The 3 Truths of Living are borrowed from Buddhism and updated slightly with modern thought.

The 3 Truths are:

1. Life is suffering
2. The cause of suffering is craving and control
3. The cessation of suffering can be achieved by following the 6 Paths of Self-Discipline

Life is suffering even for the wealthy although, let’s be honest, it maybe is not as much as others. General suffering though includes birth, illness, old age, separation from friends or family, addiction, and negative emotions. Being alive is suffering.

The root cause of this suffering ultimately is due to our craving for something we currently can’t have or want to have. This is desire. We want to live in abundance and infinite happiness, but one day we will die. All that we strived for and accumulated will be for not, unless we have children.

We want to spend time with our children, but as they grow, they will seldom talk to us because you are in the middle of a divorce. Maybe you are a millionaire without a prenup and your husband cheats on you. We want the pretty girl in class to go out with us, but we have no self-esteem to ask her out. The new iPhone 32 was released today but you have terrible credit from unforeseen circumstances and simply can’t obtain it. Suffering has no bounds. It doesn’t care about your identity. It is all-encompassing and brutal.

Only through self-discipline can we achieve the end of suffering and craving. This is where Buddhism and the Novum Carta depart. Buddhism says that attempting to control your mind or your body creates more suffering. We disagree and take the Middle Way approach. Utilizing discipline through mindfulness, identifying the negative thoughts or actions, and redirecting them into meaningful outputs is the correct way to live in our age.

The means by which one obtains self-discipline are called the 6 Paths. We will go into greater detail now.