Editing Four Noble Truths (section)

===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"/>