Four Noble Truths of Buddhism | Embracing Dukkha

Introduction

It's been some time since I have been thinking of writing about the four noble truths of Buddhism. The reason behind this was to create a process to manage anxiety. Experiences from my practice of Vipassana helped me to design this process.

Inspiration from Shinzen Young

The motivation for this article came from a fellow Toastmaster named Mahesh. In one of his speeches, Mahesh talked about Shinzen Young. Shinzen Young is an American mindfulness teacher. He summarized these noble truths in an equation. The equation goes as Suffering = Pain * Resistance. We can reduce the impact of anxiety by observing it without any resistance.

Why Am I writing?

Anxiety is a pervasive problem in the materialistic world. It's a conscious state of worry and fear. Anxiety can trigger a range of psychological sensations. It ranges from increased heart rate, rapid breathing, muscle tension, and restlessness.

The tool of choice to practice the four first noble truths is Vipassana. Vipassana is also a Buddhist form of meditation. I don't mandate an understanding of Vipassana before proceeding with this article. In case you want a sneak peek into Vipassana before proceeding, you can read my articles listed below:

Dukkha: The Inescapable Suffering

The first noble truth of Buddhism is embracing Dukha. Dukha means suffering or unhappiness. The word exists in both Pali and Sanskrit dictionaries. Both Pali and Sanskrit are ancient Indian languages. Dukha is an essential concept in Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism.

Suffering is inevitable. It's present at every stage of life. From birth to death, suffering is the only constant. You can run away from it but can't get away with it. It exists in many forms: physical, mental, and emotional. Mental pain is far more dangerous than physical pain because it does not appear on the surface. It's an outcome of years of sweeping things under the carpet.

What is the problem with anxiety?

The problem is in the diagnosis. The teachings of Gautam Buddha trigger us to come out of denial. Running away from anxiety is not a solution. Instead, accepting the problem is a better way of handling it.

The biggest problem with anxiety is not being able to catch it before it makes an impact. To manage anxiety, we should be able to identify the attack. Be proactive before the devil can paralyze our cognitive capabilities. Anxiety is like a terrorist. It attacks your mental stability when you least accept it.

A disciplined approach to catching this mischievous parasite is the need of the hour.

Can religion help?

Definitely yes. Religion helps to instill faith in the creation and the creator. Every religion has spirituality ingrained within it. The problem comes when religious & political organizations use fear for personal agendas. Fear kills faith and increases anxiety.

Religion asks us to practice faith—an unbreakable belief that the universe will give us the strength to tackle all life issues.

I often use religious chanting of mantras to deal with stressful times. The vibrations of mantras have a powerful impact on our energy levels. Once you operate at high energy levels, anxiety does not have enough strength to attack you.

How does Vipassana work?

Vipassanā uses the framework of our body to achieve peace and harmony. The first step to achieve this is to learn to watch our attention. Our brain is a chatterbox. To observe the chattiness of our brain, we need a tool that keeps us alive.

What is this tool? What gives us life? What keeps us alive? Our breath. Isn't it? Yes. Breathing forms the epicenter of most meditative techniques for the same reason.

Focus on breathing helps us be mindful. You are being aware of what's happening inside your body. External events don't have the power to impact your sanity levels. Anxiety is an enemy within your body. External factors can only trigger it. External factors can't give birth to anxiety. Practicing mindful breathing teaches us to identify the devil inside us. It involves peeling our personalities layer after layer.

The practice is all about observing our natural breath. Whenever our mind wanders away, we return the focus to our breath.

Sensations & Sensations

Once you get comfortable with the practice, the next step is to watch for bodily sensations. You will experience feelings in different parts of the body. There will be pulsating, tingling sensations in your face. Your legs might feel discomfort, which is another sensation. If you feel drowsy, it's another sensation.

A lot of times, you will find a pleasant and relaxed sensation as well. There is no pattern to these sensations. It can appear at any time and any place in the body. Registering these sensations brings awareness to ad-hoc triggers within our body.

Anxiety is also one such sensation. The more you practice, the better you become in catching bouts of anxiety.

Suffering = Pain * Resistance

I started this article with this equation. After understanding the first noble truth, I want to reflect on this equation. What have we achieved?

We have learned a process to be mindful of anxiety. It's a slow process, but with practice, it will help us reduce resistance.

Knowing that we all deal with anxiety at some point in our lives does not let us play the victim game. We don't feel sorry for ourselves. Instead, we empower ourselves. Knowing that we are the ones who are giving birth to anxiety gives us control. In the following article, I will dive deep into the second noble truth of Buddhism.

I started writing about Vipassana after attending a 10-day course. The course is free for anyone to follow, and they don't force a following. If you want to learn more about the ten-day event, read the links below:

Whats Next

My next article is on the second noble truth i.e Samudaya (Identify the origin of suffering). Read it here

Thanks

Tarun