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Sacca (Sanskrit:सत्य) is a Pali word meaning "real" or "true".[1] In earlyBuddhist 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 tenpāramīs or "most high" abodhisatta must develop in order to become aBuddha.
In thePali Canon,sacca is frequently found in the termariya-sacca, meaning "noble truth" or "truth of the noble ones".[2] More specifically, the termariya-sacca refers to theBuddha's "Four Noble Truths," elucidated in hisfirst discourse as follows (wheresacca is translated as "reality"):
Now this,bhikkhus, is the Truth aboutpain: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, thefive bundles ofgrasping-fuel are painful.
Now this, bhikkhus, is the Truth about that which causes pain: It is thiscraving which leads to renewedexistence, accompanied by delight and attachment, seeking delight now here now there; that is, craving forsense-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 thisNoble Eight-factored Path, that is to say, right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood,right effort, rightmindfulness, right mentalunification.[3]
In thePali literature, these Four Noble Truths are often identified as the most common idea associated with theNoble Eightfold Path's factor of "right view" or "right understanding". And in the Buddhist causal notion ofDependent Origination,ignorance of these Four Noble Truths is often identified as the starting point for "the whole mass ofsuffering" (kevalassa dukkhakkhandha).
In terms of the daily practice of Buddhist laity, alay devotee daily recites theFive Precepts which include:
I undertake the precept to refrain from incorrect speech.[4]
"Incorrect speech", at its most basic, reflects speaking truthfully. Regarding this, contemporaryTheravada monkBhikkhu Bodhi has written:
It is said that in the course of his longtraining forenlightenment over many lives, a bodhisatta can break all themoral precepts except the pledge to speak thetruth. The reason for this is very profound, and reveals that the commitment to truth has a significance transcending the domain ofethics and even mental purification, taking us to the domains ofknowledge and being. Truthfulspeech provides, in the sphere of interpersonalcommunication, a parallel towisdom in the sphere of privateunderstanding. The two are respectively the outward and inward modalities of the same commitment to what is real. Wisdom consists in the realization of truth, and truth (sacca) is not just a verbal proposition but thenature of things as they are. To realize truth our whole being has to be brought into accord with actuality, with things as they are, which requires that in communications with others werespect things as they are by speaking the truth. Truthful speech establishes a correspondence between our own inner being and the real nature ofphenomena, allowing wisdom to rise up and fathom their real nature. Thus, much more than an ethical principle, devotion to truthful speech is a matter of taking our stand on reality rather than illusion, on the truth grasped by wisdom rather than the fantasies woven by desire.[5]
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