Thank you, Thomas Merton.

I recieved an assignment to write an essay on the Buddhist principle of the Four Noble Truths. I had my doubts about my own competence in the matter. However, I took a step back and humbly followed the example of Thomas Merton. While he never waivered in his own faith after joining the Trappists, his study and understanding of the eastern faiths deeped and enriched his own. In that spirit I started my soul searching of what I had learned about the Four Noble Truths in the light of my own Catholic faith.

1. Life is suffering . . .

Life is suffering. We know this innately. We know that it does not feel good to be diseased. It does not feel good to experience negative emotions. It does not feel good to want. Life is full of trials. Every person experiences the suffering of earthly life. We cannot escape it. Suffering will never simply cease on its own.
Even though life has its positive moments, they are incomplete. The things that ostensibly make us happy and even the emotions themselves are fleeting and impermanent much like the physical universe.

2. Suffering is due to attachment . . .

For me, in my Catholic faith, this translates into an attachment to the sinful aspects of the world. To live in accordance with you flesh rather than in accordance with the Spirit causes a sinful and corporal attachment to things that are not in line with God’s plan. All attachments to things that are only of this passing, mortal world are sinful in nature. It is an obsession with things not created for man by God. To be attached to these things causes a longing for God. In attempting to fulfill this longing, man mistakenly tries to fill the void with empty acts and objects of the flesh.

3. The cessation of suffering is contingent upon extinguishing attachment . . .

In my own life and faith, in order to eliminate suffering, I must eliminate my attachment to the passing world and the things within it that are not representative of the pure goodness of God. In order to do this I must realize the void that exists even with the presence of passing, corporal pleasures and goods. I must fill this void with God, which will lead to a detachment of myself from the enslavement of the flesh.

4. The Eightfold Path extinguishes attachment . . .

It is here in the last of the Four Noble Truths that the Buddhist tradition teaches the action that is needed for the result. If the desired result is freedom from attachment to end suffering, then the action must lead to such a result. The Buddhist tradition asserts that the Eightfold Path leads to the elimination of desire and suffering. Each of the steps, or “rights,” of the Eightfold Path directly applies to the basic tenets of the Catholic faith.
Similarly, these “rights” all apply to my own life and faith. If one follows right view (Catholicism), right intention (doing God’s will), right speech (glorifying God in your words), right action (glorifying God in the things you do), right livelihood (fulfilling God’s plan for you in your vocation), right effort (doing what is asked of you by God), right mindfulness (glorifying God in your thoughts), and right concentration (living a healthy prayer life) then one may be led to God rather than to works of the flesh. In this way of life one lives in accordance with the Spirit rather than in accordance with the flesh.

Studying the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, including the Eightfold Path, gave me a chance to examine my own Catholic faith. I saw the beauty of both faiths more clearly. Thank you, Thomas Merton.