Week 1
The Four Noble Truths Week 1 (4/29/25) Homework:
- Daily formal practice (see below for instructions if you need them)
- Basic meditation instructions: https://sundaysangha.net/resources/beginners/
- This week, in addition to your daily practice and living life as practice, the invitation is to observe dukkha when it is present for you, to investigate it as a naturalist would, observing how it manifests in your life (mind) the variety of flavors it can take, to see what conditions (inner and outer) amplify it, and what conditions seem to alleviate or undermine it. If the first noble truth is to be fully understood, we need to be willing to look at dukkha directly so that we can learn about its nature. When dukkha is not present in the mind, no need to go searching for it, just enjoy whatever is happening. If you are simply being aware, practicing formal and informal meditation throughout your day, you will surely notice times when it is present. The key is not to turn away from dukkha reflexively as is so often our habit, or to deny or attempt to transcend or pass over dukkha before we understand it. We want to observe this aspect of experience and see what we can learn. In addition to observing the movements of dukkha, you will likely notice the habitual strategies you employ (often unconsciously) to avoid feeling or perceiving dukkha. Don’t judge these but simply notice.
Class 1 Notes:
There are two aspects to this four week practice period. The first is treating these four weeks as a layperson’s retreat in which we commit to daily formal meditation practice as well as relating to the rest of our time off the cushion as “informal” practice, bringing mindfulness and clear comprehension to our daily movements, commitments, and activities. Our only “job” on a residential retreat is to be aware of our direct experience and to learn from it. In our daily life retreat, we practice being aware while doing our other jobs and engaging in everyday activities.
I already sent you a link to some basic meditation instructions for those who need it and I am including it again here: https://sundaysangha.net/resources/beginners/ When we practice formal and informal meditation we are already cultivating the path that leads to the cessation of Dukkha (4th noble truth), by living ethically and cultivating samadhi (concentration/unification of mind) and wisdom through mindfulness and clear seeing into the nature of our moment-to-moment experience.
This practice commitment and living our life as a daily life retreat can exist independent of the theme of our class. The investigation and experiential inquiry into the four noble truths will complement our daily practice.
The Pali:
I gave an overview yesterday of the Four Noble Truths including the Pali (the language that the early texts are written in) to give you a feel for how the Buddha spoke about these. The Pali can give a different flavor than the English translations.
Dukkham ariya-saccam Dukkha noble truth
Dukkha-samudayam ariya-saccam Dukkha origin (cause) noble truth
Dukkha-nirodah ariya-saccam Dukkha cessation noble truth
Dukkha-nirodah-gamini-patipada ariya-saccam Dukkha cessation path leading to Noble Truth
What to Do With these Truths?:
Dukkha is to be fully understood
The origin of dukkha, craving, is to be abandoned
The cessation of dukkha is to be realized
The path leading to the cessation of dukkha is to be cultivated (developed)
I gave a brief overview of each of the noble truths and then we went a bit deeper on the first as that will be our theme of exploration for the coming week.
In the Dhamma-Cakkappavattana Sutta (Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion) the Buddha describes Dukkha as:
“Now this bhikkhus is the noble truth of dukkha, birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, illness is dukkha, death is dukkha; union with what is displeasing is dukkha, separation from what is pleasing is dukkha, not to get what one wants is dukkha, in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging is dukkha.”
Here is an alternate translation of the complete text if you are interested, you will see it differs a bit from what I have above: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.than.html
Dukkha Definition:
The translator of the linked text translates dukkha as “stress”, a good but not sufficient translation as there is no single English word that can encompass its full meaning. Some other words that can be used and suggest even more subtle layers of experience would be, tension, incompleteness, unsatisfactoriness, unsettledness, dis-ease, distress, agitation, mental suffering.
What is the type of Dukkha that can cease?
Dukkha as a noble truth that is also subject to cessation (third noble truth) is a mental experience, it is not physical birth, aging, illness, death, or the aggregates (form, feeling, perception, thoughts, consciousness) in and of themselves that is dukkha. It is how our minds respond to these aspects of experience when under the influence of ignorance that produces the mental stress and distress of dukkha. If aging, illness and death were inherently dukkha then we could not say that the Buddha had realized the end of dukkha because like all of us he got old, experienced physical pain, and died. His life in that sense was subject to all the physical challenges that we also face. But to say that the Buddha realized the cessation of dukkha, and that other great masters did as well, in addition to the many who have realized a great reduction in mental stress and distress suggests that they somehow radically transformed their relationship with these universal aspects of life. This is the territory we will be exploring in our first-person investigation of the four noble truths.
This week, in addition to your daily practice and living life as practice, the invitation is to observe dukkha when it is present for you, to investigate it as a naturalist would, observing how it manifests in your life (mind) the variety of flavors it can take, to see what conditions (inner and outer) amplify it, and what conditions seem to alleviate or undermine it. If the first noble truth is to be fully understood, we need to be willing to look at dukkha directly so that we can learn about its nature. When dukkha is not present in the mind, no need to go searching for it, just enjoy whatever is happening. If you are simply being aware, practicing formal and informal meditation throughout your day, you will surely notice times when it is present. The key is not to turn away from dukkha reflexively as is so often our habit, or to deny or attempt to transcend or pass over dukkha before we understand it. We want to observe this aspect of experience and see what we can learn. In addition to observing the movements of dukkha, you will likely notice the habitual strategies you employ (often unconsciously) to avoid feeling or perceiving dukkha. Don’t judge these but simply notice.
Please do not engage in activities that you know are harmful to you in order to investigate dukkha. In addition to this, certain mind-states that you know are harmful for you to hang out in are to be avoided for now. For example, I would not encourage people to sit and meditate or investigate within a very depressive state or state of feeling hopeless. In these situations, we need to use our present-moment awareness, wisdom, and agency, to steer toward an object, experience, or activity that is more supportive and useful for us.
Let’s look at small dukkha to start so we can learn about its mechanics in a way that is not overwhelming. When concentration and mindfulness are more fully developed we can then observe much stronger states without being overcome by them.
Inquiry Questions (to be investigated in your direct experience, not just thought about):
- Is Dukkha (stress, tension, unsatisfactoriness, dis-ease, mental suffering) inherent in outer conditions or is it in the mind?
- Is Dukkah as an inner experience a fixed quantity in relation to experience? In other words do the same outer (or inner) conditions always produce the same amount and type of dukkha in you or does it vary? If it varies can you observe anything about the conditions (internally or externally) that affect this variation?
- What are some of the more subtle flavors of Dukkha that you can notice in your experience as you move through the day?
- How does being mindfully aware of dukkha and observing it with interest in real time affect your experience of it?
I will be practicing along with you over these weeks. I look forward to seeing you next week and to hearing about what you discover in your daily practice and inquiry into the first noble truth.