Editing Four Noble Truths (section)

==The Four Truths==

===Full set – Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta===
The four truths are best known from their presentation in the ''[[Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta]]'' text,{{refn|group=note|name="best-known"}} which contains two sets of the four truths,{{sfn|Anderson|2003|p=295}}{{sfn|Norman|2003}} while various other sets can be found in the [[Pāli Canon]], a collection of scriptures in the [[Theravadan]] Buddhist tradition.{{sfn|Anderson|1999|p={{page needed|date=November 2020}}}} The full set, which is most commonly used in modern expositions,{{refn|group=note|name="best-known"|For example:
* Ven. Dr. Rewata Dhamma: The Four Noble Truths [...] are: 1. The Noble Truth of Suffering (''dukkha''); 2. The Noble Truth of the origin of suffering (''samudaya''); 3. The Noble Truth of the cessation of suffering (''nirodha''); 4. The Noble Truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering (''marga'').{{sfn|Dhamma|1997|p=55}}
* Bhikkhu Bodhi: "The Four Noble Truths are as follows: 1. The truth of Dukkha; 2. The truth of the origin of Dukkha; 3. The truth of the cessation of Dukkha; 4. The truth of the path, the way to liberation from Dukkha".<ref group=web name=bodhi1/>
* Geshe Tashi Tsering: "The four noble truths are: 1. The noble truth of suffering; 2. The noble truth of the origin of suffering; 3. The noble truth of the cessation of suffering and the origin of suffering; 4. The noble truth of the path that leads to the cessation of suffering and the origin of suffering."{{sfn|Geshe Tashi Tsering|2005|loc=loc. 246–250}}
* Joseph Goldstein: "The four noble truths are the truth of suffering, its cause, its end, and the path to that end.{{sfn|Goldstein|2002|p=24}}}} 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.{{sfn|Norman|2003|p=220}}

According to the Buddhist tradition, the ''Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta'', "Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion",<ref group=web name="Dhammacakka">{{Cite web|url=https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.than.html|title=Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion|website=www.accesstoinsight.org}}</ref> contains the first teachings that the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] gave after attaining [[Enlightenment in Buddhism|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,"{{sfn|Cousins|2001|p=38}} and according to professor of religion Carol S. Anderson{{refn|group=note |Professor of religion, Kalamazoo College; Co-Editor of the Journal of Buddhist–Christian Studies.<ref group=web>{{Cite web|url=https://www.society-buddhist-christian-studies.org/partners|title=Governing Board|date=12 May 2021|website=The Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies}}</ref><ref group=web>{{Cite web|url=https://www.society-buddhist-christian-studies.org/carol-anderson|title=Carol Anderson|website=The Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies}}</ref>}} the four truths may originally not have been part of this sutta, but were later added in some versions.{{sfn|Anderson|1999|p=68}} Within this discourse, the four noble truths are given as follows ("[[bhikkhu]]s" is normally translated as "Buddhist monks"):
{{Blockquote| Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the [[Skandha|five aggregates]] subject to clinging are suffering.

Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving [''[[taṇhā]]'', "thirst"] which [[Twelve Nidānas|leads to re-becoming]], accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for becoming, craving for disbecoming.

Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, non-reliance on it.

Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is this noble eightfold path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.<ref group=web name="BB">{{Cite web|url=https://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebsut001.htm|title=Setting the wheel of dhamma in motion|website=www.budsas.org}}</ref>}}

According to this sutra, with the complete comprehension of these four truths release from ''samsara'', the cycle of rebirth, was attained:
{{Blockquote|Knowledge & vision arose in me: 'Unprovoked is my release. This is the last birth. There is now no further becoming.<ref group=web name="Dhammacakka"/>}}

The comprehension of these four truths by his audience leads to the opening of the ''Dhamma Eye'', that is, the attainment of right vision:
{{Blockquote|Whatever is subject to origination is subject to cessation.<ref group=web name="Dhammacakka"/>}}

===Basic set===
According to [[K.R. Norman]], the basic set is as follows:{{sfn|Norman|2003|pp=219, 222}}
* ''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:
:* ''Gamini'': leading to, making for<ref group=web>{{Cite web|url=http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/search3advanced?dbname=pali&query=g%C4%81min%C4%AB&matchtype=exact&display=utf8|title=Pali Text Society Dictionary|access-date=22 February 2023|archive-date=11 December 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121211112457/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/search3advanced?dbname=pali&query=g%C4%81min%C4%AB&matchtype=exact&display=utf8|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>
:* ''Patipada'': road, path, way; the means of reaching a goal or destination<ref group=web name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.accesstoinsight.org/glossary.html|title=A Glossary of Pali and Buddhist Terms|website=www.accesstoinsight.org}}</ref>

===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."{{sfn|Norman|2003|p=213}} The earliest form of the mnemonic set was "dukkham samudayo nirodho marga", without the reference to the [[Pali]] terms ''sacca''{{sfn|Norman|2003|p=219}} or ''arya'',{{sfn|Norman|2003|p=220}} which were later added to the formula.{{sfn|Norman|2003|p=220}} The four mnemonic terms can be translated as follows:
# ''[[Dukkha]]'' – "incapable of satisfying",<ref group=web name="Sumedho-first">{{Cite web|url=http://www.buddhanet.net/4noble4.htm|title=THE FIRST NOBLE TRUTH|website=www.buddhanet.net}}</ref> "the unsatisfactory nature and the general insecurity of all [[Saṅkhāra#Conditioned things|conditioned phenomena]]"; "painful".{{sfn|Nyanatiloka|1980|p=65}}{{sfn|Emmanuel|2015|p=30}} ''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.{{sfn|Khantipalo|2003|p=46}} According to Emmanuel, ''Dukkha'' is the opposite of ''sukha'', (non-transient) "pleasure", and it is better translated as "pain".{{sfn|Emmanuel|2015|p=30}}
# ''Samudaya'' – "origin", "source", "arising", "coming to existence";<ref group=web name=DigitalLibrary>{{Cite web|url=http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/DBLM/olcourse/sanskrit/heart/heart16.htm|title=na duhkha-samudaya-nirodha-margah|date=11 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611220213/http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/DBLM/olcourse/sanskrit/heart/heart16.htm |archive-date=11 June 2012 }}</ref> "aggregate of the constituent elements or factors of any being or existence", "cluster", "coming together", "combination", "producing cause", "rising".<ref group=web>[http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=0+&tinput=+samudaya&trans=Translate&direction=AU Sanskrit Dictionary for spoken Sanskrit, ''samudaya'']</ref> Conjunct of:
## ''sam'' – "with, together with";<ref>DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, at Wisdom Library [https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/sam ''sam'']</ref>
## ''udaya'' – "rising," "swelling up";<ref>Dictionary of Spoken Sanskrit, [https://www.learnsanskrit.cc/translate?search=udaya&dir=au ''udaya'']</ref> "rising up, coming forth"; "elevation, exaltation, rise; growth"; "result, consequence";<ref>DDSA: The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary, at Wisdom Library [https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/udaya#sanskrit ''udaya'']</ref>
# ''[[Nirodha]]'' – cessation; release; to confine;{{sfn|Brazier|2001}} "prevention, suppression, enclosing, restraint"<ref group=web>[http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?beginning=0+&tinput=+nirodha&trans=Translate spokensanskrit.de, ''nirodha'']</ref>
# ''[[Noble Eightfold Path|Marga]]'' – "path".<ref group=web name="auto"/>

===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 [[Asava|āsavas]], the arising of the āsavas" as their subject. According to Cousins, "the well-known form is simply shorthand for all of the forms."{{sfn|Cousins|2001|p=36}} "The world" refers to the [[saṅkhāra]]s, that is, all compounded things,<ref group=web>{{Cite web |url=http://dharmafarer.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/7.2-Rohitassa-S-s2.26-piya.pdf |title=The Dharmafarers, ''Rhitassa Sutra'' (Samyutta Nikaya 2.26) |access-date=14 May 2016 |archive-date=29 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329024911/http://dharmafarer.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/7.2-Rohitassa-S-s2.26-piya.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> or to the [[Ayatana|six sense spheres]].{{sfn|Choong|2000|p=84}}

The various terms all point to the same basic idea of Buddhism, as described in [[Skandha|five skandhas]] and [[Twelve Nidānas|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 in Buddhism|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.{{sfn|Bhikkhu Bodhi|2000|p=840}}{{sfn|Harvey|2013|pp=55–59}} 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.<ref name="Payutto"/><ref group=web name="Buddhadasa"/>

===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.{{sfn|Williams|Tribe|Wynne|2002|p=41}} According to [[Paul Williams (philosopher)|Paul Williams]],{{sfn|Williams|Tribe|Wynne|2002|p=41}}
{{Blockquote|[T]here 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' [...] 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.{{sfn|Williams|Tribe|Wynne|2002|p=41}}}}

The term "arya" was later added to the four truths.{{sfn|Norman|2003|p=220}}{{sfn|Anderson|1999|p={{page needed|date=November 2020}}}}{{sfn|Analayo|2013|p=15}} The term ''[[Arya (Buddhism)|ariya]]'' (Sanskrit: ''arya'') can be translated as "noble", "not ordinary", "valuable", "precious".{{refn|group=note|Ajahn Sucitto states: "So the four truths (ariya sacca) are generally called "noble" truths, although one might also translate ariya as "precious", "{{sfn|Ajahn Sucitto|2010|loc=loc. 122}} }} "pure".{{sfn|Mingyur Rinpoche|2007|p=70}} Paul Williams:
{{Blockquote|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'.{{sfn|Williams|Tribe|Wynne|2002|p=52}}}}

The term ''[[satya|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."{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=60}} They function as "a convenient conceptual framework for making sense of Buddhist thought."{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=60}}{{refn|group=note|name="Gethin_framework"|Gethin: "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. [...] This is not to say that the Buddha's discourses do not contain theoretical statements of the nature of suffering, its cause, its cessation, and the path to its cessation, but these descriptions function not so much as dogmas of the Buddhist faith as a convenient conceptual framework for making sense of Buddhist thought."{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=60}}}} According to K. R. Norman, probably the best translation is "the truth[s] of the noble one (the Buddha)".{{sfn|Williams|Tribe|Wynne|2002|p=41}} 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.{{refn|group=note|'"Truth", ''satya'' (Sanskrit), ''sacca'' (Pali), derived from ''sat'', being, how it is.{{sfn|Williams|Tribe|Wynne|2002|p=41}}}} Through not seeing things this way, and behaving accordingly, we suffer.{{sfn|Williams|Tribe|Wynne|2002|p=41}}{{refn|group=note|name="Mingyur"|Contemporary Buddhist teacher [[Mingyur Rinpoche]] describes the four ''arya satya'' as "Four Pure Insights into the Way Things Are".{{sfn|Mingyur Rinpoche|2007|p=70}} Contemporary scholar Peter Harvey translates ''arya satya'' as "True Realities for the Spiritually Ennobled".{{sfn|Harvey|2013|p=52}}}}

===Symbolic and propositional function===
[[File:Dharma Wheel.svg|thumb|right|upright=0.65|The [[Dharmachakra|Dharmacakra]], often used to represent the Noble Eightfold Path]]

According to Anderson, the four truths have both a symbolic and a propositional function:
{{Blockquote|... the four noble truths are truly set apart within the body of the Buddha's teachings, not because they are by definition sacred, but because they are both a symbol and a doctrine and transformative within the sphere of right view. As one doctrine among others, the four noble truths make explicit the structure within which one should seek enlightenment; as a symbol, the four noble truths evoke the possibility of enlightenment. As both, they occupy not only a central but a singular position within the Theravada canon and tradition.{{sfn|Anderson|1999|pp=230–231}}}}

As a symbol, they refer to the possibility of awakening, as represented by the Buddha, and are of utmost importance:
{{Blockquote|[W]hen the four noble truths are regarded in the canon as the first teaching of the Buddha, they function as a view or doctrine that assumes a symbolic function. Where the four noble truths appear in the guise of a religious symbol in the ''Sutta-pitaka'' and the ''Vinaya-pitaka'' of the Pali canon, they represent the enlightenment experience of the Buddha and the possibility of enlightenment for all Buddhists within the cosmos.{{sfn|Anderson|1999|p=55}}}}

As a proposition, they are part of the matrix or "network of teachings", in which they are "not particularly central",{{sfn|Anderson|2001|p=85}} but have an equal place next to other teachings,{{sfn|Anderson|2001|pp=127–128}} describing how release from craving is to be reached.{{sfn|Anderson|1999|pp=230–231}} A long recognized feature of the Theravada canon is that it lacks an "overarching and comprehensive structure of the path to ''nibbana''."{{sfn|Anderson|2001|p=131}} The sutras form a network or matrix, and the four truths appear within this "network of teachings", which have to be taken together.{{sfn|Anderson|2001|p=85}}{{refn|group=note|name="Gethin_framework"}} Within this network, "the four noble truths are one doctrine among others and are not particularly central",{{sfn|Anderson|2001|p=85}} but are a part of "the entire ''dhamma'' matrix".{{sfn|Anderson|2001|p=86}} The four noble truths are set and learnt in that network, learning "how the various teachings intersect with each other",{{sfn|Anderson|2001|pp=86–87}} and refer to the various Buddhist techniques, which are all explicitly and implicitly part of the passages which refer to the four truths.{{sfn|Anderson|2001|p=132}} According to Anderson,

{{Blockquote|There is no single way of understanding the teachings: one teaching may be used to explain another in one passage; the relationship may be reversed or altered in other talks.{{sfn|Anderson|2001|p=86}}}}