The four truths, one by one
Today, read the four truths once and notice which one your day keeps returning to.
- Read · about 2 minutes
Now this is the noble truth of suffering.Rebirth is suffering; old age is suffering; illness is suffering; death is suffering; being coupled with the disliked is suffering; separation from the liked is suffering; not getting what you wish for is suffering. In brief, the five grasping aggregates are suffering.Now this is the noble truth of the origin of suffering.…craving for sensual pleasures, craving for continued existence, and craving for nonexistence.Now this is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering.It’s the fading away and cessation of that very same craving no residue left behind; giving it away, letting it go, releasing it, and not clinging to it.Now this is the noble truth of the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering.SN 56.11 · Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta · “Rolling Forth the Wheel of Dhamma” · tr. Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0)
From the text
The passage states four noble truths. Suffering includes old age, illness, death, being with the disliked, parting from the liked, and not getting what you wish for. Its origin is craving of three kinds. Its cessation is that craving fading away and being let go. The fourth is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering.
In everyday life
This is the passage where the four truths are set out one after another, each simply stated. Suffering is given as a list of ordinary events: old age, illness, death, being paired with what you dislike, parted from what you like, not getting what you wish for. The list also opens with an item about being born again and closes with a shorthand, ‘the five grasping aggregates’; both are left aside today. The origin is craving, of three kinds. The cessation is that same craving fading away, given up, let go of. The practice that leads there is the fourth truth; the source goes on to call it the noble eightfold path (sn56.11:4.9–4.10, not quoted), which day five takes up. The passage is addressed to mendicants, monks and nuns living on alms, but the events it lists happen to everyone. Today’s sit is arriving: settling the body and letting the breath be. Afterwards, reread the four statements slowly.
- Sit · 3, 5 or 10 minutes
Arriving and Settling
Sit upright on a chair or cushion, hands resting in your lap. Read each cue as it appears; between cues you may close your eyes or lower your gaze.
- Live · during your day
Once today, say the four truths to yourself in your own words, one sentence each, without checking them against the text. Then notice which sentence came easiest and which you had to search for.
- Reflect · this evening
Which of the four truths felt most familiar today, and which felt strangest?
Answer on paper, or in the app’s journal, which stays on your iPhone.