At the heart of Buddhist teaching stand the Four Noble Truths, which function as both diagnosis and prescription. They state that existence as ordinarily lived is marked by dukkha, a pervasive unsatisfactoriness or suffering; that this suffering arises from craving, attachment, and ignorance; that the cessation of suffering is genuinely possible; and that this cessation is realized through the Noble Eightfold Path. This vision does not merely describe human misery; it points to a transformative possibility, the extinguishing of craving and ignorance known as nirvāṇa, which also brings an end to the cycle of rebirth.

The Noble Eightfold Path lays out the practical discipline through which this liberation is cultivated. It is traditionally organized into wisdom (right view, right intention), ethical conduct (right speech, right action, right livelihood), and mental discipline (right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. Together these aspects guide a life of non-harming, clarity, and meditative depth, shaping character and experience through intentional action. In this way, the path is not an abstract ideal but a lived training that gradually weakens the roots of suffering.

Underlying this path are several key insights into the nature of reality. The Three Marks of Existence teach that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent (anicca), unsatisfactory when clung to (dukkha), and devoid of a permanent, independent self (anattā). Dependent origination further clarifies that all phenomena arise in dependence upon causes and conditions, so nothing exists in complete isolation. This vision undermines rigid attachment to self and things, revealing how suffering is constructed and how it can be dismantled when its conditions are no longer sustained.

Buddhist teaching also emphasizes the moral and existential framework within which this path unfolds. Karma describes how intentional actions shape future experience, including rebirth within saṃsāra, the ongoing cycle of birth and death. Liberation from this cycle is called nirvāṇa, the complete cessation of suffering and the end of rebirth. Practitioners orient themselves by taking refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha as the exemplar of awakening, the Dharma as the liberating teaching, and the Saṅgha as the community of those who embody and preserve this path.