Life is filled with misery. The Buddha began his most essential teaching—the Four Noble Truths—not by declaring who or what we truly are, but by acknowledging a basic fact: suffering, loss, discontent, and disappointment are inherent parts of human existence. Often referred to as “the great physician,” the Buddha framed the issue of suffering through a lens similar to medical diagnosis and treatment, offering four key insights: the symptom, the source of the symptom, a possible remedy, and the path to that remedy.
This framework became the heart of the Dharma, encapsulating the essence of the Buddha’s wisdom and practice. It teaches that while life’s painful experiences are unavoidable, the true source of our suffering is not what happens to us, but how we relate to it—particularly through craving and attachment. To support this path of transformation, ethical living is considered essential. This is where
The Five Precepts in Buddhism comes into play, serving as foundational moral guidelines that help stabilize the mind and heart, making it possible to understand and embody the Four Noble Truths more fully.
While it is true that there are many unpleasant experiences in life that are brought on by circumstances beyond our control, such as other people, social structures, or the frailty and mortality of our bodies, the true source of suffering is not painful experiences per se, but rather the distress caused by craving: the mental and emotional agony of regret, fantasy, and dissatisfaction that all result from obsessing over things we cannot control.
The Buddha first sought out five friends—fellow ascetics with whom he had experienced austerities—after he awoke and made the decision to teach. When he pushed the practice as far as it could go without starving to death, he recognized that the self-mortification they were engaging in was futile, even though they had appreciated his intensity of effort and self-denial. They left him because they believed he had strayed from the road when he switched to a practice that fed the body. Indeed, he had discovered the way.
In “Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Dhamma” , the Buddha tells his friends that he has discovered “the medium route” between bodily mortification and sensual enjoyment. As a wealthy child, the Buddha understood the power of sensuous indulgence, and as a practitioner of rigorous ascetic disciplines, he understood the power of bodily mortification. Neither resulted in relief from pain. He found a path that rejected both extremes, advocating research into the connection between our deeds and our subsequent sensations of peace or suffering, as well as a joyful embodied meditation known as jhāna. He outlined his case for why wanting is the root of our misery and how to cure this age-old ailment using the Four Noble Truths as a framework.
Dukkha, which translates to “dissatisfaction or pain,” is the word given to the symptom we experience in the first Noble Truth. Dukkha is defined as a wide range of unpleasant events that are beyond our control:
The noble truth of suffering, Bhikkhus, is that all five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering: birth, aging, illness, and death; union with what is unpleasant; separation from what is pleasant; and not getting what one desires.
The definition of the five aggregates contains everything we can suffer in connection with since it is a list of all the parts of experience that we have a tendency to hold to. All of these parts of life are painful, both physically and emotionally, but the second Noble Truth distinguishes between the emotional responsiveness of wanting and the bodily sensation of pain:
The noble truth of the source of suffering, bhikkhus, is that this craving—that is, the desire for sensual pleasures, existence, and extinction—is what brings about a fresh existence that is accompanied by passion and delight, seeking pleasure here and there.
According to the Buddha’s diagnosis, emotional restriction from desiring or fixation on things that are otherwise unpleasant is what leads to unhappiness rather than painful experiences per se. This is not to say that we should never attempt to alter an unpleasant or dangerous circumstance, or that we should not have objectives in our daily lives or in our spiritual practices, but rather that we will experience more suffering if our actions are driven by constant craving and an attempt to control the uncontrollable.
The Third Noble Truth guarantees the accuracy of the diagnosis and the efficacy of the treatment. The pain and discontent that yearning causes us will stop if we overcome it.
The noble truth of the cessation of suffering, bhikkhus, is this: the restless waning and cessation of that same yearning, the surrender and letting go of it, the independence and non-dependence on it.
The Noble Eightfold Path, the Buddha’s remedy for the illness of habitual yearning and the cure for the symptom of dissatisfaction, is the fourth Noble Truth. It is separated into three parts: meditation (samādhi), ethics (sīla), and wisdom (pañña). Even though wisdom is listed first among the route components, the parts are pronounced “sīla, samādhi, pañña” when referred to collectively, emphasizing the significance of moral behavior as the path’s cornerstone.
The Noble Eightfold Path—that is, the correct perspective, the right intention, the right speech, the right action, the right lifestyle, the right effort, the right mindfulness, and the right concentration—is the noble truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering, bhikkhus.
We nurture the Noble Eightfold Path, often known as the “middle way,” throughout our practice. The Buddha informed his friends that this is a path that neither indulges cravings nor damages the body. Every element of the Eightfold Path is intended to erode the tendencies of reactivity, grasping, and fixation on ourselves after it was discovered that craving is the root cause of suffering.
Although the seventh and eighth components of the route are our primary retreat practices of mindfulness and meditation, each component of the path complements the others and is a component of a well-rounded practice life. The truth of suffering can begin to be comprehended as we make our intentions explicit and strengthen the ethical precepts.
This allows us to see more clearly how deeply reactivity and yearning are woven into our hearts. Kindness and compassion get stronger when our lifelong practice of mindfulness improves our ability to observe the present moment.
As we gain clarity, our understanding of our true selves and the reasons behind our unhappiness begins to shift, and our resolve to be kind and peaceful grows.
Meditation assists us in recognizing and resolving the avoidance and distraction behaviors that are all manifestations of an unhappy heart. Furthermore, even little periods of letting go provide a glimpse of the third Noble Truth, which is the cessation of suffering, when we experience the relief of not being influenced by wanting, which is our most persistent companion.
The Buddha reportedly told his friends, “Unshakeable is the liberation of my mind,” because of this release, which became permanent. The road offers everyone who embarks on it the possibility of freedom and a peaceful life.
