The Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths which are central to his teachings. These four Truths constitute the fundamental philosophy of Buddhism. Without understanding them fully, we cannot clearly understand the teachings of the Buddha. The Four Noble Truths are important because beyond the pale of religion they are very relevant to human psychology and our existence. They enable us to understand the scope and nature of our suffering and find suitable remedies for it. Many people consider Buddhism as a pessimistic religion, because it speaks of life as a perilous and painful journey and an exercise in utter futility. In it they do not find any positive approach towards life in general. All life seems to be condemned by it as a great illusion, that provides no comfort but pain, no freedom but chains, no permanency but change, and no solace but anguish. Buddhism may not appeal to the pleasure oriented or the epicurean. But it is not a negative religion. Rather it examines the negative aspects of life very systematically and tries to suggest positive solutions and permanent cures. It does not suggest a life of extreme austerity, but of moderation only, of control and discipline rather than self-denial and torture of ones body and mind. It does not put the responsibility of finding your own salvation outside your personality, but at the center of it. It does not weaken your resolve to pursue a path of your choice, but only explains the consequences of your choices and the dangers involved in clinging to things that do not last. Buddhism brings suffering into focus, because it considers it to be the central malady of life that needs to be resolved rather than ignored. It is rightly a religion of peace and compassion, a practical religion that does not weave its arguments around speculative philosophies of creation or existence of God, but upon the possibility of human effort that leads to salvation. It is also not just a religion of the individual, of the withdrawn, of the socially deviant, or of the introverted. It is a religion of the balanced minds, that understand the importance of inner and outer harmony in the achievement of salvation. It recognizes the importance of social harmony and the need for a collective discipline and collective action for ensuring and sustaining the universal welfare of all. Buddhism does not encourage man to become a slave of his own illusions. It does not leave him without a hope, or without a remedy. In the very beginning of his life as an initiate, it makes him clearly understand the illusory nature of life, and of the dangers of continuing it, so that he can adequately safeguard himself from them. The Four Noble Truths are the four fundamental truths of our existence. They are universal truths which no one can deny. They stretch beyond all life and offer no clues as to their origin or creator. The Buddha did not find any cause that created them. We therefore do not like to speculate on it. Instead, in the following paragraphs we will discuss the Four Noble Truths and try to understand their significance in our lives.

The first truth is that life always incorporates suffering or Dukkha as it was called then. Dukkha has a broader meaning than suffering. It can be the feeling you experience when you encounter pain, old age, sickness, loss, or separation from loved ones, but it can also represent a general unsatisfied feeling. If you feel that your life is like pushing a supermarket trolley which always wants to go in a different direction, then that’s Dukkha. In "The Vision of the Buddha" by Tom Lowenstein , the Buddha says: "What, monks, is the truth of suffering? Birth is suffering, decay, sickness and death are suffering. To be separated from what you like is suffering. To want something and not get it is suffering. In short, the human personality, liable as it is to clinging and attachment brings suffering." The second noble truth is that suffering in its broad sense, comes from desire, and specifically, desire for meeting our expectations and for self fulfillment as we see it. By desiring for ourselves rather than the whole, we will always have suffering. In the same way that a child wants a new toy and then, having achieved that, will long for yet another, we seek fulfillment of our desire, to then move on to another. All the time, our lives are only temporarily satisfied. So far, that’s the bad news. In the language of many teenagers "Life Sucks". But Buddhism is a positive philosophy, and the next two noble truths give us an optimistic message. The third noble truth tells us that if our attachment to desire ends, so too will the suffering. Specifically, if we change our perception and reduce our attachment to desire, suffering will also reduce. This is not intended to lead to a cancellation of the zest for life, but to an understanding of the nature of life and to controlling those desires which come from that lack of understanding. The fourth noble truth shows the way to the ending of suffering. The Buddha said that the way to cease suffering is to follow the middle way, the Noble Eightfold path. This provides the guidelines for day to day living. There is some analogy here with the Ten Commandments in Christianity, but the eightfold path is meant as a guideline rather than a strict rule. The Buddha reached this middle way after himself living the extremes of life. In his early years, he was surrounded by luxury, given access to all pleasures available at that time. In his search, he lived the opposite life, one where he deprived himself of even the essentials, and faced death. The Noble Eightfold path leads to a way, which embraces life and is neither indulgent nor austere. The Noble Eightfold path is Right Understanding, Right Intent, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration. These guidelines are covered in a different section. When the Buddha gave this first sermon to the world, he is said to have set in motion the Wheel of the Law. And the wheel as a Buddhist symbol appears over and over again in Buddhist art, symbolizing the cyclic nature of existence.