The Fourth Noble Truth

We now come to the Fourth and last Truth, the Noble Truth of the Path leading to the cessation of dukkha. This is the prescription of the All-Knowing Buddha for the ills of life. By this Truth the Buddha prescribes a way of life which is calculated to bring about a complete cessation of that powerful urge of taṇhā ever present in man. This way of life is the Noble Eightfold Path.

It is only if we are thoroughly convinced that all life is ill, that all life is dukkha, that we will welcome any suggestion of a way of escape from dukkha, not otherwise. Hence it is, that to some the Noble Eightfold Path has no attraction at all, to some the attraction is mild, often only of an academic nature, while to just a handful it is something absorbingly vital, something wonderfully energizing and uplifting, something very dear and personal. To this handful, the treading of the Path even in its initial stages brings with it inspiration and joy which later lead to a profound spiritual experience.

At the outset of this aspect of the subject, it is important to appreciate why this remedy for dukkha is referred to as a Path (in Pali, magga). It might have been called the Eightfold Remedy or the Eightfold Cure, but why Eightfold Path? A remedy or a cure may or may not have been used by any one before it is offered to us. There is nothing in the word “remedy” or in the word “cure” to suggest that it has been tried and tested earlier, but not so when the word “Path” is used. A path must have been treaded by some one before it can be called a Path. There is inherent in the connotation of the word “Path” (magga) the idea that some one had treaded it before. A Path cannot come into existence all of a sudden. Some one must have first cut through a jungle, cleared a way and walked along it. Similarly the Noble Eightfold Path has been treaded before by many a Buddha in the past. It has also been treaded before by many a Pacceka Buddha and many an arahant. The Buddha only discovered the Path but did not create it, since it existed from the ancient past. Indeed it is an Ancient Path (pūraṇa magga) as was described by the Buddha himself in the Saṃyutta Nikāya. Here he has said, “Just as if, O Monks, a man faring through the forest sees an ancient path, an ancient road, traversed by men of former days and he were to go along it and going along it should see an ancient city … even so I, O Monks, have seen an ancient Path, an ancient road, traversed by the rightly Enlightened Ones of former times. And what, O Monks, is that ancient path, that ancient road, traversed by the rightly Enlightened Ones of former times? It is just this Noble Eightfold Path … I have gone along that Path, and going along that Path, I fully came to know Suffering, the Arising of Suffering, the Cessation of Suffering and the Way leading to the Cessation of Suffering.”

You will thus appreciate the psychological importance of using the word “Path” which is calculated to inspire the highest confidence (saddhā) in the remedy that has been prescribed.

This Path is also called the Middle Path (majjhima-paṭipadā) because it steers clear of two extremes. It avoids on the one hand, the debasing indulgence of the sensualist and the laxity of the pleasure-seeking Epicurean, and on the other hand, it avoids the absurd austerities and meaningless self-mortification of religious fanatics. The Middle Path proclaimed by the Buddha, however, is a Path of reason and prudence

This Fourth Noble Truth is not a mere enunciation of a fact. It is a Path and so it must be trodden. It is something essentially practical. To know this Truth properly one must tread the Path. This Truth contains a careful and wise collection of all the important ingredients necessary for the spiritual development of man. These ingredients are well known to every Buddhist, viz. Sammā Diṭṭhi—Right Understanding, Sammā Saṅkappa—Right Thought, Sammā Vācā—Right Speech, Sammā Kammanta—Right Action, Sammā Ājīva—Right Livelihood, Sammā Vāyāma— Right Effort, Sammā Sati—Right Mindfulness and Sammā Samādhi—Right Concentration.

These eight factors constitute the very essence of the ideal Buddhist life. It is a carefully considered programme of purification of thought, word and deed ultimately resulting in the complete cessation of craving and the consequent dawning of the highest wisdom.

An important feature to be noted in regard to this Path is that these eight factors are interrelated and interdependent. Hence they are not to be cultivated one by one in the order in which they are listed, as if they were a series of successive steps that have to be taken one after another. They are not mutually exclusive. They are mutually supporting factors. Development of one factor therefore helps in the development of other factors and, what is more, the perfection of one factor coincides with the perfection of all the other factors. Thus, ultimately, at the highest level all these factors will be seen to function simultaneously. Hence one is free to develop these factors in whatever degree he likes. It is useful to keep in mind the Venerable Bhikkhu Sīlācāra’s most instructive comparison of these eight factors to eight different strands that are closely intertwined in one rope which a man is attempting to climb. Each time the climber grasps the rope, his fingers will come into closer contact with one particular strand than with any other. At the next moment the contact will be with another strand. Yet all the while he is climbing. Similarly in the treading of the Eightfold Path, sometimes one may concentrate on one factor, at other times on another, with however no loss of progress at any time.

Another feature in regard to these eight factors is that they fall into three different groups or categories of sīla, samādhi and paññā i.e. virtue, concentration and wisdom. This is known as the threefold division of the Eightfold Path. This threefold division is very important for practical purposes. It represents the three stages of spiritual progress. In the Majjhima Nikāya it is said that the three divisions are not arranged in accordance with the Eightfold Path but that the Eightfold Path is arranged according to the three divisions.

Sīla (virtue) refers to moral discipline or purity of conduct and under this category appear three of the eight factors, viz. Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood. Sīla is the sine qua non for spiritual development. It is the first step. It is the foundation for further progress along the Path. Right Speech is essential for sīla. Man possesses the power of speech, unlike animals. This is man’s channel of expression of thought and he should not abuse it but use it in a manner so as to cause good thoughts to arise in others and not bad thoughts. He should speak in a manner so as not to cause harm or hurt or loss to others. The factor of Right Speech thus conduces to sīla or purity of conduct by ensuring abstention from falsehood, tale-bearing, harsh speech and idle gossip.

Similarly man’s ability to act should not be abused. He can act in so many more and more effective ways than animals could. He should not make use of this ability to cause harm or hurt or loss to others. So the factor of Right Action conduces to purity of conduct by ensuring abstention from killing, from stealing and from wrongful sex indulgence.

The factor of Right Livelihood is also important. Man’s struggle for existence, his pressing necessity to procure the material needs of life to maintain himself and his family, compel him to regard the business of earning a livelihood as his most important task in life and therefore there is the great urge to go to any length in order to achieve this end. Considerations of fair play and justice are all thrown to the winds, and considerations of resultant loss or harm to others are apt to be lightly overlooked. This is a temptation to be guarded against if purity of conduct is to be maintained at all costs. Hence the factor of Right Livelihood conduces to purity of conduct by ensuring abstention from trading in arms, from trading in animals for slaughter, from trading in human beings, from trading in intoxicating drinks and from trading in poisons. There is a popular belief that these are the only forms of wrong livelihood. It is not so.

In the Majjhima Nikāya, practising “trickery, cajolery, insinuation, dissemblance, rapacity for gain upon gain” are considered wrong livelihood. In general terms, as mentioned in the Dīgha Nikāya, Right Livelihood means the avoidance of a wrong way of living and the obtaining of a livelihood by a right way of living. Micchājīvena pahāya sammā jīvitaṃ kappenti. Thus by the development of these three factors of Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood, purity of conduct (sīla) is ensured. One knows of no other religion where there is a code of ethical conduct so comprehensive in its details, and so exacting in its requirements. All this is necessary in order to ensure perfect purity of conduct.

But in Buddhism purity of conduct is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end. Perfect conduct divorced from a purpose, not directed to a desirable end, has but little meaning from the Buddhist point of view—a very lofty point of view, not easy to comprehend. Not only evil but also good must be transcended. They are both of this world (lokiya) and do not appertain to things that transcend this world (lokuttara). Even the Dhamma has to be transcended. The Buddha has compared Dhamma to a raft to be used by us nissaraṇatthāya i.e. for the purpose of crossing over in safety, and na gahaṇatthāya i.e. not for the purpose of retention. Once we have reached the other shore; we do not have to carry the raft with us. It has to be put aside. So, the next two categories after sīla, namely samādhi and paññā, show the direction in which lies the purpose of sīla. The purpose of sīla then is to help in the development of mental concentration and the realization of the highest wisdom. The purer one’s conduct is, the purer is one’s mind, and the purer one’s mind is, the greater is his ability to concentrate. Then purity of conduct and purity of mind help in the realization of Wisdom. An impure mind can never be a fitting receptacle for the highest Truths of life.

Into the second category of samādhi fall three factors, namely Right Effort (sammā vāyāma), Right Mindfulness (sammā sati) and Right Concentration (sammā samādhi).

Right Effort here has a very special meaning, since it is concerned with the development of the mind. Right Effort then is the effort to prevent the arising of evil states of mind that have not arisen, the effort to overcome evil states of mind that have already arisen, the effort to produce good states of mind that have not arisen, and the effort to develop further the good states of mind that have already arisen. This classification will show you how vast, how penetrating and how stupendous is the mental effort that is needed for progress in samādhi. Can there be any doubt then, that this will some day lead to mind-mastery and wisdom?

The next factor in this category of samādhi is sammā sati or Right Mindfulness. Right Mindfulness is the quality of awareness. It ensures complete awareness of all the activities of the body as they occur (kāyānupassanā), complete awareness of all sensations and feelings as they occur (vedanānupassanā), complete awareness of all activities of the mind as they occur (cittānupassanā) and complete awareness of all mental objects when the appropriate situations arise (dhammānupassanā). This attitude of complete awareness brings about powerful results. It sharpens to the finest degree man’s powers of observation, induces the deepest calm and ensures that nothing is said or done or thought unguardedly or hastily, mechanically or without deliberation. He who develops this factor is able to take count of every single and minute activity of the mind, even such activities as are generally considered to occur when the mind is passive and receptive; so penetrating and powerful is his sense of awareness.

The last factor in this category of samādhi is Right Concentration which ensures onepointedness of mind (ekaggatā). It is the ability to focus steadily one’s mind on any one object and one only, to the exclusion of all others. There are many exercises in mind-concentration which space does not permit me to mention, much less to describe. Long continued practice of mental concentration makes the mind highly penetrative. It becomes like a high-powered light which can thoroughly illuminate any object on which it is focussed. Hence any object of thought which presents itself to such a mind is thoroughly penetrated and comprehended through and through. Now this concentration of the mind, like sīla, is not an end in itself. The purpose of developing this samādhi or concentration is to make use of its penetrative power to understand existence and thereby to realize the highest wisdom (paññā).

We now come to the third category, namely, paññā or wisdom. When this highly concentrated mind abiding in samādhi, is made to focus its attention on the three great characteristics of existence, namely anicca (impermanence) dukkha (disharmony) and anattā (egolessness or soullessness) the mind is able to see things as they actually are (yathābhūtañāṇa). The result is the dawning of that highest understanding—sammā diṭṭhi. One sees reality. This coincides with the cessation of craving and the attainment of Nibbāna. So sammā diṭṭhi is one of the factors in the category of paññā. This is sammā diṭṭhi at its highest level. sammā diṭṭhi at its lower levels is a general understanding of the nature of existence and the understanding of Right and Wrong. This modicum of sammā diṭṭhi is helpful at the start to begin the practice of sīla. Without this modicum of sammā diṭṭhi there will be no proper incentive to the practice of sīla. It will thus be seen that Right Understanding becomes the beginning as well as the end of the Eightfold Path.

The other factor that falls within the category of paññā is sammā saṅkappā or Right Thought. Thoughts are all important. Words and deeds are nothing but expressions of thought. Thought rules the world. The power to think is greatest in man—not so in the lower animals. It should therefore be man’s endeavour to make the best use of this power of thought which he is privileged to possess and to think none but the best of thoughts. From the point of view of Buddhism the best of thoughts are threefold—thoughts of renunciation (i.e. thoughts free from craving), thoughts of benevolence, and thoughts of compassion. The practice of sammā saṅkappa therefore ensures freedom from lust, freedom from hatred and freedom from cruelty or harm. Even this factor is developed for a purpose to make it possible for the mind when purified to see Reality, to gain the highest wisdom.

The description of the Eightfold Path is now over. It will be seen that this is a Path of progressive self-culture leading from purity of conduct to concentration of mind and from concentration of mind to wisdom. But it does not mean that complete sīla must first be achieved before samādhi is begun or that samādhi must be completed before paññā is begun. There are different levels of these qualities and the practice of one helps the other and the level of each rises. This is what was meant when it was earlier stated that these factors are interdependent and mutually supporting. This view is of great practical importance and cannot be over emphasized. The Buddha has expressed this view forcefully and vividly in regard to the interdependence of sīla and paññā. In the Sonadanḍa Sutta of the Dīgha Nikāya. He has said “As one might wash hand with hand and foot with foot, even so, wisdom is purified by virtuous conduct and virtuous conduct is purified by wisdom (Sīlaṃ paridhoto paññā, paññā paridhoto sīlaṃ). Further, the Buddha continues:

“Yattha sīlaṃ tattha paññā, 

Yattha paññā tattha sīlaṃ”

“Where virtue is, there wisdom lies 

Where wisdom is, there virtue lies” 

From The Significance of the Four Noble Truths by V. F. Gunaratna