The Four Noble Truths (5) (SA384)

Thus I have heard: One time, the Buddha was staying at the Residence of Sages in the Deer Preserve of Bārāṇasī.

It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “There are four noble truths. What are the four? They are the noble truth of suffering, the noble truth of suffering’s formation, the noble truth of suffering’s cessation, and the noble truth of the path to suffering’s cessation.

“If a monk has known the noble truth of suffering, then he has understood [suffering] … has known the noble truth of suffering’s formation, then he has ended [its formation] … has known the noble truth of suffering’s cessation, then he has realized [its cessation] … has known the noble truth of the path to suffering’s cessation, then he has cultivated [that path]. In this way, that monk is called an arhat. His contaminants have ended, his task has been accomplished, he’s free of the heavy burdens, and he has won his own reward. Having ended the bonds of existence, he’s well liberated with right knowledge.”

After the Buddha spoke this sūtra, the monks who heard what the Buddha taught rejoiced and approved.

This sūtra is part of the Dharma Pearls translation project.

Prepared by Charles Patton for SuttaCentral.