Buddhism as a religious practice employs a rich system of ideas that assemble the scope of Buddhist beliefs. These ideas present an opportunity to address perpetual issues, one of which is the problem of human suffering. This question is broadly discussed within the framework of the teaching of the Four Noble Truths. According to Gethin, there are four realities taught by Buddha that explain people’s suffering. They include the noble truths of suffering, “the origin of suffering,” “the cessation of suffering,” and “the way leading to the cessation of suffering.” Thus, Buddha teaches that the problem of human suffering is the reality that the majority of people fail to recognize.
The Buddhist teaching addresses suffering as an inevitable reality of life that has its origin and might be eliminated. Only noble individuals can see these realities as they are and understand why they suffer. The first two truths state and explain the essence and the origin of suffering or “unsatisfactoriness.” According to the first noble truth, suffering accompanies people from the moment of their births, when they are sick, age, die, or are forced to experience something they are not willing to. The second truth explains the origin of the suffering, which takes its roots in egotistical “thirst for the objects of sense desire” and selfish deeds of individuals. Thus, only noble ones can acknowledge the Four Truths and recognize the origin of suffering. They can utilize the third and fourth truths to overcome the unsatisfactoriness and become free of suffering.