What is the main cause of suffering in people according to the 4 Noble Truths?

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What is the main cause of suffering in people according to the 4 Noble Truths?

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The Four Noble Truths

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    What is the main cause of suffering in people according to the 4 Noble Truths?

The Four Noble Truths

The core of the teachings of the Supreme Buddha is the “Four Noble Truths”. They are referred to as “Nobel Truths” because they are the absolute truths that nobody can deny. What that means is they are true at all times, in the past, in the future and at present. They are true to every man and woman irrespective of the nationality, ethnicity, faith, color and any other difference of human beings that one would recognize. They are true during the times of a Buddha’s dispensation as well as in the absence of a Buddha’s dispensation.

The Four Noble Truths are,

  • Suffering as the first noble truth
  • Origin of suffering as the second noble truth
  • Cessation of suffering as the third noble truth
  • The Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering as the fourth noble truth

The Noble Truth of Suffering: The Buddha explained birth is suffering; aging is suffering; sickness is suffering; death is suffering; separation from the loved is suffering; association with unloved is suffering; not getting what is liked is suffering; sorrow, pain and lamentation is suffering; and five-aggregates-afflicted by clinging (i.e. form, feeling, perception, volitional formations and consciousness) is suffering.

The teachings of the Buddha discusses the same suffering that everybody experiences everyday in one or another form.  The physical and mental pain we experience is a result of aging, sickness, death, separating from loved or association with unloved.

The Noble Truth of Origin of Suffering: Craving is the origin of the suffering. In other words, the lust, passion, hunger, and thirst for forms, feelings, perceptions, volitional formations and consciousness is the source of suffering.

Careful analysis of our life experiences will prove us that suffering arises only when there is an attachment, desire, passion for things. Passion bonds, glues, connects a person with another person, animal or thing. Any alteration to that person, animal or thing causes pain and suffering.

The Noble Truth of Cessation of Suffering: Remnant-free, residue-free absolute cessation of, ending of, termination of that craving for forms, feelings, perceptions, volitional formations and consciousness is the cessation of suffering.

The Noble Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering: The only path that leads to the absolute elimination of craving for forms, feelings, perceptions, volitional formations and consciousness is the “Noble Eightfold Path”. The path consists of eight elements that develops virtue, concentration and wisdom to the absolute perfection; which is the stream ending at the cessation of suffering, the ultimate bliss, which is the Nibbana.

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What is the main cause of suffering in people according to the 4 Noble Truths?

Illustration by Ray Fenwick.

What are the four noble truths? Buddhism’s famed four truths are called noble because they liberate us from suffering. They are the Buddha’s basic teaching, encapsulating the entire Buddhist path.

1. Suffering

Life always involves suffering, in obvious and subtle forms. Even when things seem good, we always feel an undercurrent of anxiety and uncertainty inside.

2. The Cause of Suffering

The cause of suffering is craving and fundamental ignorance. We suffer because of our mistaken belief that we are a separate, independent, solid “I.” The painful and futile struggle to maintain this delusion of ego is known as samsara, or cyclic existence.

3. The End of Suffering

The good news is that our obscurations are temporary. They are like passing clouds that obscure the sun of our enlightened nature, which is always present. Therefore, suffering can end because our obscurations can be purified and awakened mind is always available to us.

4. The Path

By living ethically, practicing meditation, and developing wisdom, we can take exactly the same journey to enlightenment and freedom from suffering that the buddhas do. We too can wake up.


Further reading on the Four Noble Truths:

The Message of the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths

In short, it’s that paying attention and seeing clearly lead to behaving impeccably in every moment, out of love, and on behalf of all beings. Sylvia Boorstein explains.

The Four Noble Truths of Emotional Suffering

The Buddha laid out a four-step path to freedom from difficult emotions. The secret, says Anyen Rinpoche, is understanding why our emotions cause us so much suffering. Once we know that, the path to freedom becomes clear.

The Buddha’s Noble First Teaching

Tulku Thondup on the four simple and practical statements that encompass the entire Buddhist path, the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths.

What is Suffering?

Ten Buddhist teachers explain the first noble truth — the Buddha’s first teaching — and why it’s not a condemnation, but a joyous opportunity.

Deer to the Heart

They were present at the Buddha’s first sermon, and, reportedly, they listened. Andrea Miller reexamines something we all might have missed in the meaning of the quiet, watchful deer.

What is the cause of suffering according to the Four Noble Truths?

In Buddhism, desire and ignorance lie at the root of suffering. By desire, Buddhists refer to craving pleasure, material goods, and immortality, all of which are wants that can never be satisfied. As a result, desiring them can only bring suffering.

What is the cause of suffering According to Gautama?

The Buddha believed that most suffering is caused by a tendency to crave or desire things. A person might crave something nice to eat or desire to go on a nice holiday or earn lots of money. Buddhism teaches that through being dissatisfied with their lives and craving things, people suffer.

Which of the Four noble truth explains the truth about the end of suffering?

The fourth and final truth is the path (Pali: magga; Sanskrit: marga) to the cessation of suffering, which was described by the Buddha in his first sermon.

What does the first noble truth suggest about suffering?

The noble truth of suffering (dukkha) is this: birth is suffering; aging is suffering; sickness is suffering; death is suffering; sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering; association with the unpleasant is suffering; disassociation from the pleasant is suffering; not to get what one wants is ...