Rafting Towards Relinquishment

The core of Buddhism is what has been translated into English as "the four noble truths". They're still called that as a sort of legacy translation. The word itself, ariyasacca, could also mean "truth of the noble ones", or "ennobling truths", as in truths that make you "noble". I've never been able to connect with the "noble" adjective, probably in large part because I'm pretty firmly on the anarchist side of things, but it occurred to me that a related idea that I could connect to was "dignity". While as a political being I reject "nobility", I affirm the basic dignity of all human beings (and cats). So, the practice of the "noble truths" is really a practice that brings one to a life of dignity.

Note I say "practice". The ariyasacca are all too often understood as a beliefs. You believe these four principles or postulates, and that's the basis of the Buddhist Belief System. But considering them as beliefs is to go nowhere near understanding them. Yes, they form a basic framework for a view that you adopt as a Buddhist, but it's something you actually put into practice. Something you actually do, and having done so, you bring it to completion.

( So what is the Truth Of Suffering, then? )