Views  

1.1 The Four Noble Truths as the basis of Buddhism and the centrality of such for different Buddhists 

a) The Three Poisons. 

b) the Buddha’s teaching on suffering and the cessation of craving/desire in the Four Noble Truths: dukkha, samudaya/tanha, nirodha and magga. Including reference to the nature of Enlightenment and nibbana. 

c) The Eightfold Path: 

o its summary in the Three-fold Way: ethics, meditation and wisdom 

o the ethical principles of the Noble Eightfold Path: right action, right speech, right livelihood 

o the qualities of metta, karuna and khanti 

o the relationship between these principles and the Four Noble truths. 

How these are understood in Theravada and Mahayana, both historically and in the contemporary world. 

With reference to the ideas of D Keown and B Bodhi. 

Key Words  - 

• The Three Poisons (Trikāya):

  • Definition: The Three Poisons, also known as the Three Unwholesome Roots, are the primary sources of suffering and ignorance in Buddhism. They are:

    • Greed (Lobha): Attachment or craving for sensual pleasure.

    • Hatred (Dosa): Aversion, ill-will, or hatred.

    • Ignorance (Moha): Delusion, misunderstanding, or ignorance of the true nature of reality.

• The Four Noble Truths (Cattāri Ariyasaccāni):

  • Definition: The Four Noble Truths form the foundational framework of Buddhist teachings. They are:

    • Dukkha (Suffering): Recognition of the existence of suffering and dissatisfaction in life.

    • Samudaya (Cause of Suffering): Identification of the causes and origins of suffering, primarily craving and attachment.

    • Nirodha (Cessation of Suffering): Understanding that there is an end to suffering by eliminating its causes.

    • Magga (Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering): The Eightfold Path, which provides a practical guide to overcoming suffering and attaining enlightenment.

• Enlightenment (Bodhi):

  • Definition: Enlightenment, or Bodhi, refers to the awakening or realization of the true nature of reality, liberation from the cycle of birth and death (Samsara), and the attainment of Nirvana.

• Nirvana (Nibbāna):

  • Definition: Nirvana is the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice, representing the cessation of suffering, desire, and the cycle of rebirth. It is a state of perfect peace, liberation, and enlightenment.

• The Cessation of Craving/Desire (Nirodha):

  • Definition: Nirodha refers to the cessation or elimination of craving, attachment, and desire, leading to the cessation of suffering and the attainment of Nirvana.

• Craving/Desire (Taṇhā):

  • Definition: Craving or desire (Tanha) is the attachment to sensual pleasure, existence, and non-existence, which leads to suffering and the cycle of rebirth.

• Dukkha:

  • Definition: Dukkha is often translated as "suffering" or "unsatisfactoriness" and represents the inherent dissatisfaction and imperfection in life.

• Samudaya:

  • Definition: Samudaya refers to the origin or cause of suffering, which is identified as craving, attachment, and ignorance in the context of the Four Noble Truths.

• Tanha:

  • Definition: Tanha is the Pali term for craving or desire, particularly the craving for sensual pleasures, existence, and non-existence.

• Nirodha:

  • Definition: Nirodha is the cessation or end of suffering, achieved by eliminating the causes of suffering, primarily craving and attachment.

• Magga (The Eightfold Path):

  • Definition: Magga, or the Eightfold Path, is the practical guide provided by the Buddha to lead individuals towards the cessation of suffering. It includes right understanding, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

• Metta, Karuna, and Khanti:

  • Metta (Loving-kindness): Metta is the practice of unconditional love and benevolence towards all beings.

  • Karuna (Compassion): Karuna is the cultivation of compassion, the desire to alleviate the suffering of others.

  • Khanti (Patience or Endurance): Khanti is the practice of patient endurance and tolerance, especially in the face of difficulties or provocations.

Key Scholars

D Keown 

Keown descibing Buddhist beliefs about the four noble truths says on Dukkha tey believe “Decay is inherent in all things.” ;   on the origin of suffering “Individuals create themselves through their moral choices. By freely and repeatedly choosing certain sorts of things, an individual shapes their character, and through their character their future.” On the third noble truth “By learning to observe without becoming involved, the pattern of stimulus-response which underlies most human behaviour can be broken. Little by little the realisation dawns that one is free to choose how to react in all situations … The grip of long-standing habits is weakened and replaced with a new sense of freedom.” 

On NIbanna “Is it necessary to believe in the existence of the six realms and the heavens and hells to be a Buddhist? Not necessarily. It is possible to interpret these as, perhaps, referring to other dimensions of existence, parallel universes, or simply states of mind.”   

On mediatation and the eightfold path “This … perception of impermanence … gives rise to the knowledge that even those things which seem most intimate to us – such as our emotions – are transient states which come and go. … From … detached observation it … becomes clear that even one's conscious mind is but a process like everything else. Most people regard their mental life as their true inner essence ( … ), but insight meditation discloses that the stream of consciousness is just one more facet of the complex interaction of the five factors of individuality, and not what one 'really is'.”   

Damien Keown (born 1951) is a British academic, bioethicist, and authority on Buddhist bioethics. He is Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at Goldsmiths, University of London. Keown earned a B.A. in religious studies from the University of Lancaster in 1977 and a Ph.D. from the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford in 1986.  Keown has published research examining Buddhism and the ethics. Keown's published works include The Nature of Buddhist Ethics (1992) and Buddhism & Bioethics (1995). He has also served as editor for the Routledge Encyclopedia of Buddhism and produced two books in Oxford University's Very Short Introduction series, one on Buddhism and the other on Buddhist ethics as well as the Oxford Dictionay of Buddhism.  His Budddhism A Very Short Introduction is an overview of the teachings of the Buddha, the distinctive features of Buddhism, who was the Buddha, and what are his teachings? Words such as "karma" and "nirvana" as are Buddhisms response to contemporary dilemmas.  In his Dictionary of Buddhism he gives helpful no partisan definiat

B Bodhi. 

Bhikkhu Bodhi that the Four Noble Truths 

“convey in a nutshell all the essential information that we need to set out on the path to liberation.”  

On the four Noble Truths Dukkha hes says 

"The Buddha says that he teaches only Dukkha and the cessation of Dukkha, that is, suffering and the end of suffering. The First Noble Truth deals with the problem of suffering. However, the truth of suffering is not the final word of the Buddha's teaching. It is only the starting point. The Buddha starts with suffering, because his teaching is designed for a particular end: it is designed to lead to liberation. In order to do this he must give us a reason for seeking liberation. If a man does not know that his house is on fire, he lives there enjoying himself, playing and laughing. To get him to come out we first have to make him understand that his house is on fire. In the same way the Buddha announces that our lives are burning with old age, sickness and death. Our minds are flaming with greed, hatred and delusion. It is only when we become aware of the peril that we are ready to seek a way to release.  On the second Noble truth he says "If we want to put a stop to suffering, we have to stop it where it begins, with its causes. To stop the causes requires a thorough knowledge of what they are and how they work; thus the Buddha devotes a sizeable section of his teaching to laying bare “the truth of the origin of dukkha.” The origin he locates within ourselves, in a fundamental malady that permeates our being, causing disorder in our own minds and vitiating our relationships with others and with the world. "  

Bhikkhu Bodhi discusses the three defilements (sometimes called the three poisons): greed, aversion, and delusion. These are what cause human suffering. 

"Greed (lobha) is self-centered desire: the desire for pleasure and possessions, the drive for survival, the urge to bolster the sense of ego with power, status, and prestige."  From these three poisonous “roots,” many fruits grow. These poisonous fruits create suffering for us in our daily lives. (Bhikkhu Bodhi elaborates on each one under the subheading “The Causes of Suffering.”) 

The Buddha teaches that there is one defilement which gives rise to all the others, one root which holds them all in place. This root is ignorance (avijja). Ignorance is not mere absence of knowledge, a lack of knowing particular pieces of information. … As the basic root of dukkha, ignorance is a fundamental darkness shrouding the mind.

Moreover, Bhikkhu Bodhi tells us in a footnote:

Ignorance is actually identical in nature with the unwholesome root “delusion” (moha). When the Buddha speaks in a psychological context about mental factors, he generally uses the word “delusion”; when he speaks about the causal basis of samsara, he uses the word “ignorance” (avijja).

On the Third  Noble truth  writes:

Since ignorance is a state of not knowing things as they really are, what is needed is knowledge of things as they really are. Not merely conceptual knowledge, knowledge as idea, but perceptual knowledge, a knowing which is also a seeing. This kind of knowing is called wisdom (pañña). Wisdom helps to correct the distorting work of ignorance. It enables us to grasp things as they are in actuality, directly and immediately, free from the screen of ideas, views, and assumptions our minds ordinarily set up between themselves and the real.

hikkhu Bodhi says this about the Fourth Noble Truth:

However, the Buddha says, wisdom can be cultivated. It comes into being through a set of conditions, conditions which we have the power to develop. These conditions are actually mental factors, components of consciousness, which fit together into a systematic structure that can be called a path in the word’s essential meaning: a courseway for movement leading to a goal. The goal here is the end of suffering, and the path leading to it is the Noble Eightfold Path with its eight factors: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

Bhikkhu Bodhi, born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk ordained in Sri Lanka. He teaches in the New York and New Jersey area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publication Society and has edited and authored several publications grounded in the Theravada Buddhist tradition.  

Key Texts

The Three Marks of Existence

Buddhism teaches that there are three characteristics that are fundamental to all things.  These are:

1. Dukkha (Suffering)

2. Anicca (Impermanence)

3. Anatta (Having no permanent, fixed self or soul)

For Buddhists, understanding these three characteristics as part of life is important for achieving enlightenment.

What is dukkha?

The Pali word dukkha is usually translated as ‘suffering’ in English but many people feel this is an inadequate translation.

• It is true that the Pali word dukkha (or Sanskrit dukkha) in ordinary usage means 'suffering', 'pain', 'sorrow' or 'misery', as opposed to the word sukha meaning 13 'happiness', 'comfort' or 'ease'. But the term dukkha as the First Noble Truth, which represents the Buddha's view of life and the world, has a deeper philosophical meaning and connotes enormously wider senses. It is admitted that the term dukkha in the First Noble Truth contains, quite obviously, the ordinary meaning of 'suffering', but in addition it also includes deeper ideas such as 'imperfection', 'impermanence', 'emptiness', insubstantiality'. It is difficult therefore to find one word to embrace the whole conception of the term dukkha as the First Noble Truth, and so, it is better to leave it untranslated, ... What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula 

1. Why does Rahula think that ‘suffering’ is an inadequate translation of the word dukkha?

2. Read what Messant says about dukkha (pp. 29-31) and make notes about the three main types of dukkha?

3. Read what Messant says about the Mahayana interpretation of dukkha (p. 32).  Summarise this in your own words.  Do you agree with this view of Dukkha?  Why/Why not?

The Three Main Types of Dukkha

Dukkha-Dukkha: Suffering as Pain experience

This is the actual experience of bodily pain such as illness, injury, and general discomfort.  It covers anything that is negative in our sense experience.  This also extends to mental anguish over things or people that we are attached to such as our valuable and sentimental possessions or our loved ones.

Viparinama-Dukkha: Suffering experienced through change

This all about suffering due to change, in other words the fact that things are persistently unstable and we experience the ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ of life.  A person does not worry so much when pain changes into relief, but the change that ends pleasure, happiness, and peacefulness, such as going back to work after a holiday, is frustrating.

Sankhara-Dukkha: Suffering inherent in the contingent nature of existence

This is a more subtle dissatisfaction with life itself rather than with any specific problem.  We are frustrated because things are constantly changing, arising and passing away but we have no control of this.

1. Is Buddhism a pessimistic religion?  Read what Messant has to say about this (p. 31-32) if you are struggling to come up with ideas of your own.

Is Buddhism a pessimistic religion?

The Four Noble Truths

Dukkha is the first of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, often said to be the essence of the Buddha’s teachings:

The Doctor Analogy

When understanding the 4 Noble Truths it is helpful to think of the Buddha as being like a doctor:

1.You go to the Doctor with a problem

• e.g. You have an upset stomach

2.The Doctor diagnoses the reason for your problem

• e.g. Your stomach upset is because you ate some contaminated food

3.The Doctor explains how to solve the problem

• e.g. The Doctor explains that the ratio of good to bad bacteria in your stomach needs to be rebalanced

4.The Doctor writes out a prescription

• e.g. The Doctor prescribes a course of antibiotics

1.The diagnosis of the problem that there is suffering (dukkha)

2.An investigation into the cause (samudaya) of suffering concludes that its craving (tanha) which is to blame

3.Establishing the best way to eliminate/cease (nirodha) the cause of suffering

4. The application of a course of treatment in order to activate nirodha.  This means to follow magga (the 8-Fold Path).  This attacks the root of the craving which treats the cause of the suffering and prevents further suffering 

1. Dukkha – The truth of suffering

• The Buddha taught that suffering is an unavoidable part of human life and that because we are trapped in the cycle of samsara we will suffer continually until we are able to break free and achieve enlightenment. 

• Even though the Buddha taught that it is important to recognise that suffering is an unavoidable part of life, he did not deny that happiness exists.  However, he taught that even though happiness is real, it is impermanent, which in itself will eventually cause more suffering when the things that cause our happiness change/come to an end.

• Some people thing that the Buddha’s teachings about suffering are pessimistic, whereas others think that they are simply realistic.

Many people try to combat suffering with temporary pleasures.

E.g. You get a bad grade on an essay so eat some chocolate to cheer yourself up.  However, the happiness of the chocolate only lasts until you finish the bar.  It doesn’t cause the root cause of your unhappiness. It can also cause dukkha (e.g. through weight gain or type 2 diabetes.

Because happiness and pleasures are temporary, the Buddha did not believe they could be the ultimate answer to the problem of suffering.  Instead he developed other teachings to help people to overcome suffering.  Accepting the first noble truth, and acknowledging that suffering is an unavoidable part of human life, is the first step on this journey.

2. Samudaya – The truth of the cause of suffering

The Buddha taught that the causes of suffering is tanha which means thirst or craving.  This simply refers to wanting things.

The Buddha said that there were 3 main types of tanha:

1.Craving things that please the senses – e.g. material possessions or physical pleasures

2.Craving to become something that you are not – e.g. wanting to be rich or powerful or beautiful

3.Craving not to be – e.g. wanting to get rid of things that are causing us physical or mental pain.

●

Clearly we cannot always have all of the things that we crave and this, according to the Buddha, is the cause of our suffering.

Think – Do you agree that all suffering is caused by craving?

The word tanha can also be translated as attachment.  Does this make it easier to understand the 2nd Noble Truth?

Strengths

Th

The Three Poisons

In the Pali Canon the Buddha describes the 3 poisons of greed, hatred and ignorance as the most common driving forces behind tanha.

These negative traits and fundamental evils are called the Three Poisons, because they are dangerous toxins in our lives.  Not only are they the source of our unquenchable thirst for possessions, and the root cause of all of our harmful illusions, but they are painful pollutants, which bring sickness, both physical and mental.

What is the link between the 3 poisons and dukkha?

“Now this (monks) is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to the renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there; that is craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination.”

The Buddha in the Samyutta Nikaya, vol. 5 p.421

3. Nirodha – The truth of the cessation of suffering

The Buddha taught that the only way to stop suffering is to let go of the cravings that cause us to feel dissatisfied with life.

Do you agree that this is the way to end suffering?

In fact the Buddha does not say that people should stop wanting things or avoid the things they crave.  Instead people should learn to appreciate what they have and take pleasure in them but recognise that they cannot last forever. 

The Link between nirodha and nirvana

Nirvana (S) Nibbana (P) means awakening or enlightenment but translates literally as ‘to extinguish’.

What has been extinguished? 

For a Buddhist, nirvana is when the flames of desire (tanha) have been extinguished.  Therefore nirodha (the cessation of tanha) is the key to nirvana.

Read what Gray has to say on the subject of nirvana (pp. 91-92).

1.Why is nirvana so hard to describe?

2.Why can’t nirvana be described in either positive or negative language?

3.What are the two types of nirvana?

Nirvana (s) nibbana (p) literally means ‘to extinguish’ or ‘snuff out’ a flame.  The flame in this case is the flame of the 3 poisons of greed, hatred and delusion.  Nirvana is not a physical place like heaven is for Christians, but it is instead a state. 

It is extremely difficult to define nirvana since language is created for use within the conditioned world.  Since nirvana is unconditioned it cannot be described using words.  It would be like trying to describe the taste of chocolate to someone who has never tasted it.

Clearly it is necessary to use words when describing nirvana but the dilemma remains:

•If we talk about nirvana in positive terms then people will become attached to it (attachment is one of the 3 poisons which will prevent you reaching nirvana)

•If we talk about nirvana in negative terms then people might fear it as they assume it is a state of nothingness. 

There are two types of nirvana:

1.Nirvana in this life – Someone who has reached enlightenment is known as an arhat.  They understand the true nature of reality and will not be reborn into the cycle of samsara after they die (unless they choose to become a bodhisattva)

2.Nirvana beyond this life – This is known as parinirvana (S) or Parinibbana (P) which is the complete extinction of ones karmic energy so that one is not reborn into the cycle of samsara.

Scholars have attempted to define nirvana, such as Harvey who describes nirvana during life as “a transcendent, timeless experience which totally destroys attachment, hatred and delusion…a state in which all the personality factors and causal links stop’.  The arhat remains within the cycle of samsara for a short period and hence is still subject to dukkha, but he is not affected by suffering in the same way as a non arhat.  Pain can be felt in physical terms, but the mind remains unaffected and so therefore suffering is not caused. 

How does nirodha link to nirvana?

This may seem unrealistic, but scientific studies have shown that meditation and mindfulness can be used to overcome physical pain.  A famous example is that of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức, who set himself on fire in public in protest over the Vietnam war.  The monk remained in silent meditation as he burned to death, which many Buddhists have attributed to his having obtained nirvana, and therefore not being affected by physical pain in the same way that other humans are.

How does nirvana link to dukkha?

4. Magga – The truth of the path leading to the end of suffering.

The Buddha taught that the way to end suffering was to follow the Eight-fold path.  This can be split into three aspects which are sometimes known as the three-fold way.

Nirvana

Nirvana

- Nirvana when alive: 

Nirvana is the state that one reaches when they attain Bodhi and become enlightened. It is possible for one to enter nirvana whilst they are alive and live a completely “other” existence on earth, where they are truly aware of the true nature of things. It may be more accurate to view “nirvana” as a verb, as one becomes “nirvanaed” rather than nirvana being a specific place that one goes to. The most accurate definition of nirvana is ‘total understanding of the true nature of things.’

Nirvana during life is impossible to describe, but in this state one cannot create more bad karma as at death they will leave Samsara. Whilst one may still experience physical suffering such as an illness, having total awareness of the true nature of things brings people into the awareness that this suffering will pass.

-Pari nirvana:

After death, one enters pari-nirvana, there are different interpretations of Nirvana after death – Theravada Buddhists believe that one leaves samsara, becoming inaccessible to the beings that are within the wheel, and that this state is impossible for humans to know about or truly understand. Mahayana Buddhists view pari-nirvana as a splendid heavenly paradise which lasts forever as it is outside of Samsara, but those who enter it are still accessible to beings in Samsara.

-How Nagasena has attempted to describe Nirvana to King Milinda in the 80th Dilemma of the Pali Canon:

Nirvana is a state that is difficult to describe, even the Buddha struggled to describe it to his followers, and this struggle was later documented in the Questions of King Milinda in the 80th Dilemma of the Pali Canon (the Milindapanda). The monk Nagasena tells King Minlinda that it is impossible to describe nirvana through an analogy, as nothing is like nirvana. However, he is able to provide analogies for some of the effects of nirvana, for example it is said to be like a cooling drink of water that assuages one’s thirst. There are strengths in this approach as it presents a realistic picture of a difficult religious concept, but it is also problematic as followers are left unable to truly understand nirvana and this may prevent them from progressing on the path to enlightenment.

Strengths of Milindapanda’s description of Nirvana (80th Dilemma of the Pali Canon

• It reflects the truth of dharma: the Buddha would not teach something that is wrong to his followers so it is better to not explain it.

• This can be accompanied by biographical information about the Buddha’s demeanour after he gained enlightenment to help people understand Nirvana further.

• The example of the ocean helps to highlight how complex nirvana really is – this shows that whilst it is ineffable, there is a way humans can compare their knowledge of the world to nirvana to understand its nature to a certain extrent.

Weaknesses of Milindapanda’s description of Nirvana (80th Dilemma of the Pali Canon)

• It is unclear what nirvana is actually like from the text – how can this help Buddhists to gain wisdom?

• The questions raised by the 80th dilemma are not answered anywhere in the dharma – how can Buddhists aim for something that is never explained?

• Buddhists are aiming for something that they can never truly understand.

• Not even the Buddha himself could adequately describe what nirvana is like, and he has supernatural powers.

gths of Milindapanda’s description of Nirvana (80th Dilemma of the Pali Canon 

Strengths

Th

Weaknesses

Nat.

Weaknesses

Nat.

Key arguments/debates Mill

• Some philosophers

Key Quotes

• Some philosophers

Possible Exam Questions

Section A

1. Examine ideas about resurrection.

2. Assess the debate between Dualism and Monism.

Section B

3a Clarify the ideas illustrated in this passage about life after death.

3b Analyse the implications for life after death from this passage.e

Section C

4 Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of John Hick’s Replica Theory..

KEY NOTES

1.1: The Four Noble Truths

(EXTENDED NOTES CLICK)

·      Dalai Lama: "The very foundation of the Buddhist teaching."

·       3 Poisons:

o   Lobha: greed

o   Dvesha: hate

o   Moha: ignorance (to 4NT.)

o   Root of unskilful actions – akusla.

§  Samsara.

·      4 NT:

o   Dukkha:

§  Suffering

§  Keown: "Cornerstone of Buddhist teaching"

§  3 parts:

·   Ordinary: physical pain.

·   Impermanence: e.g. divorce.

·   Conditioned state: butterfly effect.

§  Anatta/no-self.

§  Anicca = impermanence.

§  Bodhi: "The inherent unsatisfactoriness of existence"

§  Dhammapada: "The ending of craving ends all suffering"

§  Mahayana view = Heart Sutra: "There is no suffering."

o   Samudaya:

§  Arising of suffering from 'Tanha'/craving.

§  Keown: "Craving or excessive or inappropriate desire"

§  Keown: "Having positive goals for oneself and others... are all examples of positive and wholesome desires."

§  Can be craving for sensual things but also for no existence etc...

§  Akusla actions lead to Tanha.

§  Bodhi: "The Buddha dismisses [Hindu Karma and deism] as fanciful products of belief and imagination."

o   Nirodha:

§  Nirvana.

·   Cessation of suffering.

§  Fire Sermon: "The holy life has been accomplished."

§  Theravada:

·       Arhat has achieved this, but in many lives.

·       Achieved insight into 4NT.

·       Bodhi: "When all craving has been extirpated, one attains Nibbāna."

·       Nagasena to King Milanda says enlightenment is like the wind.

o   You can't see it but it is there.

·   Turtle and the fish.

·   4 stages:

o   Sotapanna: Right understanding.

o   Sakadagami: Once returner.

o   Anagami: No-returner.

o   Arhat: Enlightened.

§  Mahayana:

·   Greater vehicle.

·   Boddhisattva goal.

·   Doctrine of original enlightenment.

·       Bodhidharma: "Your mind is nirvana."

o   Magga:

§  Path to the cessation of suffering.

·   Buddha teachings. Dhamma.

o   "He who sees the dhamma sees me"

o   Poisoned arrow/raft.

·      8fold path:

o   Right effort:

§  Dhammapada: "What we are today comes from our thoughts yesterday."

o   Livelihood

o   Action:

§  5 precepts

o   Speech:

§  Abstain from false speech.

§  Do not slander.

§  Bad language.

§  Gossip.

o   Intention:

§  Annica: intention of renunciation.

§  Metta: good will/loving kindness.

§  Ahimsa: harmlessness.

o   View

o   Mindfulness:

§  Cultivating state of non-attachment

o   Concentration:

§  4 Jhanas:

·   Passions.

·   Tranquillity.

·   Equanimity.

·   Pure experience.

o   3fold division:

§  Sila:

·   Right action, speech and livelihood

·       Thanossaro Bhikkhu on living an ethical life: "freedom from danger."

·       Bodhi: "The interior quality the regular observance of these principles is intended to produce"

§  Prajna:

·   Right view and intention.

·       Keown: "The ultimate foundation of Buddhist ethics."

§  Samadhi:

·   Right mindfulness concentration and effort.

o   Dhammapada: "What we are today comes from our thoughts yesterday."

o   Karuna: compassion.

o   Metta: loving kindness.

o   Khanti: patience.

Keown: "First he diagnoses the problem, second explains its cause, third determines that a cure exists and 4th sets out the treatment"

Bodhi: "single unifying force." 

Theravada:

• Dukkha is primarily individual suffering.

• Focus on attaining personal liberation through the Eightfold Path.

• Metta, karuna, and khanti are qualities conducive to the path.

• Historically monastic focus, now growing lay practice.

Mahayana:

• Dukkha encompasses broader societal and existential suffering.

• Emphasis on compassion for all beings and achieving enlightenment for their benefit.

• Bodhisattvas delay their own nirvana to help others.

• Diverse Mahayana schools with varying interpretations.