Suffering, accumulation, cessation, and path are the four noble truths in Buddhism.
After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha gave his first sermon to the five ascetics at Deer Park, which is known as the initial turning of the Dharma wheel, hence called the first turning of the Dharma wheel.
The content of this sermon is the teaching of the four truths. Therefore, the four noble truths are the teachings that the Buddha initially spoke.
"Truth" means the true and non-deceptive meaning, referring to the four correct and accurate truths of suffering, accumulation, cessation, and path.
These four are all true and not deceptive, hence called the four truths or the four noble truths. Furthermore, these four are known and seen by the noble ones, hence called the four noble truths.
- Suffering refers to the noble truth of suffering. It refers to the noble ones' thorough examination of the suffering (of sentient beings and the world of phenomena) in the three realms. For ordinary individuals, all phenomena (phenomena with defilements) in real life can be said to be suffering. The four sufferings of birth, aging, illness, and death, plus the four additional sufferings of encountering enemies, being separated from loved ones, not getting what one desires, and the suffering of the aggregates of clinging, make up the eight sufferings.
- Accumulation refers to the noble truth of accumulation, also known as the truth of practice, the noble truth of the practice of suffering and accumulation, or the noble truth of suffering and accumulation. Accumulation means the gathering of causes and reasons, referring to the causes of the arising of things. It is about the causes of sentient beings in the world being trapped in samsara and experiencing the fruits of suffering. The root cause of suffering is craving. Due to craving, the concepts of "future lives" and "afterlife" are formed. The core of craving arises from the delusion of self-view born from ignorance. If there is craving, there will be the cycle of birth and death. Cessation refers to the noble truth of cessation, also known as the truth of the cessation of suffering, the truth of the complete cessation of suffering, or the truth of the cessation of suffering and the cessation of craving.
- Cessation means the complete cessation and cessation of suffering. It refers to the permanent cessation of all afflictions such as ignorance and desire, and attaining liberation and freedom from the continuous suffering. It is also the state of nirvana.
- Path refers to the noble truth of the path, the noble truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering, the noble truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering and the cessation of craving, or the noble truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering. It refers to the methods of practicing based on reaching the state of the cessation of suffering. It is divided into eight parts and becomes the sacred Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path consists of right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
Among them, suffering and accumulation represent the fruit and cause of the delusional world, while cessation and path represent the fruit and cause of realizing the world; namely, the fruit of suffering is the truth of suffering, the cause of suffering in the world is the truth of accumulation, the fruit of the cessation of suffering is the truth of cessation, and the cause of the cessation of suffering is the truth of the path.