Editing Four Noble Truths (section)

===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}}}}