Buddha’s First Sermon: Four Noble Truths & Noble Eightfold Path

Context and Authorship

“First Sermon” (a.k.a. Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dharma) is traditionally the inaugural discourse delivered by Siddhārtha Gautama after enlightenment.
- Conventional dating: 6^{th}\;\text{century\ BCE}.
- Scholarly consensus: present form is a later redaction compiled several centuries after the Buddha’s death.
Despite redaction, the text is accepted as encapsulating foundational Buddhist doctrines, notably the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

1️⃣ Truth of Suffering (Dukkha)
- All conditioned existence is permeated by dissatisfaction, pain, or suffering.
- Suffering is universal and inescapable within samsāric life.
2️⃣ Truth of the Origin (Samudaya) of Suffering
- Root cause: craving or desire (tanhā).
- Text isolates three desires:
- Desire for sensual pleasure.
- Desire for continued existence.
- Desire for prosperity / success / material gain.
3️⃣ Truth of the Cessation (Nirodha) of Suffering
- If craving is relinquished, suffering ceases.
- Implicit promise of nirvāṇa—liberation from samsāra.
4️⃣ Truth of the Path (Magga) leading to the Cessation of Suffering
- Path = the Noble Eightfold Path (detailed below).
- Functions as the pragmatic method for uprooting craving.

Serves as a practical, prescriptive roadmap for ethical conduct, mental discipline, and wisdom.
Items are traditionally grouped into three training clusters (Triśikṣā): wisdom (prajñā), ethics (śīla), meditation (samādhi).

Right Belief / View (Sammā-diṭṭhi)
- Clear understanding of the Four Noble Truths.
- Recognition of impermanence, suffering, and non-self.
Right Aspiration / Intention (Sammā-saṅkappa)
- Mind imbued with renunciation, non-ill-will, non-cruelty.
- Opposes sensuous desire, hatred, and violence.
Right Speech (Sammā-vācā)
- Abstention from lying, divisive or harsh speech, and idle gossip.
Right Conduct / Action (Sammā-kammanta)
- Avoidance of immoral bodily acts (e.g., killing, stealing, sexual misconduct).
Right Livelihood (Sammā-ājīva)
- Choosing an occupation that does not inflict harm—directly or indirectly—on living beings (e.g., avoiding arms trade, animal slaughter, deceitful business).
Right Endeavor / Effort (Sammā-vāyāma)
- Fourfold exertion: prevent arising of unwholesome states, abandon arisen unwholesome states, cultivate unarisen wholesome states, maintain arisen wholesome states.
Right Mindfulness / Memory (Sammā-sati)
- Continual awareness of body, feelings, mind, and phenomena (satipaṭṭhāna practice).
Right Meditation / Concentration (Sammā-samādhi)
- Development of deep meditative absorptions (jhānas) culminating in stable, unified awareness.

Noble Truths provide the diagnosis (suffering, cause, possibility of cure) and the Path offers the prescription (practical therapy).
By walking the Path, practitioners dismantle the causes isolated in the Second Truth, thereby actualizing the Third Truth (cessation).

Dukkha: includes gross suffering (dukkha-dukkha), suffering of change (vipariṇāma-dukkha), and pervasive unsatisfactoriness (saṅkhāra-dukkha).
Tanhā: craving; subdivided into kāma-tanhā (sense pleasures), bhava-tanhā (being/becoming), and vibhava-tanhā (non-being, annihilation).
Nirvāṇa: extinguishing of the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion.

Framework is not merely doctrinal—functions as an ethical blueprint influencing daily behavior, social interactions, and vocational choices.
Encourages compassion (karuṇā) and non-harm (ahiṃsā), resonant with broader South-Asian philosophical currents (e.g., Jain ahimsa).
Occupational ethics anticipate modern discussions on ethical careers, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility.

Text forms the doctrinal nucleus across Theravāda, Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna traditions, though elaborations vary.
Contrasts with contemporaneous Brahmanical emphasis on ritual: Buddhism proposes an inward, experiential path.
Strong influence on later philosophical schools (e.g., Madhyamaka, Yogācāra) and global mindfulness movements today.

Anchor later readings (e.g., Anattā-vāda on non-self, the Five Aggregates) back to the Four Noble Truths.
Map each precept or meditation technique (vipassanā, metta) onto the Eightfold segments.
Reflect on personal examples of craving → suffering → strategy for cessation to internalize the schema.