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Furthermore, a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of principles with respect to the four noble truths .1582 And how does a mendicant meditate observing an aspect of principles with respect to the four noble truths ?

It’s when a mendicant truly understands: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering.’

The first …

… to the extent necessary for knowledge and mindfulness. They meditate independent, not grasping at anything in the world.

That’s how a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of principles with respect to the four noble truths .

Anyone who develops these four kinds of mindfulness meditation in this way for seven years can expect one of two results:1612 enlightenment in this very life, or if there’s residue left behind, non-return.

… appears. Darkness prevails then, utter darkness. There’s no explanation of the four noble truths , no teaching, advocating, establishing, clarifying, analyzing, and revealing of them.

But when the Realized One arises in the world, a great light, a great radiance appears. Darkness no longer prevails. Then there’s the explanation of the four noble truths , the teaching, advocating, establishing, clarifying, analyzing, and revealing of …

… the cessation of suffering is the third; and the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering is the fourth. That’s how you should remember the four noble truths as I’ve taught them.

That’s why you should practice meditation …”

“Mendicants, do you remember the four noble truths that I taught?” When he said this, one of the mendicants said to the Buddha:

“I do, sir.”

“How so, mendicant?”

“Sir, I remember that suffering is …

… …

the cessation of suffering? …

the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering? It is simply this noble eightfold path …

That’s why you should practice meditation …”

“Mendicants, do you remember the four noble truths that I taught?” When he said this, one of the mendicants said to the Buddha:

“I do, sir.”

“How so, mendicant?”

“Sir, I remember that suffering is the first noble truth you’ve taught; the origin of suffering …

… and Supplements,’ Buddhist Text Translation Society trans., all reprinted with the kind permission of Dharma Realm Buddhist Association/Buddhist Text Translation Society/Dharma Realm Buddhist University;

‘The Four Noble Truths ,’ reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., copyright the Dalai Lama 1997;

Acknowledgements

21

‘The Sutta Nipāta,’ translated by H. Saddhatissa, copyright 1985 Curzon Press Ltd. Reproduced by …

… this was a device that he frequently used to convey a point and help it to lodge firmly in the listener’s memory. Another such method he employed was the formulation of numerated lists of qualities – e.g. the Four Noble Truths , the Three Characteristics, the Seven Factors of Enlightenment etc. – this system is also a powerful aid in committing the teachings to memory and then assisting

in their retrieval.

The Island

40

As a …

… TERRAIN

3

This and that,

and other things

PERHAPS A GOOD PLACE TO START CONTEMPLATING the nature of Nibbāna

is in the more mundane realm of things since, just as the Buddha opened his expression of the Four Noble Truths with the common and tangible experience of dukkha, unsatisfactoriness, it will be most helpful to begin this investigation within the realm of the familiar and then to work towards the more subtle and abstruse …

… the death and rebirth of beings based on their actions (kamma), which in turn are based on their views; and

(c) release from rebirth that comes from adopting right view, i.e., viewing action in terms of the four noble truths .

a. From the first knowledge: As the Buddha points out, views are based on previous actions and experiences, and in many instances—cited explicitly in the section on views dealing with the past, and implicitly …

… the noble truth of the path of practice leading to cessation of stress has been awakened to & penetrated. Craving for becoming has been crushed; the guide to becoming [i.e., clinging] is ended. There now is no further-becoming.”

That is what the Blessed One said. Having said it, the Teacher, the One Well-Gone, said further:

From lack of vision

of the four noble truths ,

we have wandered a long time

simply in these births & those.

… to Ven. Ānanda, “Come, Ānanda, we will head for Koṭi Village.”

“As you say, lord,” Ven. Ānanda responded to the Blessed One.

Then the Blessed One, together with a large Saṅgha of monks, went to Koṭi Village. There he stayed near Koṭi Village.

And there he addressed the monks: “It’s through not awakening to or penetrating four noble truths , monks, that we have transmigrated and wandered on for such a long time, you & I. Which four?

… cannot be discerned.

Instead of basing his teachings on perceptions about the past, the Buddha focuses instead on how suffering is maintained—and can be ended—in the immediate present. His formulation of the four noble truths holds true, and is immediately applicable to the problem of suffering and stress here and now, regardless of what one remembers from the past. These truths also serve the purpose of leading to nibbāna, something …

… on the side of decline,

x dhammas that are on the side of distinction,

x dhammas that are hard to penetrate,

x dhammas that should be made to arise,

x dhammas that should be directly known,

x dhammas that should be realized.

Four of these categories are derived from the duties appropriate to the four noble truths : comprehending stress, abandoning its origination, realizing its cessation, and developing the path to its cessation.

… with regard to inference, knowledge with regard to encompassing (the minds of others), knowledge of conventions. These four dhammas should be made to arise.

• “Which four dhammas should be directly known? Four noble truths : the noble truth of stress, the noble truth of the origination of stress, the noble truth of the cessation of stress, the noble truth of the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress. These four …

… in this context means “not knowing stress, not knowing the origination of stress, not knowing the cessation of stress, not knowing the way of practice leading to the cessation of stress,” i.e., not knowing the four noble truths . Because all clinging ends when ignorance ends and clear-knowing arises, clinging to views ends when one has mastered the duties appropriate to each of these truths (see SN 56:11). In other words, the true …

… dependent co-arising (paṭicca samuppada). This way of seeing experience is, ultimately, what sets his Dhamma apart.

Dependent co-arising focuses on the decisive role played by knowledge in terms of the four noble truths in putting an end to clinging, and it’s in light of these truths—and the duties appropriate to each—that the importance of the two points highlighted in this sutta is best understood.

The second noble truth …

4. This stage in the practice would seem to correspond to reaching stream-entry, inasmuch as one of the standard definitions of stream-entry is direct vision of the four noble truths . It is also the stage at which one reaches verified conviction in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha.

The sentence stating that the stream-enterer has come to a conclusion without coming to conclusion appears to be a pun. The idiomatic expression for coming to …