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once such a person has seen the 
Noble Truths, 
even though they might be able to 
teach those Noble 
Truths for the benefit of others, it 
doesn't mean 
that others will necessarily be able 
to see the Noble 
Truths in the same way. 
The Noble Truths are difficult to 
see or appreciate 
because our relationship to them 
(especially suffering) 
is like a fish's relationship to 
water. A fish is 
so used to the water it lives in, that 
it fails to notice 
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the presence of that water. In the 
same way, our 
human condition is so intimately in 
contact with 
the Noble Truths that without 
penetrative insight 
we fail to see the patterns or the 
reasons behind 
them. 
B. THE NOBLE TRUTHS 
The Buddha's first teaching, the 
Dhammacakkapavattana 
Sutta (S.v.420ff.), which is the 
main source 
of our knowledge about the Noble 
Truths is one of 
the most important teachings for 
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Buddhists to 
know. Its importance lies in the 
fact that it acts like 
a blueprint for all the subsequent 
teachings on Buddhism 
given during the Buddha's 
lifetime. Even if 
the Lord Buddha were to teach the 
Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta and 
never to teach 
another word of Dhamma for the 
rest of his life, 
His duty in proclaiming the 
Dhamma to the world 
would have been fulfilled. Just as 
each country of 
the world has a Constitution as the 
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blueprint for 
the rest of the laws of the country 
to expand upon, 
similarly, the other teachings of the 
Buddha, the 
teachingsof the arahants and the 
teachings of distinguished 
Buddhist teachers down to the 
present 
time are simply enlargements upon 
the Noble 
Truths of the 
Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta. 
The 
Noble Truths are fourfold and 
consist of: 
1. The Noble Truth of Suffering 
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[dukkhaariyasacca]; 
2. The Noble Truth of the Origin 
of Suffering 
[samudaya-ariyasacca]; 
3. The Noble Truth of the 
Cessation of Suffering 
Blessing Thirty-Three: Seeing the 
Four Noble Truths 373 
[nirodha-ariyasacca], and; 
4. The Noble Truth of the Path to 
the Cessation of 
Suffering [magga-ariyasacca or 
dukkhanirodha-
gAminE-paEipadA-ariyasacca]. 
If you were to compare these with 
our system of 
curing illness, you can compare: 
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1. Suffering to the condition of 
being ill 
2. The Origin of Suffering to the 
pathogen, bacteria 
or virus 
3. The Cessation of Suffering to 
the condition of 
being healed from the illness 
4. The Path to the medicine that 
can cure one of 
the said disease. 
To take the metaphor further, it 
can be said that 
everyone in the world is ill with 
the disease of 
suffering — but it is as if no-one 
really knows 
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what the nature or the cause of the 
illness 
let 
alone the cure. The purpose of this 
blessing is to 
allow us to know the real nature of 
Suffering and 
how we can extricate ourselves 
from it. 
B.1 The Noble Truth of Suffering 
The Pali word used for this Truth 
is ' dukkha' which 
means the (truth of the existence 
of) Suffering. 
Suffering in general means 
`awkwardness' or 
`discomfort' of body or mind. 
Over the course of 
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many existences, when the Buddha 
had developed 
inner brightness sufficient to see 
the reality 
of the world, he saw that every 
living being in 
the world is plagued by suffering. 
Even multimillionaires 
are suffering. No matter if they are 
the president, members of 
parliament, the king, 
the emperor or even monks — all 
are plagued by 
suffering. All are suffering to a 
greater or lesser 
extent. As the result of extended 
self-training, the 
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Buddha was able to see the nature 
of suffering 
and even to analyze it into its 
different components. 
There are eleven major categories 
of suffering 
under the two headings of 
inevitable and 
miscellaneous (to a greater degree 
avoidable) suffering: 
B.1.1 Inevitable Suffering 
[svabhAvadukkha]: 
It doesn't matter what sort of birth 
you take, you 
cannot escape this type of 
suffering — even if you 
are a man, an angel or a god, for as 
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long as you are 
still within the Three Spheres you 
cannot escape: 
1. Birth [jAta]: Most people 
wonder why the Buddha 
designated birth as a form of 
suffering — in 
contrast to most religions of the 
world which 
conclude that it is a pleasure to be 
born. The 
Buddha, by contrast, taught that 
birth is suffering 
because it is the starting point for 
all the other 
sorts of suffering. In addition birth 
is fraught 
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with the following ten aspects all 
of which lead 
to suffering: 
1. the Suffering of Internment in 
the Womb 
2. the Suffering of Physical Shocks 
to the Womb 
3. the Suffering of Unnatural 
Childbirth 
4. the Suffering of Undergoing 
Childbirth (for 
the baby) 
5. the Suffering of Being 
Cleaned-Up after birth 
6. the Suffering of Curtailed Life 
7. the Suffering of Wounds in 
Combat 
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8. the Suffering of Birth in the Hell 
Realms 
9. the Suffering of Birth in the 
Animal Kingdom 
10. the Suffering of Birth in the 
Realm of Hungry 
Ghosts 
2. Aging [jarA]: Aging is a form of 
suffering easily 
seen from the sighs and moans of 
old people each 
time they have to get up from their 
chairs. Indeed, 
most people think that aging starts 
when 
you are seventy or eighty years 
old. However, 
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the worst aspects of aging are not 
the grey hair 
and wrinkles, but the hidden part 
which works 
in the background from the day we 
were born 
— compared to an unseen fire 
which reduces a 
forest to cinders or storm which 
leaves nothing 
but debris in its wake; 
3. Death [maraAa]: All living 
beings have to undergo 
death before they leave one 
existence for 
the next — no matter whether they 
are rich or 
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poor, have led a good life or a bad 
one. When 
the mind must depart from one's 
body at the end 
of one's life, it is only those who 
have managed 
to attain transcendental [lokuttara] 
mental states 
who don't fear oncoming death. 
This is why the 
Lord Buddha referred to death as 
suffering. The 
suffering of dying brings 
excruciating misery 
because of: 
• the scorching sensation when 
dying which 
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seems to penetrate the whole of 
our body 
374 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
• having to face pre-death omens 
and visions 
• the struggle of clinging to 
possessions in vain 
• the struggle of clinging to loved 
ones in vain 
• special torment of death in the 
case of execution 
B.1.2 Miscellaneous Suffering 
[pakiAakkadukkha]: 
This is suffering which is caused 
when the mind is 
lacking in quality. It is a category 
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of suffering which 
you have the opportunity to escape 
— but for those 
who don't make the effort to 
escape, they will meet 
up with a lot of it. If you know the 
method to avoid 
this sort of suffering, you can 
reduce your misery 
— especially by changing your 
attitudes at a deeper 
level: 
1. Sorrow [soka]: This is the 
`dry-minded' suffering 
— for example, that of a mother 
with a new 
baby who cannot take her baby to 
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work (or she 
will be fired), but must leave the 
baby in the 
creche or with a maid despite her 
misgivings. 
He anxiousness leads to sorrow for 
the situation. 
With the anxiety of whether the 
maid will take 
proper care of the baby or whether 
they will leave 
the baby to be bitten by ants. 
2. Lamentation [parideva]: This is 
sorrow that drives 
you to tears. If the mother in the 
last example 
should worry herself to tears it 
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would be counted 
as lamentation. 
3. Pain [dukkha]: This is physical 
suffering. The 
Buddha characterized this sort of 
suffering as 
that which makes the mind 
depressed and dejected. 
The cause of the suffering might 
be illness, 
physical torture, punishment, 
imprisonment 
or having hands or feet cut off. As 
the suffering 
must be endured alone — friends 
and relatives 
can do nothing to help us, or else 
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we are 
separated from them. Some people 
feel such pain 
as a result of their poverty —
being unable to 
afford clothes and jewelry to wear 
like more fortunate 
people. The mental anguish which 
comes 
from the resentment of the 
unavoidability and 
seeming unfairness of one's 
circumstances can 
also be ascribed to this form of 
suffering. 
4. Feeling slighted [domanassa]: 
This is when one 
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has a `chip on one's shoulder' (to 
be aggressively 
sensitive about a particular thing or 
bear a 
grudge). Some people bear a 
grudge against their 
parents for not having showed 
them enough 
love. Some wives bear a grudge 
against their 
husbands for receiving less 
affection than they 
think they deserve. 
5. Despair [upAyAssa]: This is 
when you give up any 
hope of success in something. You 
might see a 
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