Meditation On The Four Noble Truths

Note: This meditation is recorded in Tibetan along with English translations. Lam Rim Meditation (Stages of Path) on the Four Noble Truths: Geshe Sonam leads a short meditation pointing out the essential meaning of the four noble truths:
True Sufferings སྡུག་བསྔལ་གྱི་བདེན་པ།
True Origins ཀུན་འབྱུང་བའི་བདེན་པ།
True Cessations འགོག་པའི་བདེན་པ།
True Paths ལམ་གྱི་བདེན་པ།

Transcript

Greetings to all my Dharma friends.

I hope that you are well and I hope that you are happy.

Today we will continue with the sequence of the Lamrim or the stages of the path segments.

We've already covered a few of the topics.

Today's topic from the Lamrim will be the presentation of the Four Arya Truths or the Four Noble Truths.

Yes,

I have been told that the four noble truths are the two of the Lamrim.

Geshe-la will in these beginning stages as much as possible explain these in a way that is easy to understand for those who don't have so much time.

Yes,

I have been told that the four noble truths are the four of the Lamrim.

So even though it is a short time,

Geshe-la hopes that through this short session what can happen is that good imprints,

Good seeds can be planted within the mind and on the basis of this,

Positive mental qualities will eventually be able to be brought forth.

Yes,

The four of the Lamrim are the four of the Lamrim.

So in terms of yourself,

In terms of the eye or in terms of yourself,

If you really see yourself as something important,

If you really see yourself as something precious and you want welfare for yourself,

If you truly comprehend that,

Then it would really be impossible to neglect the study and practice of the four noble truths.

You absolutely need those.

Yes,

You need to understand that the four of the Lamrim are the four of the Lamrim.

So what we need if we want to be happy,

We need to understand how to achieve that happiness by understanding what the causes of happiness are and what the result of happiness is.

Similarly,

We need to understand in terms of what is causing suffering,

Dissatisfaction,

What the causes are,

What the faults are and what the results are of that.

Yes,

That is the four of the Lamrim.

So Geshe-la will explain this from the point of view of meditation actually.

And so we will now begin a sequence of meditation.

So first of all,

As we always do,

We will take a moment to put the body and the mind in a peaceful,

In a relaxed state.

And if disturbing projections,

If disturbing feelings,

Thoughts and so forth are arising,

We just don't pay them any mind.

Yes.

Yes,

We are not able to do that.

We are not able to do that.

We are not able to do that.

We are not able to do that.

We are not able to do that.

So firstly,

Let's reflect upon the Buddhist statement.

Suffering should be known.

If we want to be free of a problem,

We first need to understand the nature of that problem.

We are not able to do that.

We are not able to do that.

We are not able to do that.

Up until now,

What we've been doing is just looking at that one type of suffering,

The suffering of suffering.

And we've been completely immersed in just trying to get rid of that.

But even the animals are able to recognize that coarser type of suffering of suffering.

And if we only devote energy to trying to get rid of that,

We will not achieve a lasting benefit.

If we only give up the energy of suffering,

We will not achieve a lasting benefit.

The suffering of suffering is not such an incredible thing to comprehend because in terms of when we are hungry knowing that we should eat food,

When we are thirsty knowing that we should take something to drink,

This is a knowledge that even those in the animal realm have.

And if we don't have that,

We will not achieve a lasting benefit.

Similarly,

In terms of the suffering of change,

Those things that we think bring happiness,

Those outer things that we think bring happiness,

None of them are lasting.

They cannot bring a lasting happiness.

They are not stable causes of happiness.

So in terms of these contaminated types of happiness,

They are not true happiness.

And so the fact that these contaminated types of happiness are actually in the nature of suffering is not just Buddhist that are holding this but also many holders of other traditions.

So in terms of saying suffering that should be,

When the Buddha said suffering should be known in terms of that suffering that we're talking about,

The suffering of samsara,

It is not arising primarily from a cause that is outside.

It is arising from the inner cause,

From our own five aggregates.

So because those five aggregates are arising due to karma and affliction,

They cannot be the cause of happiness as long as we remain in the state of these five aggregates arising.

Due to karma and affliction,

We will always have to meet with suffering.

So if we really don't want to experience that suffering,

Then we need to think about the second of the Four Noble Truths which is true origin.

We need to be free of that suffering so we must be free of the origins of that suffering.

And in terms of the origins of that suffering,

What we need to abandon is unwholesome or negative karma.

And we also need to be able to get rid of unwholesome minds or the afflictions.

In terms of these two,

Karma and affliction,

Karma is not the main one,

In fact it is the affliction,

So the unwholesome minds that are the main one.

The ignorance grasping at the self,

Then giving rise to attachment,

Aversion and so forth.

Right,

These are the main causes of our suffering,

These afflicted,

Unwholesome minds.

If we really want to experience real peace and happiness,

Then we must know and meditate upon true paths.

So this is the third of the Four Noble Truths,

True paths.

So in terms of entering the true path,

We haven't yet been able to enter the true path but we can practice something like that which is actually the practice of the three trainings.

And we have the opportunity on the basis of this human rebirth that we have right now to engage well with these three trainings.

So in terms of the first of these three trainings,

The first of these is training in the mind.

So in terms of the first of these three trainings,

The first of these is training in the practice of ethics,

Which means to take the actions of our body,

Speech and mind and avoid the ten non-virtuous actions or the ten unwholesome actions.

Similarly,

It means to ethically engage in the practice of what is positive,

The ten virtuous actions and so forth.

If we are able to do this successfully,

Then so many of the negative thoughts and feelings that we experience,

They will be able to dissolve,

Just like clouds being swept away in the sky.

The mind will be happy,

The body will be healthy and at ease.

These are the results if one is able to,

For example,

Engage in the ten wholesome and the ten virtuous actions.

If one is able to engage in the practice of ethics,

The ten virtuous actions and feelings that we experience,

Then so many of the negative thoughts and feelings that we experience,

They will be able to dissolve,

Just like clouds being swept away in the sky.

So,

The next of these three trainings is the training in concentration,

Which is to take the mind and focus it on a virtuous object of focus,

For example,

A positive mental quality,

Such as love and compassion.

If one is able to concentrate single-pointedly on a wholesome object of meditation,

Then many of them manifest the stronger afflictions,

They won't actually be able to arise in the mind.

In terms of other practices like impermanence,

Emptiness and selflessness,

In terms of these objects of focus and meditation,

They are even more powerful in being able to clear that away.

So,

On the basis of using concentration to focus on these positive objects in meditation,

Then as we said,

The manifest afflictions will be dissolved.

They will be dissolved the manifest afflictions as well as their results,

Negative feelings,

Projections and so forth.

They will be dissolved away,

Just like an ice cube dissolves in warm water.

So,

The third of these three trainings is the training in wisdom.

So,

It can be something like the wisdom realizing impermanence,

The wisdom realizing emptiness and so forth,

If we are able to bring these forth in the mind,

In a stable way,

Clear away darkness,

Just like the sun emerging in the sky.

Any type of affliction or negative mind that we can think of,

Because this wisdom is going to see that the basis of that affliction is something mistaken,

Is something false,

We will be able to dissipate it,

To clear it away completely.

And on this basis then,

All of the problems in samsara,

The causes of those problems can be completely stopped or ceased.

And so we come to the last of these four truths,

True sensations.

And if we are able to do that,

Then we will have achieved one of the main purposes of this precious human rebirth.

If we were able to achieve that,

Think about the happiness one would experience,

Think about how amazing that is.

And the basis of realizing this,

That until we achieve the final result of Buddhahood,

Wherever we end up,

It will be through our own decision,

Through our own choice,

We will be able to decide where to go.

So we'll pause there.

So this was the brief presentation,

If we are able to study and practice these four noble truths properly,

Then we will be able to clear away both karma and affliction and then we see how that true happiness can come about.

And if we are able to cultivate these practices with a joyful and happy mind and bring forth a true feeling and experience of these practices,

Then even while we remain in samsara,

We will be able to go from happier situation to beneficial situation.

Even if we are able to do this,

We will be able to do this.

Even if we are able to do this,

We will be able to do this.

Even those that are close to us,

For example,

Other people that are close to us,

We have the wish to help them,

But we don't really have the capacity to help them.

But once we achieve the happiness from realizing this,

We will be in a situation where we can lead them in a more beneficial way.

And we will be able to do this.

So that was a brief presentation of our topic today and then slowly slowly in the future Geshe-la will go into more depth.

Thank you,

Jay.

Thanks very much.

Reviews

Extremely useful , and wonderful partnership of teacher and translator 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼