The Four Noble Truths
That seems like an interesting subject for discussion in such a group, considering how essential and core and compact it is to the teachings.
What would be interesting to know is how others see them.
Do, (or did) you have any problems with accepting their meaning and implications? How have they changed your perspective and experiences? How long has it been since you encountered them?
One would wonder if shared insights on something fundamental could break some ice and warm the air that is mind moving through this group.
Of course, the list of questions is not meant to be a limit in regards to your own thoughts and experiences.
Be Well!
= new reply since forum marked as read
...that the four noble truths cannot be taken out of a context of severe emptiness, and after that there is nothing that can be known or not-known. Getting to either end is the trouble, there is a certain value in shiftlessness in trying to choose to head down the way toward truth, otherwise it feels rushed, and not quite true; it is all very suspicious in a funny way. 
For those lurking:
"This is the noble truth of dukkha: birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, illness is dukkha, death is dukkha; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are dukkha; union with what is displeasing is dukkha; separation from what is pleasing is dukkha; not to get what one wants is dukkha; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are dukkha."
"This is the noble truth of the origin of dukkha: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination."
"This is the noble truth of the cessation of dukkha: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it."
"This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of dukkha: it is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration."
Translation of Pali terms
The Pali wordings of the four noble truths can be translated as:
Dukkha - "uneasy"; "unsteady, disquieted"; unsatisfactoriness.
Dukkha Samudaya - "arising", "coming to existence"; the origination of Dukkha.
Dukkha Nirodha - to confine, release; "control or restraint"; the cessation of Dukkha.
Dukkha Nirodha Gamini Patipada - Gamini: leading to, making for - Patipada: road, path, way; the means of reaching a goal or destination - The way of practice leading to the cessation of Dukkha.
The Pali terms ariya sacca(Sanskrit: arya satya) are commonly translated as "noble truths". Arya means "noble", "not ordinary"; sacca means "truth" or "reality".
More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths
I agree that all of these thoughts have subtle cultural biases. I think it is always important to remember than when we speak of emptiness we aren't speaking of nihilism but rather as you note: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and no-self. This is not to be taken as something to be sad about, but rather as a terminology to describe a conception of the very essence of matter, that life itself, that the world is not to be construed as being an end in of itself, but rather a "vehicle to wisdom and realization." The cultivation of this faith is not to be 
but rather 
The Three Jewels are:
Buddha
Sanskrit, Pali: The Enlightened or Awakened One; Chn: 佛陀, Fótuó, Jpn: 仏, Butsu, Tib: sangs-rgyas, Mong: burqan
depending on one's interpretation, can mean the historical Buddha (Shakyamuni) or the Buddha nature—the ideal or highest spiritual potential that exists within all beings;
Dharma
Sanskrit: The Teaching; Pali: Dharmam, Chn: 法, Fǎ, Jpn: Hō, Tib: chos, Mong: nom
the teachings of the Buddha.
Sangha
Sanskrit, Pali: The Community; Chn: 僧, Sēng, Jpn: Sō, Tib: dge-'dun, Mong: quvaraɣ
The community of those who have attained enlightenment, who may help a practicing Buddhist to do the same. Also used more broadly to refer to the community of practicing Buddhists.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Jewels
...with your explanatory model - it is all about expectations, although I would state that having "no expectations of any situation or outcome" is likewise not to be taken as a negative thing, but rather as humility. A presumption that one somehow knows the pedagogy with certainty and can represent with perfection for others is not consistent with the Dharma. Suffering is not a natural condition, it is an affliction from which to be liberated. The role of happiness in that is innate, but only finds its meaningful realization within the community. The question is within what context.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boddhisatva
This idea has lead to perhaps the "divide" between Theravada (lesser vehicle) and Mahayana (greater vehicle) thought on what the role of self is in moving beyond this preternatural stage of lay realization toward higher realization and its implications:
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In Theravada Buddhism, it means anyone who has reached the total Awakening and attained Nirvana, including the Buddha. An arahant is a person who has destroyed greed, hatred, and delusion - the unwholesome roots which underlie all fetters - who upon decease will not be reborn in any world, having wholly cut off all fetters that bind a person to the samsara. In the Pali Canon, the word is sometimes used as a synonym for tathagata.[17]
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Mahāyāna Buddhists see the Buddha himself as the ideal towards which one should aim in one's spiritual aspirations. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a hierarchy of general attainments is envisioned, with the attainments of arhats and pratyekabuddha being clearly separate, and below that of fully enlightened buddhas (Skt. samyaksaṃbuddha), or tathāgatas, such as Gautama Buddha.[23]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arhat
I would note that this divergence is of course not so much sectionalism but rather debate over interpretation, they are schools of thoughts. There is no debate over the fundamental basic problem of suffering and how to alleviate it in the world. Criticism and correction to any thing stated in this thread by myself, is also of course welcome and appreciated. The chance to have discussion such as this is always welcome. Mahalo.
just a minor clarification of terms - lesser vehicle is termed "Hinayana". Hina = lesser, thinner, smaller, etc.. Maha = greater, larger, etc.. Yana, of course ='vehicle, conveyance, etc.. "Theravadha", means "Doctrine of the (Buddhist) Elders"; a term coined, i believe, by the Theravadhins of the time of the divergence, to counter what may have been deemed as a bit of a put-down. "Thera" is also a term used for Monks. "Elders" is used in this context - in the sense of "religious elders".
While a committed follower of Theravadha doctrine, i don't believe there are major differences between the established schools, to quibble over. now, if there happens to be any distortion from the principles laid down by The Buddha - then, i think such a sect should name their religion something else; and not use the term Buddhism. on the other hand - after the passage of 2,500 odd years; as spoken verses for the first 300 years; and transcription after translation into alien languages, after that time - who can be absolutely certain of The Buddha's exact words; unless one realizes them from objective & direct personal experience.
A few words of The Buddha from the Suttas (paraphrased):
'O Bhikkhus, even this view (the Buddhist Dhamma), which is so pure and so clear, if you cling to it, if you fondle it, if you treasure it, if you are attached to it, then you do not understand that this teaching is similar to a raft - which is for crossing over, and not for getting hold of & carrying around with you (after you cross the river of sansara)'.
A slightly different version of 'the Raft simile', appears here:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nyanaponika/wheel048.html
...it's a mistake I make before. Most don't use Hinayana precisely because of the connotations you describe. 
Thank you for the paraphrase!
