BBC
A History of Ideas: Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths
Stephen Fry on Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths
Suffering is an inescapable part of life – or is it? For Buddha, following the Four Noble Truths could lead you to enlightenment. Only by recognising the causes of suffering and changing our behaviour to follow the Buddha’s path can we avoid suffering. Of course, the path isn’t easy and requires self control – something that seems to be ever harder in today’s world of instant gratification.
Want to hear more on this topic?
Here’s the whole episode from A History of Ideas – Naomi Appleton on the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths
Suffering is an inescapable part of life – or is it? For Buddha, following the Four Noble Truths could lead you to enlightenment. Only by recognising the causes of suffering and changing our behaviour to follow the Buddha’s path can we avoid suffering.
Do you have a duty to be selfish? Are altruism and self-sacrifice immoral? Does it sound like we’ve been taking ‘crazy’ pills? No. These are the thoughts of Russian/American novelist Ayn Rand.
Did the rise of capitalism really owe much of its early impetus to hard working Calvinists? That’s what Max Weber proposed.
How can we live a good life? For Aristotle ‘flourishing’ was at the core of a good life and the way to achieve this sense of satisfaction was through living virtuously.