The End Of Suffering

In this guided meditation, we gently explore the Four Noble Truths — the Buddha’s timeless wisdom on the nature of suffering and the path to peace. With each breath, we turn inward to acknowledge what is present, hold our pain with compassion, and awaken the possibility of freedom. Through stillness and mindful awareness, we journey from suffering toward clarity, understanding, and inner peace. Let this be a sacred space to reconnect with your true nature — whole, calm, and free.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Nora,

And today we will reflect on an ancient teaching by the Buddhist called the Four Noble Truths.

The first noble truth is,

Life contains suffering,

There is suffering,

It is part of being human.

There has always been suffering since the beginning of time,

And there will always be suffering.

So let's reflect,

Where in your life do you feel suffering right now?

It can be physical suffering,

Emotional,

Mental,

Is it a physical pain in your body,

A sickness,

Your sickness,

Or a sickness of a loved one,

Or is it a feeling that I shouldn't feel,

Or maybe suffering in the world,

War,

Or situation between countries,

Or suffering of people,

Maybe it's death,

Your death,

Or the death of a loved one,

Maybe it's separation with people I think I should be with,

Or I shouldn't be with.

Maybe it's unfulfilled needs that make you suffer,

So let's accept there is suffering,

And let's take a long deep inhale through the nose,

And hold this awareness,

There is suffering,

Accept it,

And as you breathe out,

Exhale compassion,

Compassion to you,

Or to someone else,

Or to a country,

To the whole world,

Let's breathe out compassion,

Let's take another breath in,

Accept there is suffering,

And breathe out compassion.

There is an old story about a young lady called Kisa Gautami,

She was a young woman from a family,

She was happily married,

And she had a child,

And then her one year old baby fell ill,

And died suddenly,

She kept grieving him for so long,

She was stuck in her grief,

That she couldn't bear the death of her only child,

She kept weeping and groaning,

And she took her dead baby in her arms,

And went from house to house begging people to help her,

To bring her child back to life,

But of course nobody could help her,

She couldn't give up,

She couldn't stop suffering the loss of her child,

And finally she came across a Buddhist who advised her to go to Buddha himself,

She carried the dead child to the Buddha,

And told him her sad story,

He listened with patience and compassion,

And then he told her Kisa Gautami,

There is only one way to solve your problem,

She was so excited,

And she thought like finally there will be a solution to my problem,

So she listened,

He told her go and find me four or five mustard seeds from any family in which there has never been a death.

Kisa Gautami was filled with hope,

She set off straight away to find such a household,

But very soon she discovered that every family she visited had experienced death of one person or another,

At last she understood that suffering is a part of life,

And death comes to us all,

Once Kisa Gautami accepted the fact that death is inevitable,

She could stop her grieving,

So sometimes all we need to do is to accept,

Accept that there is suffering.

The second noble truth is the cause of suffering,

Buddhists explain that the cause of suffering is clinging,

Is being attached,

Like Kisa Gautami she was attached to a specific expectation of her son coming back,

And as much as we see that is very obvious,

But we all do that,

So ask yourself what are you clinging to,

What are you attached that is causing your suffering,

What is the expectation or the outcome that you think you should have or you should feel,

What is the situation in your life that you are so attached to a specific result or a specific circumstances or specific feeling,

How should I feel,

How should I be,

What should I have,

Clinging can be in the form of being attached to a craving,

To a need and that makes you suffer,

So again let's breathe into that,

Take a long deep breath in and ask yourself what is that I am so attached to,

Who are those people that I am clinging on to,

What are the things that I am so attached to that I want so badly,

What are the thoughts that keep running in the back of my mind,

The thoughts that keep telling you what I should,

What I shouldn't,

How should I be or how I shouldn't,

What are all the expectations that you have from yourself or from others or from your boss or your family or your partner or from life,

Let's breathe into that awareness,

I see clearly now,

I see all these thoughts,

Observe them without judgment,

Just witness the thoughts,

You are not your thoughts,

You are the observer of the thoughts,

So let's breathe again into this awareness,

The awareness of observing the thoughts,

The limitless needs and wants,

It's normal that we have all these thoughts,

It's normal function of the mind and now we are not the mind,

We are observing these thoughts and as you breathe out,

Relax,

Exhale into even more and more relaxed mind that you could witness your expectations,

Your attachments,

Your clinging to people or things or circumstances,

Breathe in awareness and breathe out,

Relax.

There is a quote that my teacher told me in the beginning of my spiritual path,

Follow your highest excitement with the best of your ability at any given moment with no attachment to the outcome.

I always found answers to many questions and situations in life in this quote and here comes the third noble truth,

So we understood in the first truth that there is suffering,

We accepted it and in the second one we understood the cause of suffering which is clinging or attaching and the third truth is the end of suffering,

What a relief,

So there is an end of suffering and the end of suffering is to let go of the attachment.

Sounds easy,

I know.

So let's reflect again,

Where in your life you can let go today of your clinging to the outcome,

Of your attachment to the outcome,

Where in your life are you expecting a particular behavior maybe from someone else or expecting how should you live or how should you feel or how should you be treated or how should you do or don't and remember you don't have to move mountains today,

It can be very simple,

Very small thing,

Letting go of a simple expectations or a simple attachment.

Bean by bean the bag is full.

There is a nice story about a young fish who went to an old fish,

To a wise old fish and told the fish I have been dreaming all my life of reaching the ocean,

Tell me where is it,

How can I get there,

Where can I find it?

The old fish looked at the young one and said come on silly,

The ocean?

Oh my dear,

You are already in it,

This is the ocean.

The young fish was surprised and told the old fish no,

This is just water,

What I'm looking for is the ocean,

Something bigger,

Something more.

Think of this story,

Can this be the same,

Can you be the young fish looking for something bigger,

For something more?

While the very thing you are searching for is what you are already swimming in right now.

So let's again breathe into this awareness and as you exhale relax.

Life is so simple,

All what you need is already within you now.

It has always been so simple,

Right now all the peace that you always wanted is within you.

Right now,

So let's take all these teachings into our heart now and gently close your eyes and start breathing deeply in and out.

And lengthen your inhale,

Make it very very slow inhale that you can hardly hear the sound of the air going in,

Make it even slower,

Your inhale and exhale.

As you slow down your breathing,

You are slowing down your heartbeats,

You are lowering your blood pressure,

You are activating your parasympathetic nervous system,

You are balancing your overall autonomic nervous system.

You are enhancing your digestion,

You are improving your oxygen exchange and reaching the oxygen to every cell.

So let's breathe even slower,

Lengthen your inhale,

Lengthen your exhale as much as you can,

Empty your mind so quietly,

So softly that you cannot hear the air.

Keep breathing very slow,

You may drift to thoughts,

Sounds or physical sensations and this is completely natural.

When you notice yourself drifting,

Simply come back to your breath and slow it down even more,

There is nothing to do,

There is nowhere else to go except being here and now.

Keep breathing slow,

You are doing just great,

Keep breathing very very slowly in,

Just watch your breath,

From your thoughts you are not identified.

With the thoughts or the mind or the body,

So you know that you are whole,

You are complete,

You are safe,

You are loved,

You are absolutely safe and you are so very very loved.

Slowly start coming back to your natural breathing and take this place of peace with you.

You can gently open your eyes,

There is suffering and the cause of suffering is clinging and the end of suffering is letting go of the attachment.

So keep observing through the rest of your day,

Where can I accept,

Where can I let go,

Because the peace that you are looking for is always here within you.

The ocean that you are dreaming of,

You are already swimming in right now.

May you open your eyes now to see,

To realise that the best day,

The best dream,

The best feeling,

The best you that you always dreamt of,

That you always wanted is the one that you are now.

Now is the day that you are living today,

Is the feeling that you are feeling now.

With all my love and gratitude,

This is Nora,

Wishing you a wonderful now.