Buddha's First Sermon

The Four Noble Truths

Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, illness is dukkha, death is dukkha; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are dukkha; union with what is displeasing is dukkha; separation from what is pleasing is dukkha; not to get what one wants is dukkha; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are dukkha.

It is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination.

It is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it.

It is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

 

The Noble Eightfold Path

'And the Blessed one thus addressed the five Buddhist monks: "There are two extremes, O monks, which he who has given up the world, ought to avoid. What are these two extremes? A life given to pleasures, devoted to pleasures and lusts: this is degrading, sensual, vulgar, ignoble, and profitless; and a life given to mortifications: this is painful, ignoble, and profitless. By avoiding these two extremes, O monks, the Buddha has gained the knowledge of the Middle Path which leads to insight, to wisdom, to calm, to knowledge, to perfect enlightenment, to Nirvana.'

Wisdom

Knowledge with reference to suffering, knowledge with reference to the origination of suffering, knowledge with reference to the cessation of suffering, knowledge with reference to the way of practice leading to the cessation of suffering

Being resolved on renunciation, on freedom from ill will, on harmlessness

Ethical Conduct

Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, and from idle chatter

Abstaining from taking life, from stealing, and from illicit sex [or sexual misconduct]

not to engage in trades or occupations which, either directly or indirectly, result in harm for other living beings [i.e. behave ethically in business and avoid professions which could cause harm -- like weapons, slave trading, alcohol, and drugs]

Samadhi [concentration]

make a persistant effort to abandon all wrong and harmful thoughts, words, and deeds.

constantly keep one's mind alert to phenomena that affect the body and mind; be mindful and deliberate, making sure not to act or speak due to inattention or forgetfulness

mediation on an object or an idea