Commonly known as the 'four noble truths', these notions place the encounter with suffering at the center of Zen practice and Buddhist philosophy. Upright implies straight, true, solid, core, noble, magnificent, beneficent, and embodied. The four truths are more than abstractions, they are the prima materia of Zen practice and realization.The simplicity of the truths can camouflage the difficulty of accepting and working with them.
The first upright truth is that life is suffering. The hedonistic side of us wishes this were not so, the shameful and guilt ridden side goes 'definitely', and the morose or depressed side prefers to drown in it. We spend much of our inner time running from suffering, abhorring suffering, or staying asleep to its pervasive nature and impact. Few people pick it up to study, experience, and transform into loving kindness, tolerance, patience, and truth. The acceptance of suffering doesn't deify it but rather turns us into realists, pragmatist, and insightful heroes on the spiritual path of awakening.
The second upright truth is that there is an end to suffering. This is a bold paradox that requires deep faith. If life is suffering as the first upright truth suggest, then there can not be an end to it because it is ever present. Perhaps this is the first koan (paradoxical question of spiritual inquiry) of Buddhism and Zen; how does one put an end to suffering? There is no glib or wise answer that will suffice of course, because this is what each person must resolve through decades of spiritual inquiry and living. When we study our own life and loosen the tensions that bind us, our relationship to suffering seems to change.
The potential of change leads to the third upright truth: there is a path away from suffering. Please notice that the third truth doesn't say that the path away from suffering means that suffering stops. The oft quoted saying 'pain required, suffering optional' hints at the path and transformation. Something occurs when we embrace suffering whole heartedly, when we find the balance between our own suffering and the suffering of the world, when the gap of self-other is closed and we awaken Universal nature.
The final upright truth is that the path has eight steps. The eight steps are powerful ones and can be a compass for wise living. There are also infinite steps, for each moment-activity could be though of as a step toward resolving our relationship with suffering....if we are willing to do so and see it as such. So the Eightfold Noble or Upright Path are the cornerstones of Buddhist Practice and an effort to resolve suffering...for all beings everywhere through all space and time.
4 Noble Truths
