The Perils of Craving in Buddhist Teachings : หน้า 88/263

past, Ānanda and the rest of the monastic community were moved by the perils of the Cycle of Existence. Having completed his sermon, the Lord Buddha preached on the peril of Craving for the Brahmā-world. He taught: Craving is of the nature to cause suffering. If all of you wish to extinguish suffering, then all of you should practice for the extinguishing of craving — in that way you can extinguish suffering completely. Without the extinguishing of craving, there is no way you will manage completely to remove suffering. For as long as craving remains in the mind, suffering will continue to cause continual misery — just as a plant that is pulled up, but its roots left in the ground, will eventually regenerate. Most people dispose of large trees simply by chopping down the branches and the trunk — but they leave the stump — if left as such, before long, a new tree will grow from the stump. In this comparison, suffering is like the branches of a tree which has craving its roots. Only when the roots too are removed, by the power of the wisdom of attainment of arahantship [arahattamaggāṇa][1] is there no further risk of the regeneration of suffering. The Lord Buddha taught that the currents of craving tend to flow in the images, sounds, perfumes, tastes and touches to which we have positive attachments. Those currents are so strong that anyone who surrenders themselves to the current will lose all ability to use their wisdom to discern the difference between right and wrong, usefulness and harm, merit and demerit. In the absence of wisdom, false view will arise in the mind increas- 1. The wisdom of the attainment of arahantship is a state of enlightenment by which all ten of the higher fetters [samyojana] have been removed. 86