Reading guide
Two etymologies, completing one word
This project's own direct comparison across two adjacent discourses: SN 56.27 explained why the truths are called “sacca” (real, from “tatha”); this discourse explains why they are called “ariya” (noble, from the Realized One's own status as the Noble One) — together, the two discourses account for both halves of the compound “ariyasacca.”
A standard cosmological formula
This project's own recognition: “sadevake loke samārake sabrahmake sassamaṇabrāhmaṇiyā pajāya sadevamanussāya” (“this world with its gods, Māras, and Divinities, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, its gods and humans”) is a recognizable stock phrase this project notes recurs elsewhere in the canon whenever the Buddha's own authority is asserted across the widest possible scope.
Key terms
The text
§1“Mendicants, there are these four noble truths. What four? The noble truths of suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering. In this world with its gods, Māras, and Divinities, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, its gods and humans, the Realized One is the Noble One. That’s why they’re called ‘noble truths’.
§2That’s why you should practice meditation …”
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