The 4 Noble Truths in Action

I've talked about the 4-noble truths at length in the past. I am a firm believer that everything in Buddhism stems from those 4 truths. Because of how central it is to Buddhism, I feel we've talked about it fairly in-depth already. I thought about just re-posting my chart again and call this week's writing done. However, I felt that doing so wouldn't be purring in the proper effort into the course, and I want to put the proper effort into this. I decided I wanted do something a little different this week and share a story of how I used the 4 noble truths in my life this week. (When reading along, having my freshly updated chart open might be a good idea ;) )

I recently had to make a payment on some debt I have. I haven't been great at making payments on this debt because my wife and I thought we would need to be finding a new apartment soon and were saving for a deposit and first month's rent. However, our housing situation stabilized and we have no need for that deposit anymore.

Someone contacted me about my debt and said that they NEEDED a payment from me. My wife and I had talked about the amount for the payment, but I wanted to confirm with her before I made it. I messaged her, but she didn't respond because she was busy at work. I thought I could just wait until she messaged me back, but the person contacted me again. For some reason, this sent me into a spiral of urgency. I ended up messaging my wife again and calling her, but still no response because she was busy.

I ended up telling the person a lower amount than what my wife and I agreed on, just to be safe. For some reason, I perceived their reaction to the amount I paid as unsatisfactory. This tempered my sense of urgency with a streak of anxiety and a sense of failure.

After sitting in my senses of urgency, anxiety, and failure, for hours I realized I needed to take a step back. I realized I was experiencing suffering, and I realized I could use the 4 Noble Truths to more fully understand why and potentially eliminate it.

I looked at the 1st truth and realized that this anxiety was neither a physical or emotional loss. This was an anxiety I was inflicting upon myself. Why was I inflicting this suffering on myself? The 2nd noble truth would suggest that the 1st and 3rd poisons, my inability to see reality as it was and an aversion to this part of reality, was to blame. The 3rd noble truth says that this could end by accepting the situation I was in for what it was. The 4th noble truth (the 8-fold path) gave some great ways to do that. I realized that I was PERCEIVING that there was a sense of urgency to make the payment, when if fact I just needed it payed within a month, amounts were just being clarified that day. I realized that I was PERCEIVING that my payment wasn't big enough (when in fact it was), worrying about it was something I was doing to myself. Both of these were because I used wise mindfulness to examine my emotions and state of mind, and then used understanding to realize that what I was fretting about was a non-issue. I ended up not feeling fully satisfied after that revelation, and I realized I needed to put in some wise effort to really make myself feel more content. I ended up working real hard the rest of the day. I ended up being able to take a day that started off full of (perceived) urgency, anxiety, and failure, and I ended it with a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment (even if it took all day to get there).

This is the method that helped me overcome a mental/emotional episode that may have kept cascading for days or even weeks if I left it unchecked. The reason why it is called the "noble truths", is because it refers to the people who use this method. They are more easily able to overcome the suffering in their lives.

You should try using it in your life sometime! If it works, great! You've found a new way to cope with suffering. If it doesn't work, you don't have to keep using it.