The Four Noble Truths Quotes

“The first training, ethics (also called ethical conduct or moral discipline) is crucial in developing the second and the third, concentration and wisdom, and as such is really the foundation for the other two.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“just because mindfulness is simple does not mean that it is easy.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“look at the company you work for and see what effect they are having on the environment and the people in that environment; see what damage is being done. Even if we personally are not doing anything wrong, if our livelihood is based on something even slightly harmful, subconsciously something happens. That mental state will always disturb our mind.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“We avoid harming others not simply because the actions themselves might have obviously negative repercussions, but because the mind that generates an unethical action will cause suffering for ourselves and others in less discernable ways in the future.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“So ethical conduct, practicing a moral life, is not something that can effectively be enforced from the outside but must grow out of a subjective understanding of what helps and what harms others.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“As Shantideva writes in this beautiful prayer: As long as space endures
As long as sentient beings remain,
Until then may I too remain
To dispel the miseries of the world.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“As long as there is consciousness, these two potentials exist—the potential to become enlightened and the potential to suffer.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“karma, which is Sanskrit for action, is the cause and not the result.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“Looking at both the substantial and contributory causes together and knowing that it is a combination of both that has created the situation gives us a chance to explore more realistic ways to approach our problems.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“As the name implies, acquired ignorance is not intrinsic but rather comes about due to the influence of adopted beliefs and the culture we are raised in.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“Karma is the seed that ripens into suffering. But karmic actions are triggered by our delusions, which themselves can be broken down into our afflictive emotions and the fundamental confusion that is the root cause.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“One technique is to look at the problem from many angles—examine how it arose, how our own mental state contributed to it, what the other person’s position is, and so forth. Rather than obsessing about the problem and how to get rid of it as quickly as possible, if we instead analyze our role in bringing this situation about, there is a greater chance that we will be able to let it go. Looking at the external conditions alone, seeing the problem as externally created, blocks us from seeing its real cause. Using our wisdom instead and focusing on our own mind and its role in the situation, we can see how the main cause is internal, and that makes it much easier to let go.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“Realizing that this problem is only temporary, like all things, and it too will pass, gives us more space to find ways to resolve it.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“Clinging to a problem does not make it disappear, but rather just makes it worse, aggravating the problem and leading to frustration and anger in relation to the problem and even in relation to ourselves.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“the test of our practice is how we handle problems.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“we are bound tightly by our past actions, the effects of which are inescapable.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“we are borne along by these four different kinds of sufferings: birth, aging, sickness, and death. Our life starts with birth, which is full of pain and suffering, and ends with death, which is also suffering. Between these two, whether our life is short or long, sickness and aging keep punishing us. We are drowning in the currents of these four rivers, tossed around by strong waves.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“the causes and conditions that produce that phenomenon contain the seed for its destruction.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“Dukkha means suffering at all levels. Of course everyday suffering is present—pain, difficulties, illness, and discomfort—but dukkha has more to do with psychological suffering, the sense of dissatisfaction that is very deeply rooted in our psyche. The Buddha’s summary—that the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering—really takes it to the deepest level. He means that everything about us, all of our mental and physical constituents, are suffering because we cling to them in some form.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“Conditioned existence refers to the pervasive way our lives, including our body and our thoughts, arise in dependence on contaminated past actions.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“We see things as existing permanently and cling to anything that reinforces our concept of permanence, pushing away anything that threatens it. Attachment and aversion are the roots of all other problems, and they themselves are caused by ignorance. Thus ignorance, attachment, and aversion—what Buddhism calls the three poisons—are the origin (the second noble truth) of suffering (the first noble truth).”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“We are ignorant of the fundamental nature of the way things exist, and we feel anxiety because of this.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1

“Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.”
― Tashi Tsering, The Four Noble Truths: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought, Volume 1