The Four Noble Truths

We stand today at the beginning of our path. In fact, every single day we find ourselves at the beginning, don't we? Today is the first day in the rest of our lives. For what is past is past, that we cannot change. The victories that OCD have won over us in the past stay in the past. Just because OCD has controlled us before doesn't mean that we cannot break free from its grip. It is possible. There is a way out.

In the wider context of all suffering, this was the message which the Buddha gave his followers. Yes, there is suffering with us now, there was suffering in the past. However, suffering, as with all things has a cause. Suffering can also be brought to an end and the Buddha pointed out the path to achieve this end. Today, I thought that it would be good to start our exploration of this central message of Buddhism.

In the grand scheme of things, Buddhists do not classify things as either strictly good or bad. Nothing is inherently good or bad. The distinction which Buddhists choose to make instead is that thoughts and actions can be either skillful or unskillful from the point of view of lessening our own and other people's suffering. Skillful actions are those which are intended to lead to the welfare and happiness of ourselves and others. Unskillful intentions are those which are intended to lead to the detriment and unhappiness of ourselves or others.

It is also the action and not the person which is either skillful or unskillful. Certainly, people are not innately good or bad. What a liberating insight this is for sufferers of OCD! Having obssessions doesn't make you a bad person. Acting out compulsions might not be a skillful behaviour, but our OCD has no right to make us feel like a bad person because of it. Let us keep this thought in mind. This is the skillful way to think which leads to our benefit.

Buddhists also believe in the natural law of cause and effect. All things happen because of a prior cause. Everything that you do will have a future effect. In this complex web of causes and effects which we call life, there are no certainties and we cannot be sure of desired outcomes. We cannot control what happens to ourselves or others with an absolute degree of certainty. This is echoed in the natural law of anicca (in fact, Buddhism is essentially the study of the laws of nature), which we have met before. However, what we can definitely control is the skillfulness of our intentions.

So in our worldly interactions, we have these two degrees of freedom to consider. Where the law of cause and effect is the latitude of our human experience, the skillfulness of our intentions is the longitude. These two dimensions combine in four different possibilities which are skillful causes, skillful effects, unskillful causes and lastly unskillful effects. These are listed below along with the usual way that they are presented in terms of suffering:

Unskillful Effects - "There is suffering"
Unskillful Causes - "Suffering has a cause"
Skillful Effects - "Suffering has an end"
Skillful Causes - "There is a way to end suffering"

These four groupings are known as the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism. They are the core of the Buddha's teachings. They are both the start and end of the Buddhist path. If we come to fully understand these truths penetratingly, then our work is done, we can pack our bags and go home. There is no further to walk. Over the coming few weeks, lets talk about each of these noble truths in turn and how they relate to the condition of OCD.

Metta,
John


Bodhgaya, India. Prayer flags and offerings mark a direct descendent of the Bodhi Tree, the tree under which the Buddha was enlightened. Shortly after his enlightenment, the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths to his first followers.