With which Indian religion are the Four Noble Truths associated?

Answer 1

Most people are capable of memorizing the 4 Noble Truths {& The Noble Eightfold Path,
which is the 4th Noble Truth), but what one needs is a Mindful Understanding of all these Buddhist Truths.

PLEASE *PATIENTLY* READ. *Thanks.
It is Long, but I have put forth much skillful
effort into this for you, and anyone reading this. **Thank You very Much.

4 Noble Truths of Buddhism:

1) Life is Suffering: this, of course refers to the obvious aspects of life, pain, sickness,
anxieties, depression, fears, etc. I prefer to use the term "Dissatisfaction" the most.
But there are two other ways suffering is referred to: it refers to the problems that change brings, ie: like joy and happiness decays - a loved one dies, we eventually die. There is also all pervasive suffering, which is most difficult for most to understand: it refers to the fact that we cause our own suffering - we cause ourselves to get into problamatic situations.
The Buddhist term for suffering is Dukkha.
I, personally prefer the work Dissatisfactions
over the word suffering.
2) The Causes of Suffering: The reason we experience suffering/dissatisfaction comes ultimately from our Mind. According to Buddhism our problems are rooted in Anger, Attachment, and Ignorance.
Because of these three, we engage in problems which cause us and others problems With every negative action{Karma
we do, we create the potential for negative
experiences in life.
3) There is an End to our Sufferings or
Dissatisfactions that we experience internally and externally. If we Transform {or change) our minds, we eliminate all our
Dissatisfactions/sufferings in life, acquiring a stable peace of mind, and Happiness.
4) We can control our minds, and our bodies in an effective Way that will help others (and ourselves) instead of doing harm to others (and ourselves) and this way or path generates intelligence/wisdom in our minds, so we can end sufferings or dissatisfactions. The Way or Path is called
The Eightfold Path. *I like to call it The Eight Steps to Happiness.

Please allow to briefly give an introduction before briefly explaining the Eightfold Path,
The Eight Steps to Happiness.

We each experience versions of dissatisfaction and happiness in our daily life. What leads to dissatisfaction ?
Let's say we see a delicious looking pie in the grocery store. It's the last pie left.
Though only a moment before you saw the pie, your mind was quiet and content, this sight of the pie, which is called "contact between sense organ and sense object"
causes a pleasant feeling, and then pleasant thoughts arise. *"Cravings arise from pleasant feelings."* You say to yourself, "Mmmm....strawberry, with real whipped cream topping." Your mind pursues and expands upon these pleasant thoughts. How delicious strawberry pie is, and how delicious strawberry looks, and tastes. How wonderful the whipped cream from that strawberry pie feels on my lips and tongue. A decision follows: "I want to have some of that delicious strawberry pie!"
Now comes Attachment: "That Pie is Mine!"
Possibly you might notice some aversion as your mind hesitates for a brief moment while it considers the negative effects of the pie of your waistline or stomach, or on your pocketbook. Suddenly, you see someone has stopped at the display and is admiring the very same pie. "Your Pie !"
Overcome with the craving for the pie, which your attached to, and have claimed as your own, Your seized with stinginess, so you run up and snatch the strawberry pie up for yourself, running quickly up to the checkout stand, while the other shopper glares at you.
This may seem like an unlikely scenario, but in all actuality, this is what often happens in our minds, bringing us much dissatisfactions
& sufferings in life, which we cause ourselves in life. And this unwholesome act,
makes us a greedy, selfish person.
This is one of many, many scenarios which daily take place in our minds, even if we do not act upon them.

You might now understand why Buddhists say that true happiness comes only from eliminating Cravings. *Even if we think that attaining the highest Happiness is unrealistic
we will still greatly benefit from reducing our Cravings. The more we let go of craving, the more peace of mind we acquire, and the greater our sense of Happiness.
But How do we reduce Craving, much less
eradicating it - may seen daunting. If you think that making the effort to force craving out of existence by sheer willpower will end in frustration, you are correct. Siddhartha
Gautama {The Buddha) came up with a much better Way: the gradual training of the mind, through The Eightfold Path, which I like to call "Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness."
The Eightfold Path to Happiness consists of
three stages that build upon each other:
1 - Morality. 2 - Concentration 3 - Wisdom.

The Eight "Mindful" Steps to Happiness are:

1) Skillful Understanding/Intentions:
There are two important steps involved in
Skillful Understanding: Understanding Cause and Effect: once we really understand that everything we think, say and do is a cause that leads inevitably to some effect, now or in the future, we will naturally want to think, say, and do things
that lead to wholesome, positive results, and avoid those thoughts, words and deeds
that lead to unwholesome, negative results.
Second is Mindfully Understanding the Four Noble Truths. The first Truth is life brings dissatisfaction. If we were really in control of our lives we wouldn't have dissatisfaction.
But the truth is, we do not have control over our lives. Time after time, we do not get what we want. And most often if we do occasionally get what we want, we still are not satisfied, we want more. There is much more to the first Truth, but time does not permit me go into it.
The second truth: the cause of dissatisfaction is attachments, greed, or
craving/grasping. Buddhism teaches that cause and their results makes us clear that accepting responsibility for our actions in thought, word, and deed is the foundation for personal well-being and fulfillment.
Mindfully Understanding the Third Truth:
The End of Dissatisfaction is attainable.
Basically the third truth teaches that us that
wiping out negative states of mind - all desires, cravings, all anger and hatred, and all ignorance, brings peace of mind, and eternal Happiness.
The Fourth Truth is that the way we do this, is through the Eightfold Path, or as I like to call it: "Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness."

2) Skillful Thinking: this greatly helps us to escape from the habitual patterns of
negative thinking, of anxieties, fears,
worries. We all tend to lock ourselves up into unhealthy thought patterns, and learning Skillful Thinking is a way of redirecting our
thoughts i a positive way, and helpful directions. Letting Go, Practicing Loving-kindness, and practicing compassion are excellent ways of doing this. There is a lot more to all 8 steps, but time is limited. I'll suggest an excellent book to read, at the end.

3) Skillful Speech: speaking calmly, softly, gently, and patiently is important.
Speaking the Truth is an important part of Skillful Speech. Using words that encourage others, and that do not tear another down. Negative, malicious talk as speech destroys relationships/friendships.
Avoid Gossip, and useless chatter. Let your words be productive, knowing when is the right time to speak, and when is the right time to be silent. Wisdom takes place here.
There is more involved in Skillful Speech.
The book suggested to read at the end, is quite helpful. It was one of the first books I ever read on The Four Truths and The Eightfold Path. It's excellent.

4) Skillful Action: Skillful actions involve following a set of principles concerning how our actions cause us suffering/dissatisfactions
to ourselves, and to others. How each person's moral choices impact the whole.
*abstaining from killing any living things, for all life is sacred.
*abstaining from stealing.
*abstaining from speaking falsely {lying)
*abstaining from sexual misconduct.
*abstaining from misusing alcohol and
other intoxicants.
These are called The Five Precepts.

5) Skillful Livelihood: choosing and having a job/career which harms no living thing.
There is really a lot more to the fifth, but time is limited, so for now I leave it at that.

6) Skillful Effort: At every moment, we choose to embrace wholesomeness or unwholesomeness. Accomplishing anything wholesome and good for us requires much
Effort. In order to let go of unwholesome habits we need to recognize them.
The ten fetters, help us to recognize what are the unwholesome fetters.
a) belief in a permanent self or soul.
b) doubt in the message of the Dhamma.
c) belief that one can end suffering merely
by following rules or rituals.
d) greed for sensual pleasures[gross greed]
e) Hatred.
f) subtle desire to continually exist in a fine
material form.
g) subtle desire to exist in immaterial form.
h) conceit, or the underlying perception of
self-identity.
i) restlessness, worry, anxiety.
j) ignorance.
*Four Steps to Skillful Effort:
a) prevent negative states of mind.
b) overcome negative states of mind.
c) cultivate positive states of mind.
d) maintain positive states of mind.
*Out of the Ten Fetters, comes certain unwholesome crude mind states: Greed,
Ill-Will, Dullness and Drowsiness, and Restlessness, Anxiety/Worry.
The Four Steps to Skillful Effort are the
means of eradicating the crude fetters.

7) Skillful Mindfulness: A basic definition of Mindfulness is Paying close Attention from
moment to moment to what is. There really a lot to Mindfulness. But I'll talk about it a
little. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness
are:
a) Mindfulness of the body.
b) Mindfulness of feelings.
c) Mindfulness of the Mind.
d) Mindfulness of mental objects.
**Mindfulness {Insight) Meditation Greatly comes into play here [and Loving-kindness meditation], as well as in the last mindful step to Happiness = Concentration.

8) Skillful Concentration: Skill concentration is the last step in the Eightfold Path to Happiness. When the mind is serene, patient, peaceful, and concentrated, the hindrances that block our happiness do not arise. The wholesome concentrated mind is free of all selfishness, hatred, greed, and delusion.
*The Stages of Full Concentration:
Full concentration is always wholesome, possess one-pointed, undistracted Focus.
Note: Full Concentration is not Skillful
Concentration unless Mindfulness is always present ! With full concentration, a Buddhists
progress toward enlightenment is accelerated.
1) The first level: One must clear the mind of any of the hindrances and establish wholesome concentration. Then the Five
Factors must come together: "initial application of thought", "sustained application of thought", Joy, Happiness, and Concentration. As the mind calms down, it naturally becomes more concentrated. As your concentration depends you can proceed to training the mind toward full concentration with these Four Steps: [I'll only discuss each briefly] -
Keep the mind steadily focused upon the breath preferably, or other objects of meditation, which some prefer. Mindfulness Meditation takes place. This is a long discussion/teaching, which is in the book
"Mindfulness in Plain English"
By: Bhante Henepola Gunaratana.
Next, in the second level, you are actually not advised to strive immediately for the second level. If you are too impatient and too eager, you will fail. In the second stage there is no more thinking, that is no more distracting thoughts which arise in the mind.
One is undisturbed, this is one-pointed focus. What remains is a one-pointed-ness of mind, joy and happiness. The joy and happiness are based on concentration.
There is much more to this stage, but time is limited. The third stage or level is you repeat the second level many times, and eventually the feelings of joy dissolve, and happiness remains. Equanimity becomes much stronger, and so does concentration.
This makes your mindfulness stronger and much more stable. Mindfulness emerges without the body, and without much effort and your refined happiness has merged completely with your mind. A stable, continuous Happiness, that does not waver.
The Fourth Level: You repeat the third level of concentration many times, until your mind is not focused on Happiness. As this takes place you mindfully become more aware to the presence of Equanimity - the neither painful or pleasant feeling of perfect mental and emotional balance. When you let go of feelings of happiness, your have reached the fourth level of concentration, in which mindfulness is purified by the power of Equanimity. At this fourth level of concentration, the mind is completely quiet,
completely tranquil, peaceful, and totally stable. Because all the negative mind states have been eradicated, the mind is
imperturbable. These four stages, however are not yet enlightenment.

Patience and Humility are the keys to reaching perfection {Nirvana).
Nirvana is eventually attained through intense Insight [Mindfulness] Meditation, which takes much, much practice and time.
Gentleness, Patience and kindness toward one's mind is essential. Meditation requires intense discipline. One undertakes this discipline of Meditation not to impress anybody, but to free our minds from the sufferings/dissatistactions caused by our own negativities. If one approaches
"The Eight Mindful Step to Happiness" like a hobby, it will not work. The Eight steps are to be put into practice daily, as you learn them. Learning without application is totally useless. Many only put the Eight steps into practice when they feel they need them, but we need them every single moment of our lives. This is the Buddhist Philosophy of Life, which ends the dissatisfactions/sufferings in life, bringing us a very stable peace of mind, and eternal Happiness {Nirvana).

**What and where is Nirvana ?

It is a dimension transcending time and space and thus is difficult to talk about or even think about. Words and thoughts being only suited to describe the time-space dimension. But because Nirvana is beyond time, there is no movement and so no aging or dying. Thus Nirvana is eternal because it is beyond space, there is no causation, no boundary, no concept of self and not-self and thus Nirvana is infinite. Siddhartha Gautama {The Buddha) states in the Dhammpada that Nirvana is the highest state of eternal Happiness and Peace of MInd.

*Thank You for Patiently reading this. It did take almost an hour to type this up for you, but I am off from work today, and the kids are in school, the wife's working, so it was my pleasure to do this for you.

*"Buddhists do not convert, but only answer questions for people who ask questions.
If, however you'd like to learn, with the intention of practicing, an excellent book to read, is called: "Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness." By: Bhante Henepola Gunaratana. And some of his book was used in typing this up for you, as a source.
He, the author advises to read his book
"Mindfulness in Plain English" {teaches Insight [Mindfulness] Meditation), before reading "Eight MIndful Steps to Happiness."

Thank You for giving me the opportunity to provide an answer to your most excellent question.

Have a Great weekend,

With Metta {loving-kindness and friendship) !

Answer 2

Indian Religion???? There is no such Indian religion. Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism are clubbed and included in Hinduism by the Constitution of India (Article-25) and all Govt. enacted (Indian Parliament legislated) Hindu laws are for all of them.

Hinduism is not a religion. All well known Hindu scholars, philosophers, priests, books and scripts claimed it a culture, tradition, custom, rite & ritual, and none called it a religion. The former Ruling Party BJP, Shivasena, Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and all other Hindu organisations proudly claim and insist that Hinduism is not a religion but the way of Hindus' lives. The word Hindu is never used in any ancient sacred book or script. It is a Persian word given to people beyond Sindhu river.

Answer 3

You have some beautiful answers, & however long, are worthy of reading. I would only add that the Four Noble Truths is not a "religion."

Answer 4

Buddhism which began in India around the 5th century BC. Indian Buddhism is virtually extinct now but Buddhism has spread into 3 main Sects, Tibetan, Mahayana and Theravada.

Peace from a Buddhist....

Answer 5

Unless you mention the 4 truths it is difficult to answer. Both in Buddhism and Hinduism 4 noble truths are there.

Answer 6

You should have been more specific about which truths you are searching.
Universal truths are brought under one platform called religion. If you go back in history , you may find only one religion.
It is people like you , who try to compare and satisfy his false ego , by trying to find which religion is superior. Or , which religion can be termed to be as inferior.
Religion in a true sense , should broaden ones outlook.
Your question shows that you are an atheist and trying to poke fun at the Great time tested Wisdom of the world . It is like spitting at ones own self.

Answer 7

Buddhism.

1. Life means suffering.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.

That last one is the eight-fold path:
1. Right View
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

If you're interested, here's an interesting web page:
http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/eightfoldpath.html

Answer 8

Ms. S is right.

However, Buddhism is not a religion. Lord Buddha had no idea that his followers would be termed as buddhists and his preachings would be consolidated into a religion. We human beings have a trait of discrimination.

All the best...

:-)