Spiritual Message for the Day – Buddha’s Four Truths by Sri Swami Chidananda
Baba Times Digest© | 30 October 2014 17.38 EST | New York Edition
Buddha’s Four Truths
Divine Life Society Publication: Essentials of The Higher Values of Life by Sri Swami Chidananda
When Buddha attained the Illumination, he discovered four great truths pertaining to the human life:
1) Life is full of suffering;
2) The cause of the suffering is craving, desire (trishna);
3) The possibility of complete cessation of the suffering by destroying desire; and
4) The way to bring about the ultimate cessation of the suffering.
The first step is to become convinced that this world is an abode of sorrow and suffering. The next step is to know the cause of the suffering. Once we know the cause of the suffering, there is an unending hope for the mankind. Because, once you remove the cause the suffering will end. The suffering is an effect. Once the cause is removed the effect does not arise at all, it is automatically eliminated. Once you know the cause, you can find out by one way or the other, some device to remove it. The first discovery everyone knew; but so long as they do not know the cause of the suffering, people live with it thinking I can be happy with the coexistence of sorrow.
The third discovery is also very important. All these sufferings are not unavoidable or inevitable. They are not permanent. If the sufferings were eternal, if there had been no possibility of ending the sufferings, the question of finding a way to end them would have not arisen at all. But Buddha discovered that we can put an end to all the sufferings. He assured us that this is certainly possible.
Lastly, Buddha discovered the way to end all the suffering and putting completely an end to all the suffering. It is called The Noble Eight-fold Path. Like the eight-stage path to Liberation given by Maharshi Patanjali in his Yogasutras, Buddha has also discovered an eight-fold path to cessation of suffering: right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort or endeavour, right mindfulness and right meditation. Like in Yogasutras, Buddha also gives minute details of each of these. The first one is Right View and Buddha gives ten aspects of it.
Today I am telling this to reiterate that death is inevitable. Therefore, be alert! Be up and doing. Apply yourself quickly to whatever you have to do. Fulfil all your obligations and duties. Be up and doing on the path of Liberation, on the path of Divine Perfection, the great grand, glorious Goal of human life. You have to apply yourself to that Goal right now. What is that comes in your way as an obstacle? The delusion of happiness here. Convince yourself firmly that there is no happiness here and there can never be happiness here. This world is petty abode of janma-mrityu-jaraa-vyaadhi-duhkha (the evils of birth, death, old age, sickness and pain. Gita XIII-8), an abode of sorrow, sufferings and unhappiness only.
You are enslaved by the sense objects only if you think that there is some pleasure, some happiness in them. But once you discover their true nature, you are free. But once you are convinced that there is no happiness here, you are no longer deluded, you are no longer made fool of by the sense objects, you are wise. Through all these attractions you can remain untouched and unaffected by them. You will say: ‘Yes, I know your nature. You can no longer fool me.’ You become established in anasakti, total detachment. Even if you are surrounded by hundreds of attractive objects of pleasures, you are not perturbed. You know their real nature and so cannot be deluded. You go through your life as a master of the situation and not as a slave to every attractive sense object of name and form. You are the in-charge of your life.
If you have realised these truths, you become totally detached. Now you are steadily, serenely advancing to the Goal, absolutely unaffected by the sense objects. The basis of your detachment is discrimination and wisdom. You know that there is nothing in them; now they cannot enslave you.
A mother was frightening a little boy by covering the bush with a black cloth and was saying: ‘Don’t go there. A devil is hiding there.’ The father thought that she is unnecessarily frightening the child, this is a bad psychology. The son will afterwards be always afraid. So one day he took the child near the bush and removed the cloth and said: ‘Look, there is no devil here.’ The child told his mother: ‘Now you can never make me afraid of that black cloth. I know there is nothing in it. I know its real nature.’
Like that once you know the real nature of the world through constant discrimination, it will never be able to dupe you, delude you. You will no more be afraid of it. Now you can proceed straight towards the target like an arrow shot from the bow.
All the philosophers tell us that our tenure here is temporary, we are not residents of this earth plane, we are just the travellers. Our life is a journey with a definite destination. The important point is that you should always remember the Destination, the Goal. There is no thought about the discomforts and hardships.
Excerpts from: Buddha’s Four Truths - Essentials of The Higher Values of Life by Sri Swami Chidananda
If you would like to purchase the print edition, visit: The Divine Life Society E-Bookstore
If you would like to contribute to the dissemination of spiritual knowledge please contact the General Secretary at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
SEND FEED BACK ON THIS ARTICLE >>> Email to BT Digest Editor ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)