Buddha taught that there were four noble truths.
And they posted this exact same photograph, next to which was the additional information that it was from Afghanistan (100 -200 CE, which is the same as AD.
As they were so nicely summarized by BBC under their category of “Religions” on 2009-11-17, the four truths are, and I quote,:
- The truth of suffering
- The truth of the origin of suffering
- The truth of the cessation of suffering
- The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering
The BBC article goes on to say that the first two are concerned with the “diagnosis” of suffering.
By implication the last two are related to the treatment and cure of suffering.
And here fits the “Hippocratic Oath”,
- First of all, do no harm.
Surprisingly, this oath is nearly contemporary with Buddha’s teaching life.
I would love to wave a wand and remove all suffering of everybody and every creature. As well aware of suffering as I am, there is lots of room for improvement on helpful skills to do so.