How did the Buddha discover the Four Noble Truths and the Eight Fold Path? What are they?
1. The Nature of Suffering (Dukkha): “Now this … is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.”[8] 2. Suffering’s Origin (Samudaya): “Now this … is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination.”[8] 3. Suffering’s Cessation (Nirodha): “Now this … is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it.”[8] 4. The Way (Magga) Leading to the Cessation of Suffering: “Now this … is
