The Buddha knew that illness is a natural part of human life. Toni Bernhard shares how the first noble truth has helped her gracefully accept being chronically ill. After a long journey of discovery, with many ups and downs, the Buddha, an ordinary human being like you and me, sat down under a tree and stayed there until he attained enlightenment—also known as liberation, [...]
The Message of the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths
Buddha Shakyamuni. India, Uttar Pradesh, late 6th century. Copper alloy sculpture with traces of paint. Via LACMA. The message of Buddha's Four Noble Truths is that paying attention and seeing clearly lead to behaving impeccably in every moment, out of love, and on behalf of all beings. The Buddha's First Teaching Accounts of the Buddha’s life, said to have been told by [...]
Deer to the Heart
Even if you don't think much about them, they're always present. Andrea Miller reexamines something we all might have missed in the meaning of the quiet, watchful deer. Somehow, I’d missed the part about the deer. I’d read everything in the guidebook about Nara, or at least I thought I had. I’d read that Nara’s temple, Todai-ji, sheltered a gargantuan bronze statue of [...]
Who Was the Buddha?
"Buddha" means "one who is awake." The Buddha who lived 2,600 years ago was not a god. He was an ordinary person, named Siddhartha Gautama, whose profound insights inspired the world. Contents Who Was Buddha? What Do We Know About the Historical Buddha? Have There Been Other Buddhas? What About the Buddhas in Buddhist Art? Do Buddhists Worship the Buddha? [...]
What Are the Four 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 [...]
What Is Suffering?
The Pali word dukkha is most commonly translated to English as "suffering." Dukkha presents in an array of emotions — from happiness to despair. While counterintuitive, it is a central concept in the Buddha's teachings. In these passages, adapted from longer teachings on Lion's Roar, 10 teachers explain what suffering is, how we feel it, and why it isn't a condemnation — it's a [...]
Between Arhat and Bodhisattva
Ajahn Amaro examines the arguments for and against the arhat and bodhisattva ideals that define and too often divide the Buddhist traditions. He suggests a way out of the polarizing debate. A student of Buddhism asked, “Which do you think is the best path: that of the arahant [arhat] or that of the bodhisattva?” “That kind of question is asked by people who understand [...]
How do I develop insight through Buddhist practice?
According to Buddhism, we suffer not because there’s anything inherently wrong with us but simply because we misunderstand the nature of reality. Sylvia Boorstein on developing insight into the way things really are. Includes a meditation for deepening our sense of interconnectedness. I was walking through the airport terminal when my eyes met those of a baby approaching [...]
Now the Bad News
A young prince named Siddhartha was so shocked when he encountered the sufferings of the body that he went off to seek enlightenment. Today, the bad news of birth, old age, sickness, and death is still the impetus for awakening. Birth By Rachel Neumann I was four the first time I saw a woman give birth. It was early evening, at a commune deep in the Siskiyou Mountains of [...]
From The Under 35 Project: “Getting With the Four Noble Truths”
Nick Walser explains how he sees and attempts to "do" the Four Noble Truths. Some say they are to be practiced, that they beg to be investigated; some that they can’t be denied by dint of being Noble and being Truths. In any spiritual tradition the main concern is how to get with the teachings or the teacher. In the Buddhist scheme, it’s these four teachings that we are [...]
