Chapter III, Buddhism, The Four Noble Truths, Summary and Analysis

The Buddha's first sermon was preached after a ninety-four mile walk toward the city of Banaras. Just six miles short of his destination, he came upon a small group of aesthetics who began asking him questions. Without hesitation, he gave them the Four Noble Truths. First, life is dukkha, or suffering. His idea was not, however pessimistic. He was simply recognizing the facts that life, typically, is unfulfilling and insecure. He did not rule out the notion of having an enjoyable time but recognized that those moments did not last. He did not allow the dukkha to be vague, but rather he outlined six distinct areas of human suffering. First, was the trauma of birth. Next came the pathology of sickness. Following that was the morbidity of decrepitude. Then...