The Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths are the foundation of the Buddha’s teaching.

The First Noble Truth is the truth of dukkha.

The Second Noble Truth is the origin, root, nature, creation, or arising of dukkha. This origin is desire or thirst. I want. I do not want.

The Third Noble Truth is the cessation of dukkha - Nirvana. Allowing desire to fade away by not feeding it.

The Fourth Noble Truth is the Noble Eightfold Path that leads away from dukkha to Nirvana.

The word “dukkha” is a Pali term roughly corresponding to a number of terms in English including suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness, sorrow, affliction, anxiety, dissatisfaction, discomfort, anguish, stress, misery, and frustration. The Four Noble Truths on dukkha are taught as the primary means to attain the ultimate aim of Nirvana.

In classic Sanskrit, dukkha is often compared to a large potter's wheel that screeches as it is spun around. The wheel does not turn smoothly.

In other Buddhist-influenced cultures similar imagery is used to describe dukkha. An example from China is a cart with one wheel that is slightly broken. The rider is jolted each time the wheel rolls over the broken spot.

Although in the West dukkha is often translated as "suffering", its philosophical meaning is more analogous to "disquietude" as in the condition of being disturbed. As such, "suffering" is too narrow a translation with negative emotional connotations which can give the impression that the Buddhist view is one of pessimism. But Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic. It is realistic. Thus in English-language Buddhist literature dukkha is often left untranslated, so as to encompass its full range of meaning.