Dhammānupassanā — Four Noble Truths (Exercise 36 in Satipaṭṭhāna Practices) Reflections by Bhante Dr. Chandima
4.5 Dhammānupassanā: Contemplation of the Four Noble Truths (catusu ariya saccesu)
Puna ca paraṃ, bhikkhave, bhikkhu dhammesu dhammānupassī viharati catusu ariyasaccesu. Kathañca, bhikkhave, bhikkhu dhammesu dhammānupassī viharati catusu ariyasaccesu?
Again, further, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu dwells contemplating mental phenomena as mental phenomena about the four noble truths. And how, bhikkhus, does a bhikkhu dwell contemplating mental phenomena as mental phenomena about the four noble truths?
This introductory formulation presents the Four Noble Truths as the ultimate and comprehensive domain of dhammānupassanā. Here, contemplation is no longer limited to observing individual mental factors, but extends to grasping the structural point of experience itself—how dukkha arises, persists, and ceases according to discernible principles.
By presenting the Four Noble Truths as dhammesu dhammānupassī, the text emphasizes that they are not abstract doctrines but immediately observable phenomena within one’s own experience. The reflective question (How does a bhikkhu dwell…?) signals a shift from mere recognition to methodical insight, preparing the ground for a phenomenological engagement in which wisdom sees reality according to causal order and liberative possibility.
4.5.1 Idha, bhikkhave, bhikkhu ‘idaṃ dukkhanti’ yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti; ‘ayaṃ dukkhasamudayo’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti; ‘ayaṃ dukkhanirodho’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti; ‘ayaṃ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti.
Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu understands as it really is: “This is dukkha”; understands as it really is: “This is the origin of dukkha”; understands as it really is: “This is the cessation of dukkha”; understands as it really is: “This is the path leading to the cessation of dukkha.”
- This passage articulates the epistemic core of Buddhist liberative knowledge: insight into the Four Noble Truths (cattāri ariyasaccāni) as they are actually instantiated in lived experience. The repeated phrase yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti (understands as it really is) signals that this knowing is neither inferential nor merely doctrinal, but non-delusive, reality-congruent cognition—a mode of wisdom (paññā) that sees phenomena free from distortion by craving (taṇhā), conceit (māna), and views (diṭṭhi). For a basic definition of the Four Noble Truths, see the Dukkha Sutta (SN 22.104).
- First, “idaṃ dukkhan”ti does not denote a pessimistic metaphysical claim about existence as such, but a diagnostic recognition: conditioned experience, when appropriated through “I” and “mine,” is structurally unstable and unsatisfactory. Dukkha here is not restricted to pain (dukkha-dukkhatā), but includes the vulnerability of pleasure (vipariṇāma-dukkhatā) and the burden of conditioned processes themselves (saṅkhāra-dukkhatā). See the Dukkhatā Sutta (SN 45.165) for an explanation of the three types of dukkha mentioned above. Also, see the Saṅkhatalakkhaṇa Sutta (AN 3.47) for understanding the nature of conditioned phenomena (saṅkhārā).
Second, “ayaṃ dukkhasamudayo”ti identifies the causal origin of dukkha, not in external conditions—craving that reifies experience into a self-referential project. This reflects the Buddha’s methodological commitment to internal causality: liberation depends not on altering the world but on understanding the mechanisms by which experience becomes bound.
For a clear explanation of the Second Noble Truth—the origin of dukkha and how it can be ended—please refer to the Dukkha Sutta (SN 12.43). Also, for how craving arises and settles in our lives, see the Four Noble Truths section in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (DN 22).
- Third, “ayaṃ dukkhanirodho”ti affirms that cessation is not a speculative ideal or post-mortem promise, but an empirically verifiable possibility: the fading and stopping of craving (taṇhānirodha), observable in moments of non-clinging and fully realized in nibbāna. Importantly, cessation is not the annihilation of experience, but the cessation of compulsive appropriation.
- Finally, “ayaṃ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā”ti integrates insight with praxis. The path is not external to the truths but their method of realization, functioning as a disciplined reorientation of conduct (sīla), calmness/concentration (samādhi), and wisdom (paññā). Knowledge of the Four Noble Truths thus matures from conceptual clarity into transformative embodiment.
Taken together, this formula presents the Four Noble Truths as a single dynamic structure: dukkha is to be understood, its origin abandoned, its cessation realized, and the path cultivated. In Satipaṭṭhāna practice, this realization unfolds phenomenologically, moment by moment, until insight culminates in irreversible release.
4.5.2 Iti ajjhattaṃ vā dhamme dhammānupassī viharati, bahiddhā vā dhamme dhammānupassī viharati, ajjhattabahiddhā vā citte dhamme dhammānupassī viharati;
- The triadic formula—internal, external, and both—broadens right mindfulness beyond the self. Observing one’s experience of understanding the four noble truths (ajjhattaṃ) cultivates introspective clarity; observing others’ experience of understanding the four noble truths (bahiddhā) nurtures empathy and non-clinging; observing both dissolves the boundary between self and other, revealing universality in the mental phenomena processes.
4.5.3 Samudayadhammānupassī vā dhammesu viharati, vayadhammānupassī vā dhammesu viharati, samudayavayadhammānupassī vā dhammesu viharati.
- This section deepens contemplation into anicca-saññā—the perception of impermanence. One sees the mental phenomenon as a process, continuously arising and ceasing. Awareness of this flux uproots craving and builds insight into dukkha and anattā. The thought is no longer “mine,” but a transient flow of conditions.
4.5.4 ‘Atthi cittan’ti vā panassa sati paccupaṭṭhitā hoti. Yāvadeva ñāṇamattāya paṭissatimattāya anissito ca viharati, na ca kiñci loke upādiyati.
- At this stage, awareness becomes purified of grasping. The practitioner does not think “I am the mental phenomenon,” but merely recognizes “there is a mental phenomenon.” This detached observation marks the maturity of right mindfulness: awareness for the sake of knowing, not for owning. One abides free from worldly attachment (anissito ca viharati).
1. Seeing the truths as present phenomena, not abstract doctrine
In dhammānupassanā, the Four Noble Truths (cattāri ariyasaccāni) are not treated as a belief system to be affirmed, but as patterns of reality to be discerned in immediate experience. The practitioner is invited to see dukkha, its arising, its cessation, and the path as they are occurring now in bodily sensations, feelings, perceptions, and mental processes. This grounds the truths in lived reality rather than metaphysical speculation.
2. Yathābhūta-ñāṇa: knowing “as it really is”
The repeated phrase “yathābhūtaṃ pajānāti” signals that this contemplation is based on direct insight, not conceptual reasoning or inherited views. The Four Noble Truths are known through careful, sustained right mindfulness that reveals their actual nature. This guards against mistaking intellectual understanding of the Dhamma for liberating wisdom.
3. Dukkha recognized phenomenologically, not pessimistically
Here, dukkha is observed as stress, instability, and unsatisfactoriness within the five aggregates (pañcakkhandhā), rather than interpreted as a pessimistic claim about life. The practitioner notices how even pleasant experiences carry impermanence and vulnerability. This reframes dukkha as a diagnostic insight rather than a worldview.
4. Samudaya traced to conditional arising, not external blame
The origin of dukkha (samudaya) is discerned as craving (taṇhā) arising dependent on contact (phassa) and feeling (vedanā). This shifts attention away from blaming people, events, or fate, and toward understanding how desire, aversion, and ignorance condition suffering within one’s own experience. Responsibility replaces reactivity.
5. Nirodha is known through observable moments of cessation
Cessation (nirodha) is not treated only as a distant ideal (nibbāna), but as something directly glimpsed in practice. Whenever craving does not arise, or when it dissolves without being acted upon, the practitioner sees a taste of cessation. These moments validate the Buddha’s claim that freedom from dukkha is possible and experiential.
6. Magga contemplated as functioning qualities, not a checklist
The Noble Eightfold Path (ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo) is observed in operation—as right view clarifying experience, right effort preventing unwholesome states, right mindfulness sustaining awareness, and so on. The path is not merely an ethical or meditative ideal but a dynamic constellation of mental factors arising and strengthening through practice.
7. Internal, external, and both (ajjhatta–bahiddhā)
Consistent with the Satipaṭṭhāna method, the Four Noble Truths are contemplated internally (within oneself), externally (in others), and both together. This prevents an overly self-absorbed practice and reveals the universality of dukkha and its cessation. Insight matures from personal observation into a broader, less ego-centred understanding of reality.
8. Culmination in non-clinging (anissito)
The purpose of this contemplation is not analysis for its own sake, but release from identification and attachment. As the sutta concludes, one dwells “anissito ca viharati, na ca kiñci loke upādiyati”—not clinging to anything in the world. The Four Noble Truths thus function as a framework for disenchantment (nibbidā), fading of craving (virāga), and liberation (vimutti).
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