Buddhism: The Four Noble Truths

1. Dukkha - The Nature of Dukkha

   This is the noble truth of dukkha. Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, sickness is dukkha, death is dukkha; union with what is displeasing is dukkha; separation from what is pleasing is dukkha; not to get what one wants is dukkha; to get what one does not want is dukkha; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are dukkha. (SN 56.11)

   Dukkha is a central concept in Buddhism. In the English vocabulary it roughly translates as sorrow, suffering (or pain), affliction, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress, misery, and frustration. Although dukkha is often translated as "suffering", its meaning is more complex. The translation into "suffering" gives the impression that the Buddhist view is one of pessimism, but Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic.

   There are 3 kinds of dukkha:
    

   • Dukkha-dukkha (unsatisfactoriness of pain) is the obvious sufferings of:
     • physical pain
     • illness
     • old age
     • death
     • bereavement
        
   • Viparinama-dukkha (unsatisfactoriness of transition) is suffering caused by change:
     • violated expectations
     • clinging to transitory things
        
   • Sankhara-dukkha (unsatisfactoriness of formation) is a subtle form of suffering inherent in the nature of conditioned things, including:
     • the skandhas
     • the factors constituting the human mind
        

2. Samudaya - The Origin of Dukkha

   This is the noble truth of the origin of dukkha: It is craving, which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, and craving for extermination.
    

3. Nirodha - The Cessation of Dukkha

   This is the noble truth of the cessation of dukkha: It is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, and non-reliance on it.
    

4. Magga - The Way Leading to the Cessation of Dukkha

   This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of dukkha: It is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.