The Four Noble Truths
The First Teaching of the Buddha

The Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths as a way to overcome and eliminate our suffering forever. Using the analogy of sickness - that we are all sick in that we all experience suffering without any control - we can look upon the Buddha as the doctor, the teachings as the medicine, and our own practice as taking our medicine. Not only this, but we can eventually become our own doctor, and then be able to minister to the needs of others.

The first Noble Truth - understanding and recognising suffering - is crucial if we want to overcome and eradicate it. There are three types of suffering: the obvious one of misery; the fact that our happiness always changes to something else (the suffering of change); and that we have no control over this at all (pervasive, compounded suffering). Thus begins an explanation of our circling in existence, or samsara.

The first talk explains the four characteristics of suffering. Suffering is impermanent; it is only present if the causes are there. If we can remove the cause, we can also remove the suffering - not just temporarily, but permanently. Suffering is also in the nature of misery, in the sense that we have no control and no way of knowing when suffering will come along and how long it will remain.

Geshe-la's explanation on the third and forth characteristics of suffering - that it is empty and it is selfless - is a wonderful introduction to the fundamental Buddhist concept of emptiness. Using the example of a house, Geshe-la shows us what is mistaken and what is valid in our assumptions of how it exists. We then apply this same clear reasoning to our own aggregates of body and mind.

The second Noble Truth - the Origin of suffering - has two aspects: karma and the afflictive emotions. These work together as the source of our unhappiness, and they contaminate the happiness we already have. Grasping at an independent, truly existent self is the source of these afflictions. So how can we purify our negativities? With the Four Opponent Powers. This talk also includes a discussion on the differences between dissatisfaction and anger, and between affection and desire.

The fourth Noble Truth - the Path - shows us how to study the Dharma and thus begin to eliminate our suffering. There are two types of meditation, or 'becoming familiar': analytical and placement. We support our mind in this analytical endeavor with loving-kindness and compassion.

The third Noble Truth is the True Cessation of our suffering and its causes. We can purify the negative potentials in our mind. There is also an explanation of the conventional way the mind exists, the capacity of the mind, and how the mind ultimately exists. We are taught how to go for Refuge, and we finish with a discussion on how compassion and wisdom are like the two wings of a bird.

Geshe-la gave this commentary during a weekend course in Brisbane in 1999. It is based on a chapter by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in "Kindness, Clarity and Insight". There are lively question and answer sessions at the end of each talk, including a hypothetical of a person faced with stealing food to survive or not stealing and dying of starvation.

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The Four Noble Truths
The First Teaching of the Buddha