The four noble truths are the most important principles of Buddhism. We need to take into serious account these principles, whether we speak about Buddhism as a religion, or Buddhist philosophy, or any other serious study on Buddhism. Here, only a brief description of the four noble truths is given, to start our study on the ‘Philosophy of Buddhism.’ The four noble truths are explained in detail in the chapter ‘Buddhism as a Religion.’ We may have to refer back to the portion there for more details. The four noble truths of Buddhism are as follows:
Life is Full of Suffering (Dukkha): According to the first noble truth all forms of existence are subject to suffering. For Buddha it is a universal truth. All known and unknown facts and forms of life are associated with suffering. Birth, sickness, old age, death, anxiety, desire, and despair, all such happenings and feelings are based on suffering. Buddhism recognizes suffering at three levels, such as the suffering we experience in our daily life, like, birth, sickness, old age, death, despair, pain, desire, etc. (duhkah-duhkhatta), suffering caused by the internal mental conditions and the activities of the sense organs (samkara- duhkhatta), and the suffering caused by the impermanence of objects and our relation to them (viparinama-duhkhatta).
Suffering has a Cause (Dukkha samudaya): Everything in this cosmos has a cause, and nothing exists and happens without a cause. If this is the case, suffering should also have a cause. Buddhism explains suffering through a chain of twelve causes and effects, commonly known as the Doctrine of Dependent Origination (pratityasamutpada). In the final analysis, the root of all miseries is desire (Tanha). Desire is all pervasive. Desire for possession, enjoyment, and a separate individual existence are some of the virulent forms of desire.
Cessation of Suffering (Dukkha nirodha): If suffering has a cause, the seeker has to destroy this cause to stop suffering. So desire has to be extinguished to stop suffering. Nirvana is the state of being without suffering. It is a state of supreme happiness and bliss.
Ways to Destroy Suffering (Dukkha- nirodha-marga): The ways to destroy suffering consists of the practice of the eightfold virtue ,such as, Right View, Right Aspiration, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Awareness, and Right Concentration. In the practice of all these virtues one has to avoid extremes and follow the middle path.