四谛

catvāri-ārya-satyāni; 四聖諦; 四真諦. The four dogmas, or noble truths, the primary and fundamental doctrines of Śākyamuni, said to approximate to the form of medical diagnosis. They are pain or 'suffering, its cause, its ending, the way thereto; that existence is suffering, that human passion ((sa) taṇhā, 欲 desire) is the cause of continued suffering, that by the destruction of human passion existence may be brought to an end; that by a life of holiness the destruction of human passion may be attained'. Childers. The four are 苦, 聚 (or 集), 滅, and 道諦, i. e. (sa) duḥkha 豆佉, (sa) samudaya 三牟提耶, (sa) nirodha 尼棲陀, and (sa) mārga 末加. Eitel interprets them

(1) 'that 'misery' is a necessary attribute of sentient existence';

(2) that 'the 'accumulation' of misery is caused by the passions';

(3) that 'the 'extinction' of passion is possible;

(4) (sa) mārga is 'the doctrine of the 'path' that leads to the extinction of passion'.

(1) 苦 suffering is the lot of the 六趣 six states of existence;

(2) 集 is the aggregation (or exacerbation) of suffering by reason of the passions;

(3) 滅 is nirvana, the extinction of desire and its consequences, and the leaving of the sufferings of mortality as void and extinct;

(4) 道 is the way of such extinction, i. e. the 八正道 eightfold correct way. The first two are considered to be related to this life, the last two to 出世間 a life outside or apart from the world. The four are described as the fundamental doctrines first preached to his five former ascetic companions. Those who accepted these truths were in the stage of (sa) śrāvaka. There is much dispute as to the meaning of 滅 'extinction' as to whether it means extinction of suffering, of passion, or of existence. The <Nirvana Sutra> 18 says that whoever accepts the four dogmas will put an end to births and deaths 若能見四諦則得斷生死 which does not of necessity mean the termination of existence but that of continued transmigration. v. 滅.