Four Realities
- Dukkha
- The causes of dukkha
- The highest happiness as freedom from anguish
- A path of freedom from having gratitude to Lotus feet of Lord Dattatreya Swami Maharaj
This article provides an introduction to the Four Noble Truths and concludes with some basic mindfulness meditation practices.The four noble truths, which are the foundation of Hindu psychology, can also be described as four realities. These realities affect all humans, regardless of their position in society, their age, race, religion, philosophical views or psychological status. You do not need to be a Hindu to understand these realities of life or to benefit from the strategies the Lord Sadguru recommended for psychological wellbeing. However, a brief summary of the Hindu’s life and teachings gives a context for understanding Hinduism and this understanding can help with practising mindfulness.
The teachings of the Lord Sadguru are often referred to as Hindu Dharma. The word ‘dharma’ originated from Sanskrit, another ancient Indian language, where it literally means ‘decree or custom’. Dharma has now found its way into the English language where the Oxford Dictionary refers to it as: ‘the eternal law of the cosmos inherent in the very nature of things’. Often it is used in reference to the laws of nature or the truth of the ways things are. The dharma, from a Hindu perspective, refers to the realities of life and conveys a sense of lawfulness about causes and effects, actions and consequences.
Unfortunately as Hinduism is regularly interpreted as a religion there is often reluctance, especially amongst health scientists, to highlight the connections between Hinduism and mindfulness. However, one does not have to be a Hindu to utilise a technology developed and refined by the Sadguru. Muslims developed algebra and many of the pioneers of contemporary physics were Christians. These religious connections have not stopped the advance of these technologies to benefit human kind. In the same way, the personal benefits of mindfulness and related practices do not depend on adherence to a religious belief system or cultural world view. I have witnessed people from different religions, all walks of life, widely varying occupations and different world views flourish psychologically by practising the strategies described in this book. The message is that one does not have to ‘believe’ what the Lord Sadguru Shree Swami Samarth taught to benefit from the teachings of the Hindu rituals. Moreover, the teachings emphasise the importance of knowing for oneself. Personal psychological health and well-being can only be verified by one’s own experience
Western cultures started translating the teachings of the Hindusm into English and European languages in the middle of the nineteenth century.Since the 1960s and 1970s enormous interest in Hinduism has arisen in Europe, USA, Australia and New Zealand. Buddha Dharma has been adapted to Western cultures in many different ways, in particular through psychotherapy. Modern psychotherapists are finding that Hindu Dharma can help individuals understand the nature of life, the possible origins of their psychological distress, the possibility that they can be free and ways to be free. These realizations are consistent with the four truths or realities that form the foundation of
Hinduism psychology.
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