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The First Noble Truth – dukkha

The First Noble Truth is the idea that everyone suffers and that suffering is part of the world. Buddhists believe in the cycle of samsara, which is the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth. This means that people will experience suffering many times over. All of the things a person goes through in life cause suffering and they cannot do anything about it. Instead, they have to accept that it is there. People may use temporary solutions to end suffering, such as doing something they enjoy. However, this does not last forever and the suffering can come back when the enjoyment ends. Buddhists want to work to try to stop suffering. However, the first step is to acknowledge that there is suffering - it happens and it exists.

The Second Noble Truth – samudaya

The Second Noble Truth is the concept that something causes suffering to happen. For example, when a person is ill, they can only end the illness by understanding the cause. To do this, they may go to see a doctor, who may be able to diagnose the problem. This enables them to begin to understand the cause of their suffering.

Similarly, the Buddha taught that people need to understand the cause of suffering in order to move forward and leave it behind. The Buddha believed that most suffering is caused by a tendency to crave or desire things. A person might crave something nice to eat or desire to go on a nice holiday or earn lots of money. Buddhism teaches that through being dissatisfied with their lives and craving things, people suffer.

The image of the Wheel of Life contains images of three animals – a pig, a cockerel and a snake. These are known as the Three Poisons because they represent the ways in which humans behave. The pig represents ignorance, the cockerel represents cravings and greed, and the snake represents anger and hate.

If a Buddhist wants to end suffering, they should search for ways to avoid ignorance, hatred and cravings. If they can do this then they will become free from samsara and reach enlightenment.

The Third Noble Truth – nirodha

The Third Noble Truth is knowing that suffering can end. Buddhists must recognise that there is a way to stop suffering and move away from it, because by doing this they can get closer to reaching enlightenment. Buddhism teaches that people should not be too focused on wanting many different things as the enjoyment won’t last. Buddhists must try to stop craving as much as they can in order to work to end suffering.

The Fourth Noble Truth – magga

The Fourth Noble Truth is that there is a way to end suffering. Buddhists can do many things to end suffering, such as following the Buddha’s teachings and meditating. The Buddha also taught that people should live the Middle Way. This is the path that falls between the two extremes of luxury and poverty. Another term for the Middle Way is the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of eight steps that Buddhists can follow to end suffering.