The Four Noble Truths

The Truth of Suffering

The Truth of the Cause of Suffering

The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering

The Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering

With respect to their practice, the Buddha taught:

The Truth of Suffering is to be identified.

The Truth of the Cause of Suffering is to be abandoned.

The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering is to be actualized.

The Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering is to be meditated upon.

Ācārya Dharmakīrti states in the Pramāṇavārttika that when the Buddha taught that suffering is to be identified, he was referring specifically to pervasive conditioned suffering. If one has only identified the first two types of suffering — suffering of suffering and suffering of change — but remains unaware of pervasive conditioned suffering, one has not truly identified suffering at all. This is the meaning of renunciation (nge jung).

The diagram pairs each of the Four Noble Truths with its corresponding practice, as taught by the Buddha.

One should embrace whatever system genuinely helps in identifying pervasive conditioned suffering and eradicating it at its root. This is not about allegiance to any particular “-ism” or tradition — Jainism, Buddhism, Christianity, Sikhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sufism, and so forth are all profound and valuable paths. What matters is not the label one carries, but the sincerity with which one walks the path toward genuine freedom from pervasive conditioned suffering, like Prince Sidhartha did and so many are benefitted.