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The Four Noble Truths are teachings essential to the Buddhist way of life. For Buddhists, they describe the truth of the universe and the nature of reality and suffering.

The Dhammapada states that: Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts, suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox (Dhammapada 1). This verse shows that understanding is a key belief in Buddhism.

The Four Noble Truths in more detail

1. Dukkha – life is unsatisfactory and full of suffering. While desires might be temporarily fulfilled, physical, emotional or mental suffering cannot be avoided.
2. Samudaya – suffering is caused by desire or craving. Craving, or tanha, keeps humans attached to existence. It means that humans are reincarnated again and again, or ‘arise’ again and again. Samudaya means ‘arising’.
3. Nirodha – an end to craving is an end to suffering. Nirodha means ‘cessation’ or stopping. It is possible for Buddhists to break the cycle of craving and arising. When they break this cycle, they become free from rebirth and will no longer be born into another life of suffering.
4. Magga – to end their craving, Buddhists must follow the Noble Eightfold Path. Once they have accepted the first three truths, a Buddhist might choose to follow the Buddha’s teaching in order to stop craving. This path is called ‘magga’, or the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Three Poisons

Siddhartha left behind his life of luxury to understand suffering (dukkha). His teachings help Buddhists to understand and ultimately overcome suffering. The basic causes of suffering are known as the Three Poisons:

1. greed – often represented as a rooster
2. ignorance – often represented as a pig
3. hatred – often represented as a snake

Buddhists believe that all suffering is ultimately caused by these human urges. People might suffer because they cannot accept change (viparinama dukkha) or because they have become attached to possessions or sensation (samkhara dukkha). However, the root of all suffering is greed, ignorance or hatred.

Samsara, nirvana and enlightenment

Samsara is the continuous cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Buddhists aim to escape from this cycle. They believe that samsara is where suffering happens, and therefore freedom from samsara means an end to suffering.

Nirvana means ‘blowing out’, as a candle is blown out. Nirvana can be understood as finally being free from the cycle of samsara, which means that the soul is no longer reborn. The soul is finally blown out and is free from suffering.

A Buddha is an enlightened being, or ‘one who is awake’. Enlightenment is necessary to attain nirvana. Enlightenment is a state of complete understanding and complete compassion.

The Dhammapada teaches that:

This is an example of what a Buddhist needs to understand in order to become an enlightened being (ie achieve nirvana). Hatred is one of the Three Poisons, which are the roots of suffering. Hatred must be overcome in order to achieve enlightenment.

Mahayana and Theravada understandings of enlightenment

Mahayana and Theravada Buddhists have different understandings of enlightenment. Mahayana Buddhists follow the path of the Bodhisattva and Theravada Buddhists follow the path of the Arhat.

A Bodhisattva (in the Mahayana tradition) is a being who has attained enlightenment but choses to remain in samsara until all other beings have been freed from suffering. Siddhartha, who later became the Buddha, attained enlightenment and remained to pass on his insights. This is called nirvana with remainder, as his body remained on Earth. When the Buddha died, he achieved nirvana without remainder, or final nirvana.

An Arhat (in the Theravada tradition) is a person who has attained enlightenment through perfect understanding and perfect compassion. At death, they will not be reborn into samsara, but will have achieved nirvana.