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Core Teaching

The Four Noble Truths​

The Buddha summarized the entire path in four profound insights:

  • There is suffering (dukkha): life contains stress, dissatisfaction, and instability.
  • Suffering has causes: craving, ignorance, and unskillful habits create ongoing pain.
  • Suffering can end: when its causes are removed, freedom becomes possible.
  • There is a path to the end of suffering: the Noble Eightfold Path leads to clarity, peace, and liberation.

These truths are not beliefs - they are realities to be observed in one's own experience.

The Three Marks of Existence​

All conditioned things share three characteristics:

  • Impermanence (anicca): everything changes. Nothing stays the same.
  • Suffering or unsatisfactoriness (dukkha): clinging to what changes creates stress.
  • Not-self (anattā): no permanent, unchanging "self" can be found in body or mind.

Seeing these clearly loosens attachment and opens the door to wisdom.

Dependent Origination​

Dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) explains how suffering arises through a chain of causes and conditions. Nothing exists independently; everything depends on countless factors.

This teaching shows:

  • why we are reborn,
  • how habits shape our lives,
  • and how liberation becomes possible when the chain is broken.

Understanding dependent origination reveals the mechanics of samsara and the path to freedom.

Karma & Rebirth​

Karma is intentional action - thoughts, words, and deeds that leave imprints on the mind. These imprints shape future experiences, including rebirth.

Key points:

  • Good intentions strengthen wholesome qualities.
  • Harmful intentions strengthen unwholesome qualities.
  • Karma ripens when conditions allow it.
  • Rebirth continues as long as craving and ignorance persist.

Human birth arises from a mix of past actions and present conditions, offering a rare chance to grow and resolve karmic debts.

Bodhicitta​

Bodhicitta is the awakened heart - the intention to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.

It has two aspects:

  • Aspiring bodhicitta: the wish to help all beings become free from suffering.
  • Engaging bodhicitta: taking action through compassion, wisdom, and the path of practice.

Bodhicitta transforms spiritual practice from personal improvement into a boundless commitment to the welfare of all.