The Discourse about the Great Emancipation

[The Second Chapter for Recitation]
[13: The Four Noble Truths]
Then the Gracious One addressed venerable Ānanda, (saying): “Come
Ānanda let us approach Koṭigāma.” 53 “Very well, reverend Sir,”
venerable Ānanda replied to the Gracious One. Then the Gracious One
together with a great Community of monks arrived at Koṭigāma.
There the Gracious One lived near Koṭigāma.
There the Gracious One addressed the monks, (saying): “Because of a
lack of understanding and a lack of penetration, monks, of Four Noble
Truths 54 both you and I have been wandering and running along (in
Saṁsāra) for a long time.
Which four?
1) Because of a lack of understanding and a lack of penetration,
monks, of the Noble Truth of Suffering both you and I have been
wandering and running along (in Saṁsāra) for a long time.
53 Koṭigāma literally means the village at the corner, explained by the
Commentary as meaning at the corner of a palace built by Mahāpanāda, a
former king of Mithilā.
54 The Commentarial definition here is worth noting: Ariyasaccānan-ti
Ariyabhāvakarānaṁ saccānaṁ; Noble Truths means Truths that produce a
state of Nobility. Maybe we should translate: Four Ennobling Truths.
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