Four Noble Truths/Medical Model Spread

[Rachelcat]

I just used this spread for a Deck of the Week reading, so I thought I'd share the details of the spread here. A (slightly) prettier version is attached.

Four Noble Truths/Medical Model Spread
Rachel Mann

Background on the Four Noble Truths:

The Four Noble Truths is the fundamental teaching of Buddhism. The goal of Buddhism is simply to put an end to suffering. When the Buddha, after many years (and many lifetimes) of searching, discovered the way to do just that, he taught the cure for suffering in the form of the four-point medical report used by the physicians of his culture.

The First Noble Truth describes the symptom (the problem): Suffering exists.
The Second Noble Truth gives the diagnosis (the cause of the problem): Craving causes suffering.
The Third Noble Truth is the prognosis (the possible outcome): The ending of suffering is possible.
The Fourth Noble Truth is the prescription (what is needed to cure the problem): Following the Eightfold Noble Path will end suffering. The eight steps of the Path are right understanding, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. The eight steps are often grouped into three aspirations: morality, meditation, and wisdom.

The Spread:

Randomly draw four cards and line them up left to right.

1. Symptom: The issue or problem you want to know more about.

2. Diagnosis: The cause of the issue.

3. Prognosis: The likely outcome.

4. Prescription: Advice on how to deal with the issue.

Path: Steps to put the advice into effect.

Draw the number of cards corresponding to the number of the Prescription card. If the number is over 9, add the digits together. (For example, if the Prescription card is Temperance, number 14, draw 5 Path cards.) For Pages, draw 1; for Knights, 6; for Queens, 3; and for Kings, 2.

Like the steps of the Eightfold Noble Path, these steps don’t need to be taken in consecutive order and may be better understood or more useful when organized into groups. So rearrange the Path cards until you have put them into a Path pattern that makes sense to you.

[stronglove]

thank you so much for this spread! i have been neglecting the cards for a while now because i couldn’t think of a way to connect my readings to my buddhist practice, it was too confusing. this spread really helps, i am going to try it out and personalize it. wow! and wonderful to meet another buddhist, what ‘brand’ are you following? mine is vipassana/theravada

[Rachelcat]

Hey, I'm glad this works for you!

I don't practice now. For a while I was in a mindfulness practice group in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, but I've gone through a lot of changes since then. Vipassana looks very interesting and maybe more my style, but I'm going through a religion thing right now, and I need to wait until I come to some kind of conclusion in my own mind before I act on it. (You can see what I mean if you look at my deck of the week reading for today.)

I came up with this spread after taking a non-sectarian class on Buddhism years ago. It was more academic and thus made more sense to me!

Thanks for checking in!

[Yuri]

Thanks so much, Rachel! This is brilliant!