Four Holy Truths: Noble Truths - Cattari arya satyani - Chatvari - ariya saccani

Soon after the Buddha's enlightenment he taught the doctrine of the Four Holy Truths -- suffering, affliction, enlightenment, and Path. The Truth of Suffering has to do with understanding that all of human experience is suffering because it is inextricably tied up with the notion of self and because of impermanence. Birth, old age, sickness, and death all involve suffering. Even happiness is seen as suffering, the suffering of decay, because it is impermanent and inevitably leads to a less happy state. In the Truth of Afflictions (see Kleshas) (lit. origination or accumulation) the Buddha taught that basic ignorance leads to desire and other afflictions which are the cause of suffering. In the Truth of Enlightenment (lit. cessation, meaning the elimination of the afflictions) we are given an alternative to suffering as our fundamental mode of being. The Truth of the Path indicates how to get to enlightenment.

This, O Bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth of Suffering: Birth is suffering; decay is suffering; illness is suffering; death is suffering. Presence of objects we hate is suffering; Separation from objects we love is suffering. Briefly, the fivefold clinging to existence is suffering. (Vinaya Texts I, 95)

. . . The Holy Truth of Suffering is either called offenses, or called oppression, or called flux and change, or called grabbing onto conditions, or called conglomeration, or called horns, or called relying on the root, or called vain and deceptive, or called carbuncles and sores, or called the conduct of stupid people. (FAS Ch8 14)

This, O Bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth of the Cause of suffering: Thirst, that leads to rebirth, accompanied by pleasure and lust, finding its delight here and there. (This thirst is threefold), namely, thirst for pleasure, thirst for existence, thirst for prosperity. (Vinaya Texts I, 95) [Note: The usual list has non-existence, referring to non-existence after death, instead of prosperity.]

. . . The Holy Truth of the accumulation of suffering is either called being bound up, or called decay and ruin, or called the meaning of love and attachment, or called false awareness and thoughts, or called tending toward and entering, or called definiteness, or called a net, or called idle speculation, or called following along, or called the root of inversion. (FAS Ch8 17)

This, O Bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth of the Cessation of suffering: (it ceases with) the complete cessation of this thirst --a cessation which consists in the absence of every passion--with the abandoning of this thirst, with the doing away with it, with the deliverance from it, with the destruction of desire. (Vinaya Texts I, 95)

This, O Bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth of the Path which leads to the cessation of suffering: that holy eightfold Path, that is to say, Right Belief, Right Aspiration, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Means of Livelihood, Right Endeavor, Right Memory, Right Meditation. (Vinaya Texts I, 95-96) [For an alternate translation and explanation see Eightfold Path.]

. . .The Holy Truth of the Way leading to the Extinction of Suffering is perhaps called the one vehicle, or called tending toward stillness, or called instructing and guiding, or called ultimately without difference, or called equality, or called setting down one's burden, or called without tendencies, or called according with the sagely intent, or called the conduct of the immortals, or called the ten treasuries. (FAS Ch8 19)

1) Chinese Mandarin: sz di , sz sheng di , 2) Sanskrit: cattari arya satyani, 3) Pali: ariya saccani, 4) Alternate Translations: Four Truths, Four Noble Truths, Fourfold Truth of Sages.

Pali: Cattāri ariyasaccāni, Sanskrit: Catvāri āryasatyāni, Chinese: Sìshèngdì, Thai: อริยสัจสี่, Ariyasaj Sii
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths)

Buddhist Text Translation Society (http://www.BTTSonline.org) References: DFS III 504; HS 68-70, 78-84; FAS-PII(2) 45-47; FAS Ch8 (esp pp 1-3--Four Holy Truths Chapter); 10DR 13-14; VBS #206, p. 6.

Primary Original Source: The Tripitaka Sutra, Shastra and Vinaya teachings
(as found in the scripture storehouse of the Indian Sanskrit-Siddham, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese traditions of the Nalanda Tradition of ancient Nalanda University) of Shakyamuni Buddha, and his Arya Sagely Bodhisattva Bhikshu Monk and Upasaka disciples.

These Good and Wise Advisors (Kaliyanamitra) Dharma Master teachers include Arya Venerables Nagarjuna, Ashvaghosha, Aryasura, Kumarajiva, Shantideva, Chandrakirti, Chandragomin, Vasubandhu, Asanga, Hui Neng, Atisha, Kamalashila, Dharmarakshita, Tsong Khapa, Thogme Zangpo, Patanjali, Sushruta, Charaka, Vagbhata, Nichiren, Hsu Yun, Hsuan Hua, Shen Kai, Tenzin Gyatso, Kyabje Zopa, Ajahn Chah, Vasant Lad, and other modern day masters. We consider them to be in accord with Master Hsuan Hua’s "Seven Guidelines for Recognizing Genuine Teachers"

Nalanda Online University's teachings are based especially on the Dharma Flower Lotus Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Shurangama Sutra, the Ksitigarbha Sutra, the Bhaisajya Guru Sutra, the Dharani Sutra, the Vajra Sutra, the Prajna Paramita Hridayam Sutra, the Guhyasamaja, the Kalachakra and their commentaries (shastras) by the above Arya Tripitakacharya Dharma Masters.

At Nalanda Online University we practice daily and introduce you to (via downloadable multimedia MP3 audio and WMV video lectures) the teachings and practices of the Five Traditions transmitted by the Buddha Shakyamuni:

1. Teaching School (Mahayana Sutrayana - Paramitayana - Hua Yan and Tian Tai, Yogachara, Nalanda Prasangika Madhyamika, Theravada Sutta)

See also: Tripitaka (1. Sutras, 2. Vinaya, 3. Shastras or Abhidharma, or Tantra), Taisho Catalog Numbering System, Dharma, and names of individual sutras (such as Shurangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra [Flower Adornment Sutra], Lotus Sutra [Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra], Earth Store Sutra, Dharani Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra, Medicine Master Buddha Sutra, Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, Sutra in 42 Sections, Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, et al.

2. Moral Regulations School (Vinaya Pratimoksha Shila - Bodhisattva Pranidhana - Vajrayana-Samaya - Yogic Yama)

3. Esoteric School (Vajrayana - Mantrayana - Tantrayana - Dharani - Secret School of the Mahayana)

4. Meditation School (Indian Dhyana Samadhi - Shamatha - Vipassana, Chinese Chan, Japanese Zen,
        Tibetan Mahamudra of Kagyupa, and Tibetan Dzogchen of Nyingmapa)

5. Pure Land Devotional School (Bhakti Puja - Buddha-Bodhisattva Mindfulness and Nama Japa --
         Name Recitation of Buddhas Amitabha-Amitayus, Medicine Buddha - Bhaisajya Guru - Akshobhya,
         and Bodhisattvas: Avalokiteshvara-Guanyin-Chenrezig-Mahakala, Tara, Samantabhadra Universal Worthy,
         Manjushri-Kalarupa Great Wisdom, Maitreya Great Loving-Kindness, Mahasthamaprapta Great Strength,
         Ksitigarbha - Earth Store Great Vows, Vajrapani, Vajrasattva,
         Chandraprabha Moonlight Radiance, Suryaprabha Sunlight Radiance, Medicine King Bodhisattva, Medicine Superior Bodhisattva
         and others Dharma Protecting Dharmapala Lokapala Bodhisattvas, Gods and Goddesses)

Compilation Sources for the Above Material on the Teachings of the Buddha:

Primary Compilation Source: Epstein, Ronald B., Ph.D, compiler, Buddhist Text Translation Society's Buddhism A to Z, Burlingame, California: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003. ISBN: 0881393533 Paperback: 284 pages. www.BTTSOnline.org www.Amazon.com
http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=118 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881393533/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20

Secondary Compilation Source: The Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism, 2nd ed., San Francisco, California: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada, 1998: www.budaedu.org.tw

Secondary Compilation Source: Muller, Charles, editor, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism [DDB], Toyo Gakuen University, Japan, 2007: Username is "guest", with no password.
http://buddhism-dict.net/ddb - Based in large part on the Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanskrit and English Equivalents (by Soothill and Hodous) Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997.

Secondary Compilation Source: Ehrhard, Diener, Fischer, et al, The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1991. 296 pages. ISBN 978-0-87773-520-5 www.Shambhala.com, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0877735204/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20,
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-0-87773-520-5.cfm

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Increasing Effect Mantra:
Om Sambhara Sambhara (These Bhikshu Bodhisattva Bodhichitta Vows) Bimana Sara (Spread) Maha (Greatly) Java (Rapidly) Hum (recited 7x)

To increase by 100,000 times the merit created:
Tadyatha Om Pancha Griya (five offerings or five faces) Ava Bodhani Svaha (7x)

Om Dhuru Dhuru Jaya (Victory) Mukhe (Face or Mouth) Svaha (7x)

I Now Universally Transfer the Merit and Virtue of to All Beings to realize Anuttara-Samyak-Sam-Bodhi
(“Unsurpassed Proper and Equal Right Enlightenment”)

Sarva Mangalam.
May all be Auspicious.

Arya Bhikshu Shantideva’s Bodhisattvacharyavatara says:
Just as Manjushri works
To fulfill the aims of all limited beings
To the far reaches of space in the ten directions,
May my behavior become just like that.

For as long as space remains,
And for as long as wandering beings remain,
May I too remain for that long,
Dispelling the sufferings of wandering beings.

(Like Ananda says in the Shurangama Sutra introduction to the Shurangama Mantra,
"And even could the nature of shunyata melt away, my vajra-like Supreme Resolve would still remain unmoved.)

Whatever sufferings wandering beings might have,
May all of them ripen on me,
And through the Bodhisattva assembly,
May wandering beings enjoy happiness.

May the teachings,
the sole medicine for the sufferings of wandering beings
And the source of all happiness,
Continue to endure for a very long time,
With material support and shows of respect.

Updated May 10, 2008