First, I should say that I recognize that this is all just my own understanding of the subject of Buddhism, and could be off O:-)
That having been said, I am curious about which part irritated you. From some of the information that I have found (see links below) the Four Noble Truths are:
1) Life is suffering 2) We suffer because of our attachments 3) It is possible to end suffering/cause the suffering to cease (one of the ways that has been taught for doing this is by realizing that that which we perceive of as our selves is illusion, which seems to be what your notes refer to) 4) The way to end suffering is by following the Eightfold Path. (Though I prefer to think of it as "One" instead of "The" because I'm not convinced that there aren't others ;)
The first step of the Eightfold Path seems to me to be referring to an understanding of the Noble Truths, as opposed to actually implementing them (and causing the circular problem that you observed). Given that the Truths address the matter of becoming free from suffering, it makes sense to me that the first step of becoming free from that suffering would be to develop a deep understanding of what it means to suffer, what attachments are, how they develop, and what is meant by the idea of becoming free from suffering. It does me no good to be traveling very quickly if I am mistakenly traveling in a direction other than the one in which my destination lies.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: 4 noble truths
Date: 2004-10-01 04:31 pm (UTC)That having been said, I am curious about which part irritated you. From some of the information that I have found (see links below) the Four Noble Truths are:
1) Life is suffering
2) We suffer because of our attachments
3) It is possible to end suffering/cause the suffering to cease (one of the ways that has been taught for doing this is by realizing that that which we perceive of as our selves is illusion, which seems to be what your notes refer to)
4) The way to end suffering is by following the Eightfold Path. (Though I prefer to think of it as "One" instead of "The" because I'm not convinced that there aren't others ;)
The first step of the Eightfold Path seems to me to be referring to an understanding of the Noble Truths, as opposed to actually implementing them (and causing the circular problem that you observed). Given that the Truths address the matter of becoming free from suffering, it makes sense to me that the first step of becoming free from that suffering would be to develop a deep understanding of what it means to suffer, what attachments are, how they develop, and what is meant by the idea of becoming free from suffering. It does me no good to be traveling very quickly if I am mistakenly traveling in a direction other than the one in which my destination lies.
Links:
http://www.nyimc.org/articles/truths.htm
http://www.buddhaweb.org/
http://www.rinpoche.com/fornob.html
http://www.4truths.com/