The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation

Thích describes the roots of Buddhism, which began when 29-year-old Siddartha Gautama experienced enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. He spread the message of liberation to five ascetics in Sarnath. He taught them the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, and proclaimed his enlightenment, setting into motion the wheel of “dharma,” which Hanh calls “the Way of Understanding and Love” (6).

The Buddha taught people to live by the Middle Way, avoiding extremes of self-denial and asceticism but also not overindulging in pleasures. Hanh believes that all of the Buddha’s teachings show people how to live, engage with society, and turn their suffering into peace and compassion.

The Four Noble Truths are the universality of suffering (dukkha), the roots or creation of suffering (samudaya), the cessation of suffering (nirodha), and refraining from suffering (marga). The fourth noble truth is also known as the Noble Eightfold Path. Within this path there are eight steps: “Right View, Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Diligence, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration” (11).

Thích urges the reader to engage with the Buddha’s teachings and simply remain open to their message, rather than fully accepting or rejecting them. He believes that teachers cannot simply give people the truth, but merely help their students realize truths that are already in them.

After the Buddha’s death, his followers spread his teachings to others, always conveying them orally. Buddhism fragmented into different schools of thought. Eventually, monks in Sri Lanka began to write down Buddha’s teachings, but only one monk had the entire canon memorized. Thích acknowledges that, over this centuries-long process, some of the Buddha’s words may have been misremembered or misrepresented. Moreover, none of the Buddhist schools wrote Buddha’s teachings in his native language, likely Pali, and so his words have been translated as well.

Thích explains that Buddhism fragmented into three broad groups: “Source Buddhism,” which aims to include all of the Buddha’s original teachings, “Schools’ Buddhism,” which includes various schools of the religion, and most recently, “Mahayana Buddhism,” which offers Buddha’s teachings in a new, accessible, and relevant way. Thích believes that all of these aspects of Buddhism have value, and complement each other. He warns the reader to not overly focus on the Buddha’s teachings themselves, but to focus instead on living them out in practice in their lives. He hopes that people engage with Buddhism to change how they think and live, and not merely to add to their “storehouse of knowledge” (18). Buddha himself warned against over-intellectualizing his teachings.

Thích warns against becoming ideological about certain Buddhist teachings. He points to the impression that everything is suffering in some form, and debunks this myth, claiming that certain dialogues have been repeated and taught more than others. In reality, Buddha taught to recognize suffering when it is present, but to also acknowledge joy when it is present. Thích asks Buddhist teachers to consider Buddha’s opinion that everything is impacted by impermanence, nonself, as well as nirvana.

Thích tackles another misconception: That craving, or greed, is the root of all suffering. While it is certainly powerful, Thích points to other causes, such as anger and ignorance, which also generate suffering. Thích believes that always blaming craving is too “simplistic” (22) and that practitioners should have a more specific understanding of their suffering.

Buddhist meditation consists of vipashyana, or looking deeply, and shamatha, which literally means stopping. Shamatha has three parts: Stopping, calming, and resting. Thích believes the art of stopping one’s own unthinking habits and behaviors is crucial, as without it people can never achieve insight. He likens people to riders on a runaway horse, powerless when they do not control their own distractions and habits.

According to Thích, people’s “habit energies,” or vasana, can overpower their own wills. One powerful habit is to dwell on the past or worry about the future, never being fully present. Only through mindfulness can people overcome their vasana; Thích recommends acknowledging it in a friendly way to take its power away.

After stopping, the second step of Shamatha is to calm one’s emotions through the Buddha’s approach of managing emotional reactions: Recognition, acceptance, embracing, looking deeply, and insight. Finally, Shamatha’s third step is resting. Truly resting is necessary for all kinds of healing. The author tells the reader to consider how animals heal when they are injured: They lie down in the forest, simply resting. In contrast, humans tend to be restless and unable to engage from struggle. By stopping, calming, and resting, individuals and communities can heal.

Buddhists practice “the turning of the wheel” of Dharma. The first turning is “Recognition,” in which people recognize the root cause of their pain, whether it be psychological or physical. By kindly acknowledging and accepting one’s pain, people can stop avoiding or denying it is there.

The second turn is called “Encouragement,” in which people understand the causes of their suffering in detail, believing that they are knowable and fixable. Next, people experience “Realization,” fully understanding their pain and being able to name and explain it. People can relieve their suffering by following the Buddha’s advice on “nutriments.” He advised people to eat good, healthy foods and manage their exposure to different stimulation, such as, in a modern context, the media or conversations. By “ingesting” poor foods or unwholesome images, people will feel more anxious or depressed. Even within an individual’s consciousness, there can be toxicity—especially in the form of rumination on negative memories or thoughts. Hanh laments that people are surrounded by toxicity in their food, communities, and media, and urges everyone to act together to mindfully resist.

The next turning of the wheel is “Will.” Everyone has a will which pushes them towards certain goals, and they must reflect on whether their will is really helping them achieve compassion and happiness, or if it is generating more suffering. Reflecting on how one’s own habits have generated suffering can be humbling and saddening. Thích recommends sharing one’s problems with a friend rather than keeping it hidden, telling the reader to ask others for insight.

To stop unthinking behavior, people must live mindfully, paying attention to all their senses. Stopping does not mean halting all behaviors, only the unhealthy, unthinking habits. People are free to listen to their bodies’ real instincts instead of acting out of habit. Once people gain their insight, they can live as their true selves without generating or experiencing suffering.

Thích argues that everyone has “seeds of happiness” within them that are easy to ignore if they are more focused on their suffering. For instance, if someone had a toothache, they would pay attention to their pain, but once it went away, they probably wouldn’t appreciate their “non-toothache,” or wellness. Thích believes that to heal from pain, people must learn how to really pay attention to, and appreciate, the happy parts of their life, too. This is part of the Third Noble Truth, or the cessation of suffering.

The wheel of the Third Noble Truth turns three times. The first turn is “Recognition,” or recognizing that ending suffering is possible. The second turn is “Encourage,” in which Buddhists encourage themselves to find joy and peace. This does not mean running from suffering or smothering it with false happiness, but growing real happiness amidst the suffering. Finally, the last turning of the Third Noble Truth is “Realization,” in which people realize that happiness and suffering are not two different things—this leads to true joy.

Thích calls the Fourth Noble Truth “the way out of suffering” (42). First, practitioners recognize the validity of the Eight-fold Path, then they encourage themselves to put it into practice. Hanh urges the reader to understand that their transformation will be gradual and will require them to make changes to their life. He believes that Buddhist practices like meditation should address people’s real problems, and encourages the reader to decide for themselves the path that is most relevant to them.

Thích explains that all of the Four Noble Truths are interrelated. He reframes how they are usually described, trying to make them more accessible to people today. For instance, the Third Noble Truth, usually called “cessation of suffering,” could be renamed “well-being” (45). He argues that in addition to understanding the Noble Eight-Fold path, people should have a concept of an “Ignoble Eight-Fold Path,” which includes ignorance, hatred, and craving. He concludes his chapter by reiterating that to escape these habits, which only generate more suffering, people must learn about the Eight-Fold Path and actually put it into practice.