First of all I must say that I love the Dalai Lama, there is something so refreshing about his smile. I have not yet had the pleasure to be in his presence, but from his television appearances and books he is a radiant life force. I must admit that this book presented with great complexity as I am not at all familiar with Dharma Buddhism. But with dictionary in hand, or rather - on computer, I tackled the "Four Truths." I appreciate the Dalai Lama's spiritual parallels with Osho's writings, truthfully I was just happy to see something familiar. Overall the four truths explain the presence of suffering in human existence and how we are to transcend through cessation and continue on life's path.
The first truth, the "truth of suffering", attempts to explain the cause of suffering as our ignorance to enlightenment. The second truth, the "origin of suffering" debates the effects of karma and dependency origination. I found this truth to be the most interesting. Basically, we are all interconnected. There is no beginning or end, everything just "is", which is further explained by the "cause and effect" syndrome. Through meditation we come closest to the original creative force, emptiness. The third truth is the "truth of cessation". This truth discusses how we are to reach nirvana, obtaining liberation through emptiness or as Osho would say "no-thingness". And finally the last truth is the "truth of the path". This truth encourages us to understand that our quest for enlightenment must come through compassion. We should strive to reach higher not just for ourselves, but so we can benefit all mankind. There is a responsibility associated with enlightenment that must be satisfied to experience nirvana or samadhi.
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