Learn Buddhism: The Four Truths & Eightfold Path

The foundation of the Buddhist religion and Buddhist practice revolves around the Buddha's very first sermon where he told of the Four Truths and the Eightfold Path towards liberation (Nirvana). But what is this all about? What does it mean to you? And is there a map? Find out in this episode!

Transcript

Welcome to Learn Buddhism.

I'm Alan Pedo.

What is Buddhism?

Well a great way to explain that is through the Buddha's own teachings.

He has something called the Four Noble Truths and also the Noble Eightfold Path.

After Siddhartha Gautama became enlightened and became the Buddha,

He set forth to teach and the first people he ran into was his five former followers.

Now they were quite upset with him because he had left them and went down this new path and they were still practicing the old path.

So when the Buddha said that he had understood and realized the true nature of things,

Became enlightened,

Became this Buddha,

They didn't believe it because what they were looking at was someone they were following and with before who had completely changed course.

That really offended them and they were quite skeptical.

What he was able to do was his very first sermon is tell them about the Four Noble Truths.

This is,

As I mentioned,

The first sermon of the Buddha,

But it was so important because those five former followers became his first five disciples.

This teaching was so important to them that it made them realize he absolutely knows what he's talking about.

We are going to follow him.

So without this particular sermon and teaching we may not have Buddhism like we understand it today.

So what are the Four Noble Truths?

The way I like to explain it,

And this is a way that I heard before and I love it,

Imagine the Buddha is a physician and you're sick.

Or maybe you're not even sure you're sick,

But maybe going for an annual physical,

Right?

And so what the Buddha is doing with the Four Noble Truths,

He's doing a little bit of effect,

Cause,

Effect,

Cause.

It doesn't make better sense as I go through it.

So it's not so much telling us what we did.

He needs to tell us first you're sick.

And I think that's really telling with the Four Noble Truths because the first noble truth is the truth of dukkha,

Which we commonly translate into suffering.

This is the symptom he's telling us.

He's telling us that life entails dukkha.

And as we translate that to suffering,

Unsatisfactoriness,

Disease,

Distress,

Something that's not quite right in our life.

But because we are so delusional and ignorant of the truth and of this particular reality of this sickness that we have,

We don't believe it.

That he has to tell us that right away.

So it's not like necessarily we're going to the hospital or to our doctor and going,

I'm just not feeling well.

We're not even aware that we are sick.

So he's telling us with the first noble truth,

Life entails dukkha,

Suffering.

The second noble truth,

He's telling us the cause of that suffering.

This is his diagnosis.

So first off,

He's putting it right in our face.

You're sick.

The second part is he's telling us why we're sick.

And he said this dukkha or suffering is caused by craving or desire.

We're clinging and craving to things.

And the deeper meaning of this is we have this attachment,

This belief in a permanent,

Unchanging,

Independent self we believe exists inside us.

Some definitions may call that a soul or self.

And what the Buddha is saying is,

Yes,

You absolutely exist right now.

Absolutely.

But you are a temporary,

Impermanent,

And ever-changing and interdependent upon other things existence.

What you believe as me,

I,

Self is the illusion.

You're believing this illusion because this temporary existence that you're in right now,

This grouping of different things that makes you you,

Is impermanent,

Is ever-changing,

Is interdependent upon other things.

But we don't see it that way because it works so seamlessly together.

We are sort of lulled into believing,

Yes,

I am a me,

An I,

A self that exists forever and is permanent and it doesn't change.

He needed to wake us up to that because what happens is with that belief,

We need to reinforce it and we are so in love with self that we cling and crave to things to reinforce it.

When we are confronted with things that hurt this idea of self or challenge it,

Including that of others and also other phenomena,

Which we also believe has this self,

We lash out.

So there's something called the three fires of greed,

Anger,

And delusion in Buddhism.

And what we're doing with that greed,

You can compare that to the clinging and craving,

That results into hatred and anger and it's all due to that delusion or ignorance to the truth.

So it's this endless cycle,

So to speak,

That's really causing us a lot of this dukkha and specifically because of the three fires and because of that greed and anger specifically,

We are creating intentional,

Volitional actions,

Which we call karma in Buddhism.

And because again of that three fires,

That is typically on the unwholesome side because remember we have that delusion or ignorance to the truth.

So we are trying to protect and reinforce this idea of self,

Which is illusionary insofar as it being independent,

Unchanging,

And permanent.

So this traps us in this endless cycle of what the Buddha called rebirth.

So this very unsatisfactory existence is dukkha.

So us arising right now is dukkha.

Us being trapped in this cycle of rebirth is dukkha.

This is dukkha.

It's suffering.

It's unsatisfactory.

Then he goes into the third noble truth.

So we've been told we're sick.

We've been told the reason for why we're sick and we're like,

Okay,

What do I know?

Is there hope for me?

And he said yes,

The prognosis is basically good.

He said there is a cure for this dukkha,

This suffering,

Which helps you achieve a state known as nirvana.

Now nirvana is essentially cessation or blowing out.

But of what?

Of the three fires of greed,

Anger,

And delusion.

When you have become awakened to the truth and become an enlightened being,

You blow out,

Figuratively,

The three fires of greed,

Anger,

And delusion.

You no longer have this delusion or ignorance because just like a dirty window or mirror,

You have now cleaned it.

You become awakened to the truth.

You can see clearly what has been causing this dukkha.

Therefore you can't really go back.

You're not going to be causing all these waves,

This stress,

This suffering anymore because you understand why it occurred.

Based upon that,

You're no longer going to have greed because you now recognize your idea of self is illusionary.

You are ever-changing.

You are impermanent and you are interdependent upon other things.

The three fires of greed,

Anger,

And delusion go away and you now can reside in your natural state of nirvana.

This is our true natural peaceful state.

This is really what we are and the way we should actually exist.

But because we churn all these negative,

Unwholesome things all the time,

It creates karma and dukkha.

It's just unsatisfactory.

We've been told that we're sick.

We've been told why we're sick and we've been told there's a good prognosis to this.

But what is the cure?

This is where the Buddha gives us his prescription,

So to speak.

That is the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Eightfold Path is the middle way.

This is the way not going to extremes where we can eliminate suffering in our life.

This is usually depicted through almost sort of like a wheel or ship's wheel.

There's a reason for that.

Dukkha can also be translated as a not perfectly round wheel.

You can think almost back to the Buddhist time,

Almost like a wheel on a wagon.

But you can also use our modern world as an example.

Just like a wheel on a car,

The tire on your car is not perfectly round,

So to speak.

When they mount tires to your car,

They're actually balancing them as well.

It's going to be a little lopsided.

They put weights on your rim of your car to balance it out.

Otherwise,

As you go down the road,

And this is a good analogy for life,

There's gonna be potholes and there's gonna be bumps and rocks and uneven roads and stuff like that.

If you don't have a perfectly round wheel,

That's gonna be a pretty bumpy ride.

Dukkha is gonna be unsatisfactory.

So when you are able to properly balance that wheel,

Have it round,

Have the right suspension,

Everything else,

Even though there may be rocks on the road,

Uneven road,

Potholes,

Etc.

,

You're able to go down that road more comfortably in the way you absolutely should be.

So there is that opposite portion of Dukkha,

Which is Sukkha,

And that's where we want to get.

The imagery of the wheel is so perfect for this because all eight parts of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path fit right inside there.

If we practice all eight parts of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path,

We are following what he has taught us to achieve awakening,

Become enlightened,

Blow out those three fires,

And realize our true natural state of Nirvana.

Now the Eightfold Path is magnificent and perfect in really the way he described it and taught us,

But it's also,

Just to put it out there,

Practice in different ways by all the different Buddhist traditions and schools out there.

So it's not like all the different Buddhist traditions are not practicing the Noble Eightfold Path.

They're just doing it in various different ways,

But this is the heart and core of Buddhism.

So there are three major categories,

If you will,

Or groupings of the Noble Eightfold Path.

There is a wisdom category.

There is a morality or conduct category.

And there's also a meditative concentration category.

All three of these make up what is known as the threefold training in Buddhism,

As I mentioned,

Because we work with them together to make that wheel perfectly round.

Now you may be better in some portions of this threefold training and thus the Eightfold Path than other portions.

And just like my example of the wheel on your car,

You may also have to balance out your practice.

For example,

If you already have great meditative skills,

But maybe not so great wisdom skills,

You may have to work more on that,

Maybe more into the Buddhist scriptures and reading and wisdom in that regard.

So you have to understand where you may be a little lopsided on here,

But practicing them all together is important and there's a reason for that.

What we're trying to accomplish is going to be karma without outflows.

So right now we are generating karma without flows.

As I mentioned,

We are trapped in this cycle of rebirth as the Buddha described it because we have karma with outflows.

Outflows in Buddhism are basically karmic entanglement and it's just an unsatisfactory thing because it's like chains or being binded to something.

What we're talking about here is essentially being prisoners of this cycle of rebirth,

Which we call Samsara in Buddhism.

And that,

As I mentioned,

Is an unsatisfactory experience.

It's Dukkha,

Constantly arising and falling in different ways.

What we want to achieve through this threefold training and thus the Eightfold Path is to have no outflows.

So when we actually practice all three parts,

Categories of the Eightfold Path,

Which encompasses all these eight different components,

We are actually having no outflows when it's done fundamentally and completely and perfectly.

And we can look to the Buddha and his aligned followers who also practiced the threefold training and achieved that.

So when you are able to become enlightened through the threefold training,

You are no longer generating outflows.

You are no longer creating karma,

These intentional volitional actions,

With outflows.

Instead,

They are without outflows.

So you are still creating karma,

But it's that of an enlightened being who understands completely what's going on,

So to speak.

You understand,

Okay,

If I do this,

This will occur.

Or this particular sensation or what I'm hearing or what I'm experiencing may arise this in me and make me respond this way,

Such as through the three fires of greed,

Anger,

Delusion.

You understand how that arises so that you stop it from ever arising.

Thus,

Karma without outflows.

I'm making it very simplistic here,

But this is our true natural state.

These outflows is not what we want.

So what does the Eightfold Path consist of?

The wisdom category consists of right understanding and right thought,

Which is the training to cultivate wisdom.

The conduct or morality category is right speech,

Right livelihood,

And right action,

Which is the training to cultivate morality.

Then we have the discipline or meditative concentration category,

Which is right effort,

Right mindfulness,

And right concentration.

This is the training to cultivate meditative concentration.

Let's go into each one of these so you can kind of understand a little bit about these eight different parts of the Eightfold Path and thus the Threefold Training.

The first one is right view.

This is especially important because it's about understanding the four noble truths and specifically dukkha.

As we understand that,

It will help you understand how others have transformed dukkha,

Just like Buddha did,

And the difference between wholesome and unwholesome seeds.

The seeds I'm talking about are those karmic actions that we take.

Just imagine them as being planted in a garden of seed,

But that's inside your consciousness.

When you give them the right nutrients,

The right water,

They will come to fruition either in this life or in future lives.

So we have to be aware of that and right view where we understand fundamentally,

Not just intellectually,

But fundamentally what dukkha is.

We can prevent that.

It also is helpful because all the other parts of the Eightfold Path are interconnected.

You may hear such teachers as Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh call that inter-being.

That's the terminology he uses.

None of these other parts of the Eightfold Path are really interdependent of each other.

They are all interconnected.

Next we have right thought or maybe called right thinking.

This is essentially speech of your mind.

You want to ensure your thoughts align with right view.

So remember right view is sort of like that foundation.

It's that understanding of dukkha and how that actually exists and works and everything else.

And then with right thought,

Right thinking,

We need to be aware of what we think and how we act upon that.

So right thought is particularly important to understand in that regard.

Right view and right thought together help you live in the present moment.

Then we have right mindfulness.

Mindfulness sort of gets a secular view in our modern world.

But in Buddhism is part of the Eightfold Path because it is helping us end delusions.

So we become awakened,

Become enlightened.

I really like mindfulness because I think it's really foundational.

Especially with all the Buddhist teachings together.

Because when we're mindful we are essentially walking the Eightfold Path.

But we're usually not mindful in our lives.

We are so distracted and our mind which is untamed,

Uncontrolled,

Undisciplined,

Is taking us down all these other directions and most specifically through the three fires of greed,

Anger,

And delusion.

So this sounds a little bit overwhelming to always be in a state of mindfulness.

But we can look to the Buddha.

He was mindful at all times.

That's really what a Buddha is.

They are mindful in every moment.

His enlightened followers are also mindful.

So is it possible?

Absolutely.

Now it's hard to practice meditation when you are not mindful and thinking about things such as work or what to say or not say or just thoughts coming in.

So mindfulness helps us stay in that present moment.

And a good way that we can follow mindfulness is through precepts.

And so laypersons have what's known as the five precepts.

And this helps us.

To give you a little example of that Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh,

He said this,

In many talks the Buddha spoke about the threefold training of the precepts.

Is the practice of right mindfulness?

If we don't practice the precepts,

We aren't practicing mindfulness.

I know some Zen students who think they can practice meditation without practicing precepts.

But that is not correct.

The heart of Buddhist meditation is a practice of mindfulness.

And mindfulness is the practice of the precepts.

You cannot meditate without practicing precepts.

How amazing is that?

What he's basically saying is there you these parts of the eightfold path are interconnected.

And the way we can do that is through following the precepts.

And for laypersons,

That's the five precepts.

Next we have right speech.

This step flows into right thought or right thinking.

Because your thoughts,

Which are often private and just in your head,

Now come out through your mouth.

So basically in simplest terms you want to ensure you speak the truth or don't color the truth.

Don't use hurtful or evil words or anything that can be harmful.

Basically your words,

Your speech,

Can have repercussions.

Speech is verbal karma as well.

And depending on your position or circumstances,

Your words can kill,

Harm,

Or destroy someone in multiple ways and very nuanced ways as well.

Here is how right speech is connected with some other parts of the eightfold path.

Right view lets you know that your words can create dukkha.

Right thought helps you focus on what your speech should be.

And right mindfulness helps you center yourself and not get caught up in saying something untruthful or hurtful.

So you can already see how the eightfold path is interconnected in many different ways and it really supports one another.

Next we have right action.

And this is very much linked with non-violence and preventing harm and death to other sentient beings.

Now what we're talking about here is right action of the body.

So you saw how before we had right speech,

For example.

So now we're talking about the actions of your body,

Which can have very devastating and very wide ranging consequences based upon your physical actions.

So how we interact with others and other beings and making sure that we do not cause unnecessary harm is really important because we're all experiencing dukkha to some various degrees and can't we just alleviate some suffering of others?

This is something we can do through our right action.

Next we have right diligence or right effort.

And this is a really important one as well because this is all about you progressing on the path,

The eightfold path,

Towards enlightenment.

If you don't have that diligence or effort,

You're never going to get there.

It's like beginning a journey and just giving up halfway.

Now what we're doing specifically on here is right effort or diligence in preventing unwholesome things and you can think of them as seeds or karmic seeds and nurturing wholesome things,

Wholesome seeds.

And so a good way to think about this again is having a garden where you're planting seeds.

The seeds are your actions.

Are they wholesome or unwholesome?

Well,

I would think about those unwholesome seeds as very much like weeds.

I don't want them but the wholesome seeds very much like a lotus flower or something very nourishing and good to bloom.

That's awakening.

That's enlightenment.

That's what we want.

We don't want those weeds to snuff out and kill the wholesome seeds.

So we are doing all through right diligence and effort to nurture and plant these wholesome seeds that get us to that end goal of enlightenment and thus nirvana.

So greed,

Anger and delusion or ignorance,

Those are all wrong.

Those three fires.

Those are all wrong views and are all unwholesome.

They are creating those unwholesome karma,

Those unwholesome karmic seeds that we're planting.

We don't want that.

So anything we can do that's aligned with the Buddhist teachings and the Buddhist path is wholesome and those are the right seeds to be planting.

Next we have right concentration.

Now this one is all about meditative concentration and this is a lot of times where you see sitting meditation.

But there's also walking meditation and there's also a variety of other types of meditative concentration such as concentrating on the values and virtues of a Buddha.

So there's different ways to actually go about doing this.

But it's really important because what we're trying to do is almost like what the Buddha did.

We want to develop deep insight on our own because we are the ones who need to do this into the true nature of things just like he did.

So we can see and clean that dirty window,

That dirty mirror so we can actually understand this stuff and we can become awakened,

Become enlightened,

Realize nirvana.

I know I mentioned it a couple of times,

But that's ultimately what we're trying to do here.

We're trying to get to our true mental state and condition of nirvana.

It's not a place we're going to.

It's in the here and now.

So this right concentration very much like going to a gym.

All this eight-fold path and three-fold training I would relate to a gym.

Just like if you want to build muscles or get healthier or whatever you're trying to do with your exercise program.

You need to know the right technique and form.

You need to be consistent and go to the gym and have determination and effort there.

And you also have to have the right nutrients and food that you're eating.

And so you can really correlate those to the three-fold training as well.

Except we're doing it to to become enlightened and to realize nirvana.

That already exists inside us,

But we don't know it's there.

So right concentration is all about that meditative concentration portion.

We need it,

But there's many different ways that the different Buddhist traditions actually practices.

And then we have right livelihood.

Now right livelihood is traditionally looking at different things.

For example,

Not engaging in dealing with arms such as weapons,

Slave trade,

Meat trade,

Sale of alcohol,

Drugs or poisons,

Or making prophecies and fortune-telling.

So these are the traditional ones that in at least a Buddhist time he was saying this isn't the type of professions you want to have as a lay person,

For example,

As you try to progress and reach enlightenment.

Or at a minimum be more aligned with the eightfold path.

Now monastics,

They have hundreds of precepts.

So they're not doing any of this.

They are away from this householder everyday life that we have.

We are laypersons.

They are not.

So they would not be engaging in any of these.

But for us we have to be cognizant of our professions.

Now in our modern world,

It can be very blurry and gray exactly what is right livelihood.

And we also may have to understand what about not just your profession,

But what you're doing.

You may have a hobby or you may have friends or anything else where you're engaged in which becomes wrong love livelihood.

So we have to be aware that it's beyond just our profession.

It's also what we're doing in our life that could be constituting wrong livelihood.

Now all of these you don't have to do any of them.

None of them.

The Buddha is not going to strike you down with a lightning bolt if you don't do any of these.

This is his path for us.

Just like he was able to accomplish,

He's giving us a path towards Nirvana,

Towards enlightenment and thus Nirvana.

You don't have to do any of this?

That's fine.

To be a Buddhist is to want to follow these as much as possible because yes,

We're going to have a lay person life and it's gonna be very difficult on some of these to follow it for us in that lay person life,

But we can do that through that effort and that faith in the Buddhist teachings.

Again,

You don't have to follow all these but as we try to follow to the best of our ability we are making our life more round like that round wheel than it was before and ultimately,

That's generating wholesome karma,

Good merits,

And we want that.

Especially for future existences.

We want to generate those good karma,

Good merits that are going to go forth.

Maybe it will be beneficial to us in this lifetime.

Maybe we beneficial somebody else.

Either way,

This is what we want to do.

Do you have any questions about the Eightfold Path or the Four Noble Truths?

I'd like to hear back from you.

You can reach me through my website alanpedo.

Com and send me a message or you can just go ahead and find me on social media and respond to me that way.

I look forward to talking with you in our next episode.

Thank you.

Reviews

A really good overview of the system. I would love to see it in a diagram /flow chart type setting.

Helpful thank you

Very well explained ! Appreciate your teaching 🙏

Very clear and enlightening thank you, I get inspired to go deeper in my effort

Thank you so much for this guidance as l have been struggling with understanding the basics of Buddhism. I feel that listening to this is now opening up a path for me & l now need to find a teacher 🙏