Fig. 13.1 The fourfold structure of ancient Indian medicine and the four noble truths
The instructions for the final exercise among the satipaṭṭhāna contemplations are:
He knows as it really is, “this is dukkha”, he knows as it really is, “this is the arising of dukkha”, he knows as it really is, “this is the cessation of dukkha”, he knows as it really is, “this is the way leading to the cessation of dukkha”.1
XIII.1 THE IMPLICATIONS OF DUKKHA
According to more detailed expositions found in other discourses, the first of the four noble truths relates dukkha to physical events such as disease and death, and to the mental displeasure that arises from being unable to satisfy desires and wishes.2 As the first noble truth points out, all these forms of dukkha can in the final analysis be traced to the basic fivefold clinging to existence by way of the aggregates.
Although the Buddha placed much emphasis on dukkha, this does not mean that his analysis of reality was concerned only with the negative aspects of existence. In fact, an understanding of dukkha and its arising leads to the third and the fourth noble truths, which are concerned with the positive values of freedom from dukkha and the practical path leading to that freedom. As the Buddha himself expressly stated, a realization of the four noble truths will be accompanied by happiness, and the noble eightfold path is a path productive of joy.3 This shows that understanding dukkha is not necessarily a matter of frustration and despair.
Dukkha is often translated as “suffering”. Suffering, however, represents only one aspect of dukkha, a term whose range of implications is difficult to capture with a single English word.4 Dukkha can be derived from the Sanskrit kha, one meaning of which is “the axle-hole of a wheel”, and the antithetic prefix duḥ (= dus), which stands for “difficulty” or “badness”.5 The complete term then evokes the image of an axle not fitting properly into its hole. According to this image, dukkha suggests “disharmony” or “friction”. Alternatively dukkha can be related to the Sanskrit stha, “standing” or “abiding”, combined with the same antithetic prefix duḥ.6 Dukkha in the sense of “standing badly” then conveys nuances of “uneasiness” or of being “uncomfortable”.7 In order to catch the various nuances of “dukkha”, the most convenient translation is “unsatisfactoriness”, though it might be best to leave the term untranslated.
The need for careful translation of the term can be demonstrated with the help of a passage from the Nidāna Saṃyutta, where the Buddha stated that whatever is felt is included within dukkha.8 To understand dukkha here as an affective quality and to take it as implying that all feelings are “suffering” conflicts with the Buddha’s analysis of feelings into three mutually exclusive types, which are, in addition to unpleasant feeling, pleasant and neutral feelings.9 On another occasion the Buddha explained his earlier statement that “whatever is felt is included within dukkha” to refer to the impermanent nature of all conditioned phenomena.10 The changing nature of feelings, however, need not necessarily be experienced as “suffering”, since in the case of a painful experience, for example, change may be experienced as pleasant.11 Thus all feelings are not “suffering”, nor is their impermanence “suffering”, but all feelings are “unsatisfactory”, since none of them can provide lasting satisfaction. That is, dukkha as a qualification of all conditioned phenomena is not necessarily experienced as “suffering”, since suffering requires someone sufficiently attached in order to suffer.
That to suffer is due to some form of attachment is in fact the implication of the second noble truth, according to which in order for the unsatisfactory nature of phenomena in the world to lead to actual suffering, it is necessary for craving (taṇhā) to be present.12 As the third noble truth indicates, once all traces of attachment and craving have been eradicated by the arahant, such suffering is also eradicated.
Thus “suffering”, unlike “unsatisfactoriness”, is not inherent in the phenomena of the world, only in the way in which the unawakened mind experiences them. This is indeed the underlying theme of the four noble truths as a whole: the suffering caused by attachment and craving can be overcome by awakening. For an arahant the unsatisfactory nature of all conditioned phenomena is no longer capable of causing suffering.
The fourth noble truth then treats the conditions for such overcoming in detail, by depicting the practical way (magga, paṭipadā) to be followed. This noble eightfold path covers the central activities and qualities to be cultivated in order to bring about the transformation from ignorant worldling (puthujjana) to arahant.13 Since in this context right mindfulness (sammā sati) is juxtaposed with other factors such as view, speech, and action, the noble eightfold path sets the necessary framework for a development of satipaṭṭhāna.14 In other words, satipaṭṭhāna becomes “sammā sati” only when and if it is undertaken interdependently with the other seven path factors.15
The four noble truths express the essence of the Buddha’s awakening and form the central theme of what is recorded as his first formal discourse.16 Since these four truths accord with reality, they are further qualified as “noble”, as the four “noble” truths.17 The underlying fourfold structure parallels a fourfold method of diagnosis and prescription used in ancient Indian medicine (cf. Fig. 13.1 below).18 Similar nuances occur in several discourses which compare the Buddha to a doctor and his teaching to medicine.19 This presentation underlines the pragmatic orientation of the four noble truths as a practical investigation of reality.20
Just as the footprints of all animals can fit within the footprint of an elephant, so too, whatever wholesome states there are, all of them are embraced by the four noble truths.21 On the other hand, to believe that one can realize awakening without having understood the four noble truths is like trying to construct the upper floors of a house without having first constructed its lower floors and foundations.22 Taken together, these statements underscore the central importance of the four noble truths.
XIII.3 CONTEMPLATION OF THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
Each of the four noble truths makes its own demand on the practitioner: dukkha has to be “understood”, its origination has to be “abandoned”, its cessation has to be “realized”, and the practical path to this realization has to be “developed”.23 In particular, the five aggregates are to be understood, ignorance and craving for existence are to be abandoned, knowledge and freedom are to be realized, and calm (samatha) and insight (vipassanā) are to be developed.24
For the purpose of contemplation (anupassanā), the Dvayatānupassanā Sutta suggests that one may focus either on dukkha and its arising, or on its cessation and the path leading to its cessation.25 This corresponds to the two stage sequence found throughout the contemplation of dhammas: in each case recognizing the presence or absence of a particular phenomenon includes directing mindfulness to the causes of its presence or absence (see Fig. 13.2 below).
Applied at a mundane level, contemplation of the four noble truths can be directed to patterns of clinging (upādāna) to existence occurring in everyday life, as, for example, when one’s expectations are frustrated, when one’s position is threatened, or when things do not go as one would want.26 The task here is to acknowledge the underlying pattern of craving (taṇhā) that has led to the build-up of clinging and expectations, and also its resultant manifestation in some form of dukkha. This understanding in turn forms the necessary basis for letting go of craving (taṇhāya paṭinissagga). With such letting go, clinging and dukkha can, at least momentarily, be overcome. Practised in this way, one will become increasingly able to “fare evenly amidst the uneven”.27
Not only do the four noble truths, listed as the final meditation practice in this satipaṭṭhāna, constitute the conclusion of this series of contemplations, they can also be related to each of the other contemplations of dhammas.28 The commentaries go further by relating each of the meditation practices described throughout the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta to the scheme of the four noble truths.29 In fact, the successful completion of any satipaṭṭhāna contemplation is the realization of Nibbāna, which corresponds to knowing the third noble truth “as it really is”.30 Yet a full understanding of the third noble truth implies a penetration of all four, since each one is but a different facet of the same central realization.31 Thus the four noble truths indeed form the culmination of any successful implementation of satipaṭṭhāna as the direct path to the realization of Nibbāna.
