Map of The Four Noble Truths

The First Noble Truth is the effect of suffering.
The Second Noble Truth is the cause of suffering.
The Third Noble Truth is the effect of the end of suffering.
The Fourth Noble Truth is the cause of the end of suffering.

The First Noble Truth
is about knowing your current situation
(of being lost in suffering),
For if you don't know where you are,
As a reference point,
Even the best map (of the Dharma) is useless
(as you might assume you're elsewhere).

The Second Noble Truth
is about knowing what cause your current situation
(attachment, aversion, delusion),
For if you don't know why you are where you are,
As a reference point,
Even the best map is useless
(as you'll remain stuck where you're).

The Third Noble Truth
is about knowing the situation you wish to be in
(away from suffering; Nirvana),
For if you don't know where you are going,
As a reference point,
Even the best map is useless
(as you can't reach there).

The Fourth Noble Truth
is about knowing how to be in the situation you wish to be in
(by walking the Noble Eightfold Path),
For if you don't know how you are going there,
As a reference point,
The best map is useless
(as you won't be using it as a guide).

Just as realisation of the Noble Truths ennoble,
ignorance of them is to remain ignoble.


Extracted from : The Daily Enlightenment
- Stonepeace

No Attachments to the Past

Eckhart Tolle, in his teachings, keep emphasizing that you have to leave the past behind and not get attached to all the good and the bad things or events that you have experienced.

Why? Simply because when you are focused on the past, you will miss out on the Present.

You would also realize that Eckhart did not promise you a final destination, the achieving of Nirvana. Doing so would have made you focus on the future - how to get there, how to achieve it, what you need to do to arrive there. Instead, he emphasized the process, that the journey is more important. And that journey is to be Present, to experience the Now.

Many teachers speak so often of attaining Nirvana, achieving enlightenment, of its special bliss and its importance in their practise. However, it is more important to be aware of the mundane things in your daily life.


Some people will savor a good meal and then go around praising the merits of the meal, the excellent service and the talent of the cook to everyone that they meet. In doing so, their mind is jumping to that past experience of having the meal and forming attachments to it.



Others will eat the meal, savour every morsel and every bite but once through, will feel no need to go around telling others of a meal already eaten. This is the essence of non-attachment - no attachment to events that have already happened in the past.

Just be Present now...