Four Noble Truths

In the Buddha’s first major discourse, he described the Four Noble Truths (Rahula, 1974). The first Noble Truth is that life is filled with dukkha. The second truth is that the source of dukkha is craving (which leads to clinging). The third truth is that dukkha ends when craving ceases. At this point, it is said that one is fully in the present, joyful, peaceful, and compassionate. A common misunderstanding is that this will result in a person being apathetic or unemotional. This is not the case; one can still have preferences and goals without clinging. One’s behavior becomes motivated more by compassion and appropriateness, rather than security, sensation, and power. In this sense Buddhist psychology is more humanistic than Freudian; it is postulated that the basic nature of people is sane, clear, and good. It is a matter of getting free from defilements, such as the three poisons of the mind, identified as anger, greed, and delusion.
The fourth Noble Truth is the way to get free from craving and defilements, the Eightfold Path (Das, 1997). First is right understanding, understanding the situation one is in (e.g., the Noble Truths and marks of existence) and resolving to do something about it. Second is right thought, including no lust, ill-will, or cruelty. Third is right speech, including being constructive and helpful and avoiding lying, gossip, and vanity. Fourth is right action, including being moral, compassionate, precise, and aware, and avoiding aggression. Fifth is right livelihood, not creating suffering. And sixth is right effort, actually doing what should be done.
Seventh and eighth are right mindfulness and right concentration, which are discussed in more detail next. The nature, function, and cultivation of mindfulness is one of Buddhism’s great contributions to world psychology.