THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS The First Noble Truth: be aware that life brings with it many forms of dissatisfaction, frustration, irritation, and many levels of suffering. The Second Noble Truth: recognise that these different types of suffering are produced by your mind, even if the apparent cause is external. The mind reacts negatively to life experiences that we didn’t want, and does the same when we don’t get things we were hoping for. The Buddha called these wants and dislikes “thirsts”. It is thirsts that cause unhappy states of mind. The Third Noble Truth: we can learn to cultivate skills that stop our thirsts and thus end our various forms of suffering. The Fourth Noble Truth: to cultivate these skills we have to follow a path that contains eight components, as follows. THE EIGHTFOLD PATH As with the word Noble above, the Eightfold Path uses a word that needs a little clarification. Each of the eight paths starts with the word Right. In this case it does not mean right as opposed to immoral, so it is not judgemental. Nor does it mean correct as opposed to wrong. It is best thought of as skilful or wise. Right Livelihood: this always astonishes me. 2500 years ago the Buddha was directly teaching rulers, employers, and employees how to work wisely. In particular he advised against doing work or careers which are inherently cruel or destructive, and if a person has no choice then they should make some amends by doing good in their spare time. This is what in recent years is now called CSR and ESG and “purpose-driven” but the Buddha taught it millennia ago and had a much stricter perspective than we have today. To find out more about our unique programme and how it can help you and your family business, please follow this link and download our brochure. Alternatively, you can email us [email protected] Copyright 2024 Russ Haworth and Martin Stepek