The Buddhist Noble Truths - Are They True?

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Abstract

Scholarship has not so far raised the question whether the so-called Buddhist noble truths are actually true. The present article addresses this question in light of recent developments in neuroscience and psychology. It bases itself primarily on the theory proposed in some publications by Mark Solms, and on some other recent discoveries in psychology. Concentrating on the role of memories in the formation of personality, it draws attention to the potential effects of memory reconsolidation on those memories and shows how cessation of suffering and cessation of desire make sense in this context. Access to the relevant memories presents itself as a little understood process. Proposals are made as to how it may be attained.

Keywords:

• Buddhism
• suffering
• consciousness
• memory reconsolidation
• neuropsychology
• wanting
• mental absorption
• psychedelics

1. Introduction

• The article proposes to study the truth claims of the four noble truths independently from their religious context, something modern scholarship has not done.
• Unlike unverifiable religious dogmas, the four noble truths are presented as psychological claims that can be evaluated in light of scientific evidence from psychology and neuroscience.
• The four noble truths are summarized as: suffering, its origin (thirst/desire), its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation (the eightfold path).

2. Suffering

• The article examines whether the first noble truth—that life is suffering—can be considered objectively true.
• Using Mark Solms’s theory, it posits that consciousness is fundamentally feeling (affect) and arises when an organism’s automatic responses are insufficient to maintain homeostasis.
• Unpleasure is felt when deviating from homeostasis, and pleasure when returning to it. We are only conscious of a limited number of prioritized needs at any time.
• Sensitive people may be conscious of more conflicting needs simultaneously, leading to a greater overall experience of suffering.
• Mental concentration, particularly the state of “flow,” offers a temporary escape by suspending awareness of unresolved needs and their resulting unpleasure.

3. Cessation of Suffering

• Suffering can be minimized if the conflict between our needs is reduced. Many of these needs are not innate but are acquired through emotional learning and become automatized predictions based on memories.
• These entrenched predictions, which form our personality, can be seen as “mini-addictions” and “mini-traumas.”
• Recent research shows that the emotional charge of these memories can be permanently modified or erased through a process called memory reconsolidation.
• This requires reactivating the original memory and then confronting it with a “mismatch” or “prediction error” during a short reconsolidation window.

4. Cessation of Thirst

• The cessation of desire (“thirst”) is a direct consequence of the process that ends suffering.
• Psychology distinguishes between “wanting” (motivation) and “liking” (pleasure). Addictions and “mini-addictions” are characterized by excessive “wanting.”
• Since these “mini-addictions” are based on memories, resolving them through memory reconsolidation would reduce not only suffering but also “wanting.”
• This aligns with the second and third noble truths, which link suffering to thirst and its cessation to the cessation of thirst.

5. The Path

• The main obstacle to ending suffering is gaining conscious access to the deeply embedded, often non-declarative, memories that underlie our conflicting needs.
• The article proposes that deep mental absorption, the final step of the eightfold path, could be the method to access these normally hidden memories.
• Once a memory is accessed and reactivated through deep absorption, it can be modified via reconsolidation, provided the other condition—a “mismatch” or “prediction error”—is also met.

6. Concluding Remarks

• The author argues that the four noble truths are not “superstitious nonsense” but are truth claims that make scientific sense and can be evaluated.
• Unlike some “naturalized” versions of Buddhism that reinterpret the truths, this article takes them at face value.
• The conclusion is that the four noble truths do not contradict any known scientific facts and are supported by scientifically tenable hypotheses.

Appendix A. A Chemical Shortcut?

• This section considers whether psychedelic drugs could offer a shortcut to accessing hidden memories, a key hurdle on the path.
• Research shows that classic psychedelics can increase the vividness of autobiographical memories and facilitate memory reconsolidation.
• However, psychedelics alone are not a complete solution. The user would still need to consciously direct attention to all relevant memories and evoke a “mismatch” (e.g., through equanimity) for the emotional erasure to occur.