I. General
    A. a way of summarizing the Dharma Jewel
    B. What does “noble” mean?
    C. The order of the four
        1. based on logic of medical metaphor
        2. aimed at practical solutions: the arrow story

II. True Sufferings, the first Noble Truth
    A. The word dukkha  and the issue of  Buddhist pessimism
    B. Three types of suffering
        1. suffering of suffering
            a. mental and physical
            b. different in different realms
                (1) gods
                (2) demi-gods or titans
                (3) humans
                        (a) birth
                        (b) aging
                        (c) sickness
                        (d) death
                (4) animals
                (5) hungry ghosts
                (6) hell beings
         2. suffering of change
            a. applied especially to pleasurable sensations
            b. types of impermanence
                (1) gross
                (2) subtle
            c. suffered by all, but only noticed as suffering by some
        3. suffering of conditioned states   
            a. most pervasive: even neutral states covered   
            b. most subtle: like a hair--on the palm for us, in the eye for nobles
            c. all states in samsara part of a “bad scene” or “malignant condition”
            d. each aspect of cyclic existence is conditioned by other factors within it; in Theravada, nirvana is the unconditioned
            e. the five aggregates
                (1) form: subtle and gross matter
                (2) sensation: pleasure, pain, neutral
                (3) perception: recognize objects
                (4) compositional factors: includes many emotional and cognitive features of our reactions to objects; karma
                (5) consciousness: sense and mental; clear and knowing

III. True Origins
    A. Origin stories
         1. no absolute origin story
         2. story of the origin of this universe
    B. Dependent Arising
        1. general
         2. key links in our particular case
            a. craving
                (1) sense pleasure
                (2) existence
                (3) non-existence
            b. ignorance
                (1) mistaking suffering as happiness
                (2) mistaking impermanent as permanent
                (3) mistaking no-self as self
             c. karma (action)
                 (1) as intention (= choice in Keown book)
                 (2) types of karma
                 (3) what is necessary for life-projecting karma
                            a. intention
                            b. commission
                            c. non-regret
                 (4) what karma will give rise to your next life? “weightiness” of different acts
                             a. five heinous acts:  Killing father, mother; or arhat; wounding buddha; creating schism
                            b.  concentrations
                            c. acts done with strong motivation, done repeatedly, or close to death

IV. The third Noble Truth:  True Cessations
     A. Nirvana is the cessation of suffering and its origins
        1. nirvana exists; nirvana is “realized”
        2. nirvana does not preclude some further physical pain (not like novacaine)
        3. nirvana as the end of craving, ignorance, karma
        4. nirvana is described as:
            freedom, happiness, peace, tranquility, dispassion
            etachment, supramundane, unconditioned, renunciation
        5. nirvana is ineffable
    B. People who have realized nirvana  = Aryas (nobles)
        1. four types
              a. stream-enterer
              b. once-returner
              c. non-returner
              d. arhat (Worthy one/Foe destroyer)
        2. differences between arhats and buddhas
              a. not relying upon another in that life
              b. full and perfect enlightenment in Buddha
              c. traces of former karma in arhats
    C. What happens to arhats and buddhas after they die?
        1. answer to Vacchagotta
        2. common beliefs actually found in Theravada
            a. nirvana is unimaginable
            b. extinction of the aggregates is peace
            c. nirvana is heavenly bliss

V. The Fourth Noble Truth: True Paths
      A. Path as middle way
        1. lifestyle: asceticsim/indulgence
        2. view:  nihilism/eternalism
    B. Path as eightfold path
        1. right understanding
        2. right thought
        3. right speech
        4. right action
        5. right livelihood
        6. right effort
        7. right mindfulness
        8. right concentration
     C. Path as three trainings
        1. training in ethics
             a. right speech
                (1) no falsehood
                (2) no harsh and abusive speech
                (3) no meaningless speech
            b. right action
                (1) no killing
                (2) no taking what is not given (=stealing)
                (3) no sexual misconduct
                (4) no use of intoxicants
            c. right livelihood
            d. five lay precepts; rules for monks and nuns
        2. training in meditation
            a. right effort
                (1) effort at meditation is needed because of beginning-less habituation
                (2) what kind of effort: balanced and sustained
            b. right concentration
                (1) what are concentrations?
                (2) advantages and limitations
                (3) how are they cultivated?
                (4) examples
            c. right mindfulness
                (1) what is mindfulness?
                (2) power and value of mindfulness
                (3) how mindfulness is cultivated
        3.  training in wisdom
            a. right understanding
                (1) as knowledge of four truths
                (2) as insight into the three marks
                    (a) suffering
                    (b) impermanence
                    (c) no-self
            b. right thought = right intention
                (1) opposite of desire is renunciation
                (2) opposite of hatred is non-harmfulness