#189 Your consultation with Dr. Buddha (nickname for the awakened one)

                 Your medical appointment with Doctor Siddharta Gautama : nickname "the Buddha"

Your complain(s) presented your doc:
Dissatisfaction, unhappiness, dislike, anger, worries, sadness, fear, anxiety, grief, disease, aging, pain, etc
All of these cause suffering.

Diagnosis of your disease = "First Noble Truth/ Reality"
Life contains physical & mental "suffering". This is not pessimism, just fact & we cannot escape from.

Causes of your suffering= "Second Noble Truth"
1) "I want": desire/ craving/ clinging this & that and their related attachments, etc..
2) "I don't want": hatred/ aversion / rejection/ refusal of this &that and their related attachments, etc..
3) "I see life/ people/events" as.....
Not seeing life/people/events as they truly are but as we perceive them or want them to be is a great source of suffering. This distortion or ignorance is based on our education, experience, reading, ego-driven mind-set, belief, ideas, judgment, religion, media, social pressure, aging, etc.
So, the doctor said to you:
"Most of your & my suffering is, therefore, ego-driven "I, me, myself, mine" that is .....
self-induced".
Being self-induced there is hope and, with a little smile, the doc added the following:

Recovery from the disease = "Third Noble Truth"
Nirvana. A mental state where suffering is, at least, under control if not eradicated.
Mindfulness meditation & the following prescription are the main treatments.

Your Prescription/Treatment = "Forth Noble Truth"
The so called 8th Foldpath or Middle Way is a set of 8 "rules" to follow....not easy to achieve and maintain.
Prescribing daily mindfulness meditation is also a must to your treatment.

No divine intervention, no miracle, we are on our own!