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What The Four Noble Truths Remind Us About Suffering, Trauma, Adversity, and Healing | Securing Liberation Through The Eightfold/Eight-Limbed Path
I first learned about the Four Noble Truths in my freshman or sophomore year of High School. I know this as a fact because I distinctly remember being yelled at by a fellow classmate when I raised my hand to recite the first truth.
I remember the moment clearly because he reacted to my answer with such anger and force that he not only revealed that he had not completed his homework assignment, but he also made it seem as if I were the one who had first created/discovered and shared the understanding in the world.
I now assume, reflecting back at his response, that maybe the knowledge of this great realization was a bit too much for his teenage mind to grasp since he had just barely started his life’s journey in his current physical form and may have had some hope that things would only get better and better from where he stood, or, maybe, he was simply in denial like most people tend to be…only he knows.
Having already witnessed the state of the world in the 14 or so years that I had already lived at that time, and being thoroughly “unamused” by it all, however, the words rang true to me with such potency that I found myself responding back to him with prompt words that immediately quieted his reaction.
Non-Fun Fact: Suffering Is A Natural Part Of Life
Whether we accept it or not (and we are best served with less denial than more), our first noble truth teaches us that life will undoubtedly be filled with inevitable and ongoing suffering, whether this is in the form of physical suffering, emotional turmoil, social torture, unbearable losses, or even mild boredom. No one escapes this life experience without being subjected to the stresses and discomforts that inevitably accrue from living life over any span of time. Even if one’s suffering does not primarily come from his/her own personal experiences at any given point, suffering will most certainly come from the experience of watching others suffer if one is not a psychopath.
And, what our second truth then goes on to specify, as we continue to explore the facts of this understanding in more detail, is that there is always a cause to our suffering, whether it is our own or other people’s karma (actions), a natural disaster, a random accident, the facts of genetics, or even a changing mood. There is always a beginning/source to all of the distress that we experience in our life and over the span of our lifetime.
Because everything that begins in our Universe has an end (since everything in existence is anicca or impermanent), however, there is also always an end to our suffering as well. This inevitable end to cyclical/varying/ongoing suffering in our lives is our third noble truth, and it can sometimes manifest in our experience too far in the future for comfort.
It is true, nonetheless, whether it is “late” in its dissolution or not, that the arrival of misery is always temporary. Even if the end of suffering’s manifestation into any given form/circumstance/experience simply comes in the form of our physical death (which should ultimately give us all a bit of strange reassurance in a way, since physical death is guaranteed for all living beings at some point, so suffering will end…it is a sure thing).
Truth four is what should ultimately give us a more comforting hope, however, since it goes one step further than “well, we’re all gonna’ die anyway,” to remind us that we do not have to wait until death to be liberated from this cycle of pain and suffering. We can free ourselves from suffering/the cycle of perceptual/ongoing suffering altogether (and all together if some miracle occurred) through self-development and by following the Eightfold/Eight-Limbed Path (which my classmate clearly did not read about).
Suffering As A Catalyst For Change
With this knowledge in mind, and by simply reflecting on your own life experience to verify this as fact, it is easy to see how all painful experiences in life, even the seemly catastrophic experiences, can be recovered from (since they, and all of the suffering that accompanies them, will always inevitably end). You can also see how suffering, when put into the proper context, can also teach you valuable lessons that support you to transcend all potential future suffering altogether as well (if you fully integrate the understanding that is gained from your experience of suffering).
Just think about how long most agony usually lasts for, from the pain of stubbing one’s toe, to the pain of a broken heart caused by a betrayal or the death of a loved one…and further think about how different types of painful experiences can also provide useful information for avoiding danger (as in the heat of a hot stove), or even signify growth and transformation (as in the pain that comes with exercising one’s muscles).
If looked at in the right context, all pain teaches you a valuable lesson that does not have to lead to distressful suffering if processed effectively. And, even if suffering does occur after a painful experience manifests, it is always true that the suffering will eventually end, so there is no need to despair. Although I would not go as far as to say that all pain is “good” for you (because, to be honest, we cannot label these types of things as “good,” nor “bad”), I do feel that pain always provides useful information that one can use toward his/her positive movement forward.
There is something in trauma research called posttraumatic growth, where individuals who have experienced trauma or adversity of any kind are able to recover and live healthy thriving lives after moving past their hurts.
Those who have experienced the worst of the worst in their lifetime (things that they cannot–in words nor otherwise–truly, or fully, share with/express to others because others can never really understand/relate to what is being expressed and can only “imagine”…imagination…which is not the same as knowing and experiencing…since fantasy inevitably has its limits and often shields the psyche of the imaginer from the true vulnerable place of seeing things that those who experience directly had to look at, feel, and face, without being able to run, turn, or imagine away) are able to develop into truly spectacular human beings, who because they have endured their suffering well and progressively move beyond and above it each day, are able to become not only resilient, kind, and truly skilled at living life, but are also able to find and create great love and other beautiful things in the world as well (from art to music, to great stories, and shining humanitarian efforts).
With that in mind, here is:
WHAT Gautama Siddhartha‘s (The Buddha’s) FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS REMIND US ABOUT SUFFERING, TRAUMA, ADVERSITY, AND HEALING
1) Life has ongoing and inevitable suffering (dukkha): Those who have suffered greatly do not need any confirmation of this other than living their lives.
2) There is a cause to your suffering (samudaya): Whether it is from intergenerational trauma that has been passed down through influence and DNA, an unfortunate accident, a weather pattern that started somewhere due to some geological condition, the state of your ego or endless desiring, a war that began with an event or political choice, so on and so forth; there is always a source to all of your suffering.
3) There is an end to your suffering-since everything in the universe is impermanent/anicca/comes and goes– (nirhodha): Suffering will end. Whether this occurs with death or with personal choice and right action, but nothing lasts forever. This brings hope for recovery from all ills (as well as a reality check that even happiness ends as this cycle continues indefinitely, so happiness should be enjoyed while it lasts). Acceptance and equanimity help you to cope with, and move through, the reality of the cycle of truths 1-3.
4) There is a path that will free you from all suffering, which in Yoga, and Buddhism (where the specifics of the Path are structured/emphasized in a slightly different way than they are when conceptualized in Raja Yoga–although the basic principles remain the same), is called the Eightfold Path (magga): You can liberate yourself from any traumas and suffering that may have been inflicted upon, or created by, you by transmuting these sufferings within yourself and striving to be more integrated, healthy, and well-developed as an individual first, and then ultimately connected to your True Self beyond form. This not only helps you to heal yourself and to move forward with your own life after suffering, but may (but feel free to just simply live your life in peace and to not bother with the inspiration part if necessary) also cause you to serve as a shining example of transformation in action that can help others out of their suffering as well.
Always remember that the Buddha came to enlightenment only after experiencing and studying suffering….if no suffering…no desire/incentive to be truly free from the cycle of suffering…then no enlightenment nor liberation.
Your suffering, no matter how seemingly unbearable, always has the potential to serve as your catalyst for positive change/transformation.
Whether your recovery and self-realization look “ugly” or “graceful,” or takes one year or ten, it is important to know that there is a reason that the lotus flower is a powerful metaphor for enlightenment and liberation.
Remember that: out of the muck and filth of past and current experiences, out of the illusion of what appears to be a poisonous cesspool where nothing good can possibly grow, the seed of love and divinity that is planted within you can always find the right nutrients to thrive, flourish, bloom, and to realize its full vibrant expression. There is such infinite Love present in/as you/existence, and all around you, that people like you have been created (out of that Love, and out of the desires/hopes of those who have longed for a better world) to transmute even the densest gunk that has been manifested into the world and into the personal/collective psyche of our species, overcoming the filth of even the trashiest parts of human imaginations and actions. You have the power to transmute and transform all garbage into something refreshing and filled with light. Extracting what is useful and good from the unreality of what appears to be “bad” within Maya and making what appears to be the barren wasteland of filth and toxicity into a beautifully flourishing oasis in/as/for/through/with yourself. That is the nature of the lotus.
You, beautiful flower, remain untouched/undisturbed by the filth that you grow in/through. That is the how you express your True Self and your pure eternal nature.
Even while being planted in the muck of “the stuff of nightmares,” your seed of beauty and divinity is best served taking what is needed and leaving behind what is not, in order to blossom, thrive, and emit your fragrance boldly in your time of manifestation in any particular form.
The lotus serves as a reflection of what you are. Allow yourself to use the context of your suffering to grow into the truly wonderful expression of the divine spark of life that you are in this world.
Suggested Reading
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
It didn’t Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle
Investigating multi-dimensional holistic wellness as an inter-disciplinary artist and Yoga-Meditation writer, thinker, and practitioner. Doing experientially-based self-agency work grounded in research, reflection, and practice.