[Updated May 22, 2022]

Does it sound insane to say we can bring an end to suffering?

That’s precisely what the Buddha claimed in his first teaching after awakening.

Suffering isn’t caused by fate. And it’s not a punishment from on high.

According to the Buddha, suffering is caused by the mind, the way it perceives, what it believes, and the actions that follow.

And because suffering begins in the mind, it can be overcome.

Let’s take a look at the Buddha’s classic teaching on suffering and how to transform it, The Four Noble Truths—universal principles relevant to all.

Let’s find out more.

The Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths remain of central importance in the Buddhist teachings because they relate directly to the fundamental human quest for happiness.

The Dalai Lama explains:

“It is a fact—a natural fact of life—that each one of us has an innate desire to seek happiness and to overcome suffering. This is something instinctive, and there is no need to prove it is there. Happiness is something that we all aspire to achieve, and of course we naturally have a right to fulfill that aspiration. In the same way, suffering is something everyone wishes to avoid, and we also have the right to try to overcome suffering. So if this aspiration to achieve happiness and overcome suffering is our natural state of being, and our natural quest, the question is how we should go about fulfilling that aspiration.”—The Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths answer the Dalai Lama’s concluding question.

Suffering doesn’t just happen randomly or for no reason at all. Suffering is the result of cause and effect. The Four Noble Truths identify the causes that bring about suffering (the first two truths) and the causes that bring about happiness (the second two truths).

The Four Noble Truths state:

• The Truth of Suffering, which is to be understood

• The Truth of the Cause (Origin) of Suffering, which is to be abandoned

• The Truth of the Path, which is to be relied upon

• The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering, which is to be actualized

Let’s take a look at suffering first.

What Is Suffering?

In the First Noble Truth, the Buddha observed that suffering exists. To overcome it, suffering must be understand. You must know you’re suffering to have the motivation to overcome it, right?

If suffering is too big a word for you, remember the Sanskrit can also be translated as “frustration” or “unsatisfactoriness” or “discontent.”

Buddhists recognize our present dualistic state of mind that is governed by attachment and aversion as suffering.

That might sound depressing or outright wrong if your life is going well at the moment.

But remember, good times are subject to change.

And when they do, it’s really how we perceive and respond to situations that determine whether they bring us suffering or happiness.

Rather than depressing, this teaching illuminates life as it is and shows how to transform suffering.

The Dalai Lama explains suffering (“duhkha” in Sanskrit) like this:

“In this context, duhkha is the ground or basis of painful experience, and refers generally to our state of existence as conditioned by karma, delusions and afflictive emotions.”—The Four Noble Truths

To get more specific, Buddhism pinpoints three types of suffering:

1. The suffering of suffering — This is the suffering endemic to being alive: birth, sickness, aging, and death. It could be a toothache, an upset stomach, or something far more serious.

2. The suffering of change — This is when a pleasurable experience changes and becomes the source of suffering. For example, your new car gets dented, you get heartburn after a sumptuous meal, or you discover your beloved is having an affair. Everything we consider desirable can become a source of suffering because everything changes.

3. The all-pervasive suffering of conditioning — In every aspect of conditioned existence there’s the potential for future suffering. In other words, when we don’t see things as they are and instead act from attachment, aversion, and other negative emotions, we create negative karma which brings about suffering.

Most of us go about life trying to avoid suffering at all costs. But if you wake up to your own suffering, it could very well motivate you to change the very behaviors that perpetuate it.

What Is the Cause of Suffering?

In the Second Noble Truth, explains the causes of suffering. As the Dalai Lama states above, a mix of ignorance, afflictive emotions, and karma cause suffering.

Our mental and emotional states propel us into harmful actions, which create karma that brings about suffering.

The Buddhist teachings define six root destructive emotions:

• Ignorance

• Desire

• Anger

• Pride

• Doubt

• Beliefs (for example, the belief in “I” and “Mine”)

There are twenty subsidiary destructive emotions if you’re curious about finer distinctions.

Afflictive emotions, meaning emotions that give rise to suffering, arise from misperceiving the world and projecting more than what is onto reality, onto a person, a business, a situation, a country and even yourself.

For example, you believe someone dislikes you. This may not be true. It’s just a series of thoughts and interpretations in your head. Yet just those thoughts can cause you suffering and influence your behavior toward that person.

That is one level at which misperception operates, but there are far deeper levels layers to it. This active misperception, known as ignorance in Buddhism, is based on these three mistakes:

• Seeing what is impermanent and transient as permanent

• Seeing what is interrelated and interconnected as independent

• Seeing an autonomous self where there isn’t one

So, the cause of suffering is karma and destructive emotions; these are rooted in ignorance, the misperception of reality.

The Path to the Cessation of Suffering

The Third Noble Truth states that there is a path to the cessation of suffering. Traditionally, this refers to the Buddhist teachings.

But if we look at it from a wider perspective, in essence it means working with the mind and heart to reduce negative thoughts and emotions and their resultant actions, and to increase positive ones instead.

Anyone can do that, whatever your faith or even in the absence of faith.

This is combined with loosening our misperception of reality. Together they build the causes of happiness.

The Dalai Lama explains it like this:

“A person whose mind is undisciplined and untamed is in the state of samsara or suffering; whereas someone whose mind is disciplined and tamed is in the state of nirvana, or ultimate peace.”—The Four Noble Truths

It all depends on how your mind perceives.

Mindfulness forms a foundational practice on the Buddhist path, but it also can be practiced by anyone. It helps us tame the mind and emotions.

If suffering comes from the mind, then it’s imperative to keep a constant vigilance over all your thoughts and emotions.

When a negative thought or emotion arises, knowing full well that it contains the seed of suffering — for yourself and, perhaps, others — you can dismantle it with the proper antidote or method. When a positive thought or emotion arises, you can reinforce and multiply it, creating a new habit.

In the backdrop — like the sky — you practice holding the awareness of impermanence, interdependence, and no self as the larger space of your mind and a more accurate reflection of reality. This is the wisdom that informs your actions.

Without mindfulness, we act willy-nilly propelled by whatever thought or emotion pops into our mind. As a result, we often cause a mess and sometimes much worse.

So, it’s simple. If you want to be happy, be mindful and engage in positive actions. If you want to avoid suffering, be mindful and disengage from harmful actions.

Simple, but not easy. After all, we’re attempting to change a lifetime of habitual patterns.

So, we proceed with a sense of gentleness towards ourselves, an acceptance of our imperfections, and self-forgiveness. We face forward and keep moving, knowing full well that training the mind requires diligence.

Mindfulness is only one practice on the path, but it is an essential one.

The End of Suffering

The Fourth Noble Truth states that the cessation of suffering is achievable.

If we understand suffering and its causes and follow the path to its cessation, an end to suffering will come about.

I understand if you’re skeptical.

Can we really bring an end of war, hunger, and poverty? Can anyone truly eradicate all negative tendencies from their mind and heart? Can people who commit evil acts truly change?

I can’t say for certain whether the Buddha was right about the complete cessation of suffering.

But I know from my own experience that the power to suffer less and feel more joy, lies in our own hands. It depends on working with our own mind to decrease negative tendencies and increase positive ones instead.

Closing Thoughts

In his first teaching, called The Four Noble Truths, the Buddha laid out a clear path to the end of suffering.

It involves:

1. Recognizing suffering

2. Understanding the causes of suffering

3. Engaging in positive thoughts, words, and actions and disengaging from negative ones combined with cultivating a more accurate view of reality

4. The knowledge that it’s possible to bring about the cessation of suffering or at least reduce it.

The path to the cessation of suffering is not necessarily an easy one. Sometimes, it seems the world constantly evokes the worst in us.

But with concerted effort you can change your behavior and ultimately find more joy, contentment, and peace. It’s up to you. Which path do you want to follow—the path of suffering or the path of joy?

Thank you for your presence, I know your time is precious!  Don’t forget to  sign up for Wild Arisings, my twice monthly letters from the heart filled with insights, inspiration, and ideas to help you connect with and live from your truest self. 

You might also like to check out my  Living with Ease course or visit my Self-Care Shop. May you be happy, well, and safe – always.  With love, Sandra