Sacca

Sacca (सत्य) is a Pali word meaning "real" or "true". In early Buddhist literature, sacca is often found in the context of the "Four Noble Truths", a crystallization of Buddhist wisdom. In addition, sacca is one of the ten pāramīs or "most high" a bodhisatta must develop in order to become a Buddha. In the Pali Canon, sacca is frequently found in the term ariya-sacca, meaning "noble truth" or "truth of the noble ones". More specifically, the term ariya-sacca refers to the Buddha's "Four Noble Truths," elucidated in his first discourse as follows (where sacca is translated as "reality"): Now this, bhikkhus, is the Truth about pain: birth is painful, aging is painful, illness is painful, death is painful; sorrow, lamentation, physical pain, unhappiness and distress are painful; union with what is disliked is painful; separation from what is liked is painful; not to get what one wants is painful; in brief, the five bundles of grasping-fuel are painful. Now this, bhikkhus, is the Truth about that which causes pain: It is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and attachment, seeking delight now here now there; that is, craving for sense-pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination (of what is not liked). Now this, bhikkhus, is the Truth about that which can put an end to pain. It is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, non-reliance on it. Now this, bhikkhus, is the Truth about that which is the way leading to the cessation of pain. It is this Noble Eight-factored Path, that is to say, right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right mental unification. In the Pali literature, these Four Noble Truths are often identified as the most common idea associated with the Noble Eightfold Path's factor of "right view" or "right understanding".