Amber Larson, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; BuddhaNet.net; Molly Hahn
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| Cats are good friends when they sleep in under the Sun (Molly Hahn/buddhadoodles.com) |
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| The Buddha and my cat (Dee McIntosh/flickr) |
The Buddha sets out the Four Truths as a formula a doctor would use to deal with a patient, a suffering person.
1. The Buddha first establishes the basic affliction, which is determined to be the problem of liability to disappointment and unsatisfactoriness; living beings are in pain.
2. Thereafter, he makes a diagnosis. That is, he explains the cause
for this disease. This is the second truth, namely, that craving is
part of the problem [explained in full in the 12 causal links of
Dependent Origination], and craving is the link we can do something
about right here and right now.
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| Accept what is. Let go of judgment. Remain aware of it. And you will know and see (BD). |
3. As a third step a good doctor gives a prognosis, the possibility of the cessation
of the problem. That is to say, a doctor determines whether a cure is
possible. Is there some means of bringing about the end of our
affliction, our problem, the pain we are sore from, complaining about,
and seeking a cure for? Fortunately for living beings, the Buddha says
YES: Suffering can be ended in this very life! We can stop all our
suffering.
4. Finally, in the fourth step, perhaps the most
important from the standpoint of the ailing patient, the doctor
prescribes the course of treatment. The Buddha prescribes a fourth
truth: the Noble Eightfold Path, the way
to the end of all suffering, the treatment, the actions to take for
enlightenment that leads to the goal of nirvana, which the Buddha very
specifically defined as the final solution, the antidote, the cure, "the
end of all suffering."
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