The Buddha’s teaching can be simply summed up into three parts:

• Four Dharma Seals
• Four Noble Truths
• Noble Eightfold Path

The Four Dharma Seals reflect the genuine teachings of the Buddha, just as a legal document is stamped with the royal seal. They can be simply explained by using the following terms:

Anicca (impermanence)

Everything in life, our feelings and thoughts, people, animals, plants, bacteria and countries are always changing and reacting. Without change, there could be no life, no flowers, no grandparents, and no happiness.

Dukkha (suffering)

People suffer because they want things to be permanent when they are not. They cling to things that are ending and try to avoid things that are unpleasant. But thanks to change, we can change suffering into happiness.

Anatta (non-self):

Nothing lives on its own, not even you or me. We are alive due to our parents, air, food, water, and everything around us. We cannot even remain the same for two moments. We are born, grow old, get sick and die. There is nothing that can be called a permanent “I” or a soul. That which carries on to our next life is our life force, or karma. The concept of “me” and “mine” is an illusion we create with our minds.

Nirvana (true peace)

By accepting and understanding that change is a part of life, we can be content with what we have and who are. We can reach the state of Nirvana, a state of complete selflessness. The word nirvana means to blow out a candle. It is not a place, like heaven, but more a state of being in harmony with the universe, and is beyond words.

After he became enlightened, the Buddha first taught the Four Noble Truths to five hermits in Deer Park near Benares. They became the first Buddhist monks, the beginning of the Buddhist order called the sangha.  The Four Noble Truths are: