An exploration of the Buddha's Four Noble Truths, giving the meditation practice a context and intention. the relationship between dukkha, clinging and liberation is discussed.
This is the opening talk for a retreat that welcomes young people (aged 16 - 25) to explore meditation and the Buddha's teaching on the four noble truths, and how this teaching sheds light on our own difficulties and opens up the possibility of deep freedom. This talk also includes Caroline Jones.
Reflections on the Buddha's first sermon: how the four noble truths are a translation of the principle of conditioned arising into a way of life; the middle way as avoiding the two dead ends of worldliness and religiosity; the four truths as prescriptions rather than descriptions, as a sequence of tasks to perform rather than a set of doctrines to believe; the first truth as fully knowing dukkha both in depth and breadth.
Further reflections on the meaning of the term "secular"; the Buddha's comparison of his teaching to a snake; an enquiry into what is distinctive and original in the Buddha's teaching: the principle of conditioned arising, the process of the four noble truths, the practice of mindful awareness, the power of self reliance; reflections on citations from the Pali canon concerning the principle of conditioned arising.
