{"id":45,"date":"2013-11-26T20:56:04","date_gmt":"2013-11-26T20:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/mindfulness\/?page_id=45"},"modified":"2014-08-08T15:41:25","modified_gmt":"2014-08-08T15:41:25","slug":"4-noble-truths","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/mindfulness\/buddhism\/4-noble-truths\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Noble Truths"},"content":{"rendered":"

The basis of the Buddha\u2019s teachings boil down to the Four Noble Truths<\/b> as briefly described below.\u00a0 For a more in depth discussion see: http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/buddhism\/beliefs\/fournobletruths_1.shtml#h3<\/a><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. <\/b>Suffering (Dukkha)<\/b> is an unavoidable part of life. There will always be some kind of suffering in your life. Suffering can be in the form of physical suffering, or just being sad, depressed, unsatisfied, etc. It isn\u2019t pessimistic, but just a fact of reality.<\/li>\n
  2. Suffering comes from our attachment and desire (Samud\u0101ya). Suffering comes from the three roots of evil: greed and desire, ignorance and delusion, and hatred.<\/li>\n
  3. To relieve suffering, you must lose all attachments in your life (Nirodha). To reach Nirvana is to free oneself from the causes of suffering. When you become enlightened, you gain compassion towards all sentient beings.<\/li>\n
  4. To free oneself from suffering, follow the Eightfold Path (Magga). The Eightfold Path is eight steps towards reaching enlightenment. It can also be called the Middle Way, avoiding the extremes of indulgence and asceticism.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Eightfold Path<\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. <\/b>Right Understanding:<\/b> Accept and practice the Buddha\u2019s teachings.<\/li>\n
    2. <\/b>Right Intention:<\/b> Keep a positive and \u2018right\u2019 attitude towards everything.<\/li>\n
    3. <\/b>Right Speech:<\/b> Always speak in a positive manner (avoid gossip, lying, etc.).<\/li>\n
    4. <\/b>Right Action:<\/b> Act in a compassionate way always. Avoid excessive negative actions or indulgences.<\/li>\n
    5. <\/b>Right Livelihood:<\/b> Live a \u2018good\u2019 life. Don\u2019t cause other sentient beings harm, and treat them with respect.<\/li>\n
    6. <\/b>Right Effort:<\/b> Be conscious of keeping a positive state of mind.<\/li>\n
    7. <\/b>Right Mindfulness:<\/b> Cultivate an awareness of your body and state of mind.<\/li>\n
    8. <\/b>Right Concentration:<\/b> Increase your ability to focus, which is necessary.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Each step can be placed into one of three groups: Wisdom (understanding and intention), Ethical Conduct (speech, action, and livelihood), and Meditation (effort, mindfulness, and concentration).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The basis of the Buddha\u2019s teachings boil down to the Four Noble Truths as briefly described below.\u00a0 For a more in depth discussion see: http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/religion\/religions\/buddhism\/beliefs\/fournobletruths_1.shtml#h3 Suffering (Dukkha) is an unavoidable part of life. There will always be some kind of suffering in your life. Suffering can be in the form of physical suffering, or just … Continue reading 4 Noble Truths<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":272,"featured_media":0,"parent":39,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-45","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":271,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45\/revisions\/271"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}