta contains incongruities, and states that Шаблон:Quote
According to Bronkhorst this "first sermon" is recorded in several sutras, with important variations.Шаблон:Sfn In the Vinaya texts, and in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta which was influenced by the Vinaya texts, the four truths are included, and Kondañña is enlightenedШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn when the "vision of Dhamma"Шаблон:Sfn arises in him: "whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation."Шаблон:Refn Yet, in the Ariyapariyesanā Sutta ("The Noble Search", Majjhima Nikaya 26) the four truths are not included,Шаблон:Refn and the Buddha gives the five ascetics personal instructions in turn, two or three of them, while the others go out begging for food. The versions of the "first sermon" which include the four truths, such as the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, omit this instruction, showing that Шаблон:Quote
According to Bronkhorst, this indicates that the four truths were later added to earlier descriptions of liberation by practicing the four dhyanas, which originally was thought to be sufficient for the destruction of the arsavas.Шаблон:Sfn Anderson, following Norman, also thinks that the four truths originally were not part of this sutta, and were later added in some versions.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn
According to Bronkhorst, the "twelve insights" are probably also a later addition, born out of unease with the substitution of the general term "prajna" for the more specific "four truths".Шаблон:Sfn
Maha-parinibbana Sutta
According to the Buddhist tradition, the Maha-parinibbana Sutta (Last Days of the Buddha, Digha Nikaya 16) was given near the end of the Buddha's life. This sutta "gives a good general idea of the Buddha's Teaching:"[web 20] Шаблон:Quote
Propositional function
Maha-salayatanika Sutta
The Maha-salayatanika Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 149:3 plus 149:9, give an alternative presentation of the four truths: Шаблон:Quote
Emphasis within different traditions
Early Indian Buddhism
The Ekavyāvahārika sect emphasized the transcendence of the Buddha, asserting that he was eternally enlightened and essentially non-physical. According to the Ekavyāvahārika, the words of the Buddha were spoken with one transcendent meaning, and the Four Noble Truths are to be understood simultaneously in one moment of insight.Шаблон:Sfn According to the Mahīśāsaka sect, the Four Noble Truths should be meditated upon simultaneously.Шаблон:Sfn
Theravada
According to Carol Anderson, the four truths have "a singular position within the Theravada canon and tradition."Шаблон:Sfn The Theravada tradition regards insight in the four truths as liberating in itself.Шаблон:Sfn As Walpola Rahula states, "when the Truth is seen, all the forces which feverishly produce the continuity of samsara in illusion become calm and incapable of producing any more karma-formations [...] he is free from [...] the 'thirst' for becoming."[web 21]Шаблон:Refn This liberation can be attained in one single moment, when the four truths are understood together.Шаблон:Sfn Within the Theravada tradition, great emphasis is placed upon reading and contemplating 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.Шаблон:Sfn For example, Ajahn Sumedho states: Шаблон:Quote
Within the Theravada-tradition, three different stances on nirvana and the question what happens with the Arhat after death can be found.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Nirvana refers to the cessation of the defilements and the resulting peace of mind and happiness (khlesa-nirvana); to the final dissolution of the five skandhas at the time of death (skandha-nirvana or parinirvana); and to a transcendental reality which is "known at the moment of awakening".Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn According to Gethin, "modern Buddhist usage tends to restrict 'nirvāṇa' to the awakening experience and reserve 'parinirvāṇa' for the death experience.Шаблон:Sfn According to Geisler and Amano, in the "minimal Theravada interpretation", nirvana is a psychological state, which ends with the dissolution of the body and the total extinction of existence.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn According to Geisler and Amano, the "orthodox Theravada interpretation" is that nirvana is a transcendent reality with which the self unites.Шаблон:Sfn According to Bronkhorst, while "Buddhism preached liberation in this life, i.e. before death",Шаблон:Sfn there was also a tendency in Buddhism to think of liberation happening after death. According to Bronkhorst, this
According to Walpola Rahula, the cessation of dukkha is nirvana, the summum bonum of Buddhism, and is attained in this life, not when one dies.[web 21] Nirvana is "perfect freedom, peace, tranquility and happiness",[web 22][web 21] and "Absolute Truth", which simply is.[web 21]Шаблон:Refn Jayatilleke also speaks of "the attainment of an ultimate reality".Шаблон:Sfn According to Bhikkhu Bodhi, the "elimination of craving culminates not only in the extinction of sorrow, anguish and distress, but in the unconditioned freedom of nibbana, which is won with the ending of repeated rebirth."Шаблон:Sfn
According to Spiro, most (lay) Theravada Buddhists do not aspire for nirvana and total extinction, but for a pleasurable rebirth in heaven.Шаблон:Sfn According to Spiro, this presents a "serious conflict" since the Buddhist texts and teaching "describe life as suffering and hold up nirvana as the summum bonum."Шаблон:Sfn In response to this deviation, "monks and others emphasize that the hope for nirvana is the only legitimate action for Buddhist action."Шаблон:Sfn Nevertheless, according to Spiro most Burmese lay Buddhists do not aspire for the extinction of existence which is nirvana.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn
According to B.R. Ambedkar, the Indian Buddhist Dalit leader, the four truths were not part of the original teachings of the Buddha, but a later aggregation, due to Hindu influences.Шаблон:Sfn According to Ambedkar, total cessation of suffering is an illusion; yet, the Buddhist Middle Path aims at the reduction of suffering and the maximizing of happiness, balancing both sorrow and happiness.Шаблон:Sfn
Mahayana
The four truths are less prominent in the Mahayana traditions, which emphasize insight into Śūnyatā and the Bodhisattva path as a central elements in their teachings.Шаблон:Sfn If the sutras in general are studied at all, it is through various Mahayana commentaries.Шаблон:Sfn
According to Makransky the Mahayana Bodhisattva ideal created tensions in the explanation of the four truths.Шаблон:Sfn In the Mahayana view, a fully enlightened Buddha does not leave samsara, but remains in the world out of compassion for all sentient beings.Шаблон:Sfn The four truths, which aim at ending samsara, do not provide a doctrinal basis for this view, and had to be reinterpreted.Шаблон:Sfn In the old view, klesas and karma are the cause of prolonged existence. According to Makransky, "[t]o remove those causes was, at physical death, to extinguish one's conditioned existence, hence to end forever one's participation in the world (Third Truth)."Шаблон:Sfn According to Makransky, the question of how a liberated being can still be "pervasively operative in this world" has been "a seminal source of ongoing doctrinal tension over Buddhahood throughout the history of the Mahayana in India and Tibet."Шаблон:Sfn
Tibetan Buddhism
Atisha, in his Bodhipathapradīpa ("A Lamp for the Path to Awakening"), which forms the basis for the Lamrim tradition, discerns three levels of motivation for Buddhist practitioners.Шаблон:Sfn At the beginning level of motivation, one strives toward a better life in samsara.Шаблон:Sfn At the intermediate level, one strives to a liberation from existence in samsara and the end of all suffering.Шаблон:Sfn At the highest level of motivation, one strives after the liberation of all living beings.Шаблон:Sfn In his commentary on the text, Tsenshap Serkong Rinpoche explains that the four truths are to be meditated upon as a means of practice for the intermediate level.Шаблон:Sfn
According to Geshe Tashi Tsering, within Tibetan Buddhism, the four noble truths are studied as part of the Bodhisattva path. They are explained in Mahayana commentaries such as the Abhisamayalamkara, a summary of and commentary on the Prajna Paramita sutras, where they form part of the lower Hinayana teachings. The truth of the path (the fourth truth) is traditionally presented according to a progressive formula of five paths, rather than as the eightfold path presented in Theravada.Шаблон:Sfn According to Tsering, the study of the four truths is combined with the study of the sixteen characteristics of the four noble truths.Шаблон:Sfn
Some contemporary Tibetan Buddhist teachers have provided commentary on the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta and the noble eightfold path when presenting the dharma to Western students.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren Buddhism is based on the teaching of the Japanese priest and teacher Nichiren, who believed that the Lotus Sūtra contained the essence of all of Gautama Buddha's teachings.[web 23] The third chapter of the Lotus Sutra states that the Four Noble Truths was the early teaching of the Buddha, while the Dharma of the Lotus is the "most wonderful, unsurpassed great Dharma".[web 24] The teachings on the four noble truths are a provisional teaching, which Shakyamuni Buddha taught according to the people’s capacity, while the Lotus Sutra is a direct statement of Shakyamuni’s own enlightenment.[web 25]
Western Buddhism
For many western Buddhists, the rebirth doctrine in the Four Noble Truths teaching is a problematic notion.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn[web 26]Шаблон:Refn According to Lamb, "Certain forms of modern western Buddhism [...] see it as purely mythical and thus a dispensable notion."Шаблон:Sfn According to Coleman, the focus of most vipassana students in the west "is mainly on meditation practice and a kind of down-to-earth psychological wisdom."Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn According to Damien Keown, westerners find "the ideas of karma and rebirth puzzling."Шаблон:Sfn According to Gowans, many Western followers and people interested in exploring Buddhism are skeptical and object to the belief in karma and rebirth foundational to the Four Noble Truths.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn According to Konik, Шаблон:Quote
According to Keown, it is possible to reinterpret the Buddhist doctrines such as the Four Noble Truths, since the final goal and the answer to the problem of suffering is nirvana, and not rebirth.Шаблон:Sfn Some Western interpreters have proposed what is sometimes referred to as "naturalized Buddhism". It is devoid of rebirth, karma, nirvana, realms of existence, and other concepts of Buddhism, with doctrines such as the Four Noble Truths reformulated and restated in modernistic terms.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:RefnШаблон:Refn This "deflated secular Buddhism" stresses compassion, impermanence, causality, selfless persons, no Boddhisattvas, no nirvana, no rebirth, and a naturalist's approach to well-being of oneself and others.Шаблон:Sfn
According to Melford Spiro, this approach undermines the Four Noble Truths, for it does not address the existential question for the Buddhist as to "why live? why not commit suicide, hasten the end of dukkha in current life by ending life". In traditional Buddhism, rebirth continues the dukkha and the path to cessation of dukkha isn't suicide, but the fourth reality of the Four Noble Truths.Шаблон:Sfn The "naturalized Buddhism", according to Gowans, is a radical revision to traditional Buddhist thought and practice, and it attacks the structure behind the hopes, needs and rationalization of the realities of human life to traditional Buddhists in East, Southeast and South Asia.Шаблон:Sfn According to Keown, it may not be necessary to believe in some of the core Buddhist doctrines to be a Buddhist, but the rebirth, karma, realms of existence and cyclic universe doctrines underpin the Four Noble Truths in Buddhism.Шаблон:Sfn
Traditional Buddhist scholars disagree with these modernist Western interpretations. Bhikkhu Bodhi, for example, states that rebirth is an integral part of the Buddhist teachings as found in the sutras, despite the problems that "modernist interpreters of Buddhism" seem to have with it.[web 26]Шаблон:Refn Thanissaro Bhikkhu, as another example, rejects the "modern argument" that "one can still obtain all the results of the practice without having to accept the possibility of rebirth." He states, "rebirth has always been a central teaching in the Buddhist tradition."[web 27]Шаблон:RefnШаблон:Refn
According to Owen Flanagan, the Dalai Lama states that "Buddhists believe in rebirth" and that this belief has been common among his followers. However, the Dalai Lama's belief, adds Flanagan, is more sophisticated than ordinary Buddhists, because it is not the same as reincarnation—rebirth in Buddhism is envisioned as happening without the assumption of an "atman, self, soul", but rather through a "consciousness conceived along the anatman lines".Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn The doctrine of rebirth is considered mandatory in Tibetan Buddhism, and across many Buddhist sects.Шаблон:Sfn
According to Christopher Gowans, for "most ordinary Buddhists, today as well as in the past, their basic moral orientation is governed by belief in karma and rebirth".Шаблон:Sfn Buddhist morality hinges on the hope of well being in this lifetime or in future rebirths, with nirvana (enlightenment) a project for a future lifetime. A denial of karma and rebirth undermines their history, moral orientation and religious foundations.Шаблон:Sfn According to Keown, most Buddhists in Asia do accept these traditional teachings, and seek better rebirth.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Refn
The Navayana, a modernistic interpretation of Buddhism by the Indian leader and Buddhist scholar B. R. Ambedkar,[10] rejected much of traditional Buddhism, including the Four Noble Truths, karma and rebirth, thus turning his new religion into a vehicle for class struggle and social action.[11] According to Ambedkar, Four Noble Truths was "the invention of wrong-headed monks".[12]
See also
- List of Buddhist topics
- Buddhist paths to liberation
- Dependent Origination
- Noble Eightfold Path
- Pariyatti
- Three marks of existence
Notes
References
Sources
Printed sources
Sutta Pitaka
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Web sources
Further reading
Historical background and development
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Theravada commentaries
- Walpola Rahula (1974), What the Buddha Taught, Grove Press
- Ajahn Sucitto (2010), Turning the Wheel of Truth: Commentary on the Buddha's First Teaching, Shambhala.
- Ajahn Sumedho (2002), The Four Noble Truths, Amaravati Publications.
- Bhikkhu Bodhi (2006), The Noble Eightfold Path: Way to the End of Suffering, Pariyatti Publishing.
Tibetan Buddhism
- Chögyam Trungpa (2009), The Truth of Suffering and the Path of Liberation, Shambhala.
- Dalai Lama (1998), The Four Noble Truths, Thorsons.
- Geshe Tashi Tsering (2005), The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume I, Wisdom, Kindle Edition
- Ringu Tulku (2005), Daring Steps Toward Fearlessness: The Three Vehicles of Tibetan Buddhism, Snow Lion. (Part 1 of 3 is a commentary on the four truths)
Modern interpretations
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- Epstein, Mark (2004), Thoughts Without A Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective. Basic Books. Kindle Edition. (Part 1 examines the four truths from a Western psychological perspective)
- Moffitt, Phillip (2008), Dancing with Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering, Rodale, Kindle Edition. (An explanation of how to apply the Four Noble Truths to daily life)
- Thich Nhat Hanh (1999), The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, Three Rivers Press
Other scholarly explanations
- Gethin, Rupert (1998), Foundations of Buddhism, Oxford University Press (Chapter 3 is a commentary of about 25 pages).
- Lopez, Donald S. (2001), The Story of Buddhism, HarperCollins (pp. 42–54).
External links
Шаблон:Wikiquote Шаблон:Wikisource
- " What are the Four Noble Truths?"
- " The Four Noble Truths: an overview", Berzin Archives
- The Four Noble Truths. A Study Guide, Thanissaro Bikkhu
- Four Noble Truths, Rigpa Wiki
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- ↑ Шаблон:Harvnb. Quote: "This, bhikkhus, is the noble truth that is suffering. Birth is suffering; old age is suffering; illness is suffering; death is suffering; sorrow and grief, physical and mental suffering, and disturbance are suffering. [...] In short, all life is suffering, according to the Buddha’s first sermon."
- ↑ Шаблон:Harvnb. Quote: "The second truth is samudaya (arising or origin). To end suffering, the four noble truths tell us, one needs to know how and why suffering arises. The second noble truth explains that suffering arises because of craving, desire, and attachment."
- ↑ Шаблон:Harvnb, Quote: "The third truth follows from the second: If the cause of suffering is desire and attachment to various things, then the way to end suffering is to eliminate craving, desire, and attachment. The third truth is called nirodha, which means 'ending' or 'cessation'. To stop suffering, one must stop desiring";
- ↑ Шаблон:Harvnb, Quote: "This, bhikkhus, is the noble truth that is the way leading to the ending of suffering. This is the eightfold path of the noble ones: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.[..] The Buddha taught the fourth truth, maarga (Pali, magga), the path that has eight parts, as the means to end suffering."
- ↑ DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, at Wisdom Library sam
- ↑ Dictionary of Spoken Sanskrit, udaya
- ↑ DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, at Wisdom Library udaya
- ↑ 8,0 8,1 Ошибка цитирования Неверный тег
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не указан текст - ↑ Shulman, Eviatar Rethinking the Buddha (Cambridge University Press, 2017), p. 140 ff.
- ↑ Anne M. Blackburn (1993), Religion, Kinship and Buddhism: Ambedkar's Vision of a Moral Community, The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 16 (1), p. 11
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book
- ↑ Шаблон:Cite book, Quote: "(...)The Buddhism upon which he settled and about which he wrote in The Buddha and His Dhamma was, in many respects, unlike any form of Buddhism that had hitherto arisen within the tradition. Gone, for instance, were the doctrines of karma and rebirth, the traditional emphasis on renunciation of the world, the practice of meditation, and the experience of enlightenment. Gone too were any teachings that implied the existence of a trans-empirical realm (...). Most jarring, perhaps, especially among more traditional Buddhists, was the absence of the Four Noble Truths, which Ambedkar regarded as the invention of wrong-headed monks".