http://forums.thinkarete.com/forums/the-big-ideas/topics/buddha-noble-truths en-us 60 <p>Buddha&rsquo;s Four Noble Truths form the core of Buddhism. They are:</p><p><em>1. Life is full of suffering.</em></p><p><em>2. The cause of suffering is selfish desire.</em></p><p><em>3. Suffering can be relieved.</em></p><p><em>4. The relief of suffering can be achieved by following the eightfold path.</em></p><p><em>&quot;Life is suffering&quot;? </em>What does <em>that</em> mean?</p><p>Buddha established the fact that life will always involve a certain amount of suffering. We will all get old, get sick and die. Our possessions will break and so will some of our relationships. According to Buddha, that&rsquo;s just how it is.</p><p>The fact that these things happen do not account for why we are unhappy, however. We are unhappy because we fight against it.</p><p>Our minds get stuck. (See Big Idea on Dukkha!) We cling to our sense of how things <em>should</em> be, or how we want them to be. It&rsquo;s this attachment to expectations that presents the problem.</p><p>Only by dealing with the fact that life is unpredictable and will often bring pain and undesirable events, can we become &quot;non-attached&quot; and avoid the suffering that plagues most people.</p> Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:43:19 -0000 forums.thinkarete.com:503:376:376 brian http://forums.thinkarete.com/forums/503/topics/376