four noble truths

The four noble truths are the most basic teaching of the Buddha.

1. life is suffused with suffering
2. suffering is caused by attachments (to ideas and delusions)
3. suffering can be transcended or transformed
4. the eightfold path (also called the eight realizations) is the way to do it

It's worth noting that in Mahayana Buddhism, the transcendence and transformation of suffering is seen as an integrative practice.