The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering # 2

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The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering # 2

 

 

Unwholesome thought comprises : Covetousness [abhijjha]

 

The Universe is too small to contain Sense-Craving

 

The Lord Buddha taught that the extent of craving in the minds of living beings is so great as to be beyond words. Supponsing all the craving in existence were to manifest it self in concrete form as a tree or as a mountain, such a tree or a mountain would have to be so large that it is not certain whether the whole universe would be large enough to con tain it because everybody6 has their endless desires and attachments and it is doubtful whether a whole ship would be large enough to contain everything a person desires for.

 

The craving that arises in the minds of men, pushes them in the direction of sinful actions for example, killing others. Under the influence of craving, normal people become capable of performing the most heinous of sins. This is why the Lord Buddha declared that :

 

“Craving is the wishfulness, attachment and captivation with the world of the aggregates and is the origin of suffering.”

 

 

Unwholesome actions comprise : Killing living beings [panatipata]

 

Craving as the Cause of Unwholesome Behaviours

 

Those Beings that try to attain happiness dependent upon the pleasures of the five senses are wont to commit unwholesome  behaviours as outlined in the Ten Paths of Unwholesomeness [akusalalakammapatha], which comprise three unwholesome deeds, four unwholesome ways of speaking and three unwholesome ways of thinking:

 

Unwholesome actions comprise:

 

- Killing living beings [panatipata]

- Stealing [adinnadana]

- Committing adultery [kamesumicchacara]

 

Unwholesome speech comprises:

 

- Telling lies [musavada]

- Divisive speech [pisunavaca]

- Harsh speech, insults and swearing [pharusavaca]

- Idle chatter, frivolous talk [samphappalapa]

 

Unwholesome thought comprises:

 

- Covetousness [abhijjha]

- Vengeful thinking [byapada]

- False view [micchaditthi]

 

 

Unwholesome actions comprise : Stealing [adinnadana]

 

Most people know that these ten behaviours of the Path of Unwholesomeness are to be strictly avoided, but under the influence of craving for sense-pleasure which lurks in the mind, they cannot avoid the temptation of these behaviours and lose their fear and sham of these behaviours and lose their fear and shame of the contingent retribution, Those who have habitually committed these behaviours tend to be reborn in the unfortunate (hell) realms after death, This is why the Lord Buddha pointed to craving as the Origin of all suffering in the Sphere of the Sense Pleasures.

 

Those who wish for human wealth , heavenly wealth (in any of the lo9wer six levels of heaven ) and who wxpend effort in generosity and keeping the Precepts, and who conduct themselves in accordance with the Tenfold Path of Wholesomeness [kusalakammapatha], when they are reborn in the human world, they will be endowed with human wealth or if they are born in the heaven realms, they will be endowed with heavenly wealth. However, hankering after such wealth, even though it is acquired by honest means, is still subject to suffering because it contains craving which is the origin of suffering. Even the craving for the Brahma-world and the Formless Brahma-world still trap living beings in the cycle of existence. An example of those who have craving for the Brahma-world [bhavatanha] or the formless Brahma-world[vibhavatanha] are those who strive in meditation by calm [samatha] and insight [vipassana] and who set their heart on being born in the Brahma-world or the formless Brahma-world by the ignorance of the false view of eternalism (sassataditthi or uechedaditthi), thinking that those born there are unaffercted by old age, sickness or death. Such craving is an origin of suffering, because it is hankering after something that keeps one prisoner in the Cycle of Existence, constantly dying and being reborn, This is why the Lord Buddha pointed to craving as the Origin of all suffering.

 

 

Committing adultery [kamesumicchacara]

 

Liberation entails the extinguishing of the Three Cravings

 

Meditators who reflect wisely on the dangers of the Cycle of Existence and suffering, are wont to strive in the performance of skillfulness such as generosity, keeping the Precepts, continuous meditation on the Three Universal Characteristics [ti-lakkhana]-impermanence, suffering and not-self and reflection on the virtues of the Triple Gem, with the practice of meditation by calm and insight with the wish to escape from birth in the cycle of exisight  with the wish to escape from birth in the cycle of existence and the attainment of Nirvana constantly in mind. There is no other way to escape rebirth in the cycle of existence and extinguish suffering completely, with no more attachment for the Three Spheres. Put another way, their practice entails extinguishing the three sorts of craving which keep them prisoner in the thirty – one realms.

 

In teaching on the subject of the three sorts of craving as the reason why living beings are the prisoners of rebirth in the Cycle of Existence, the Lord Buddha taught in the Dhammapadatthakatha, in brief, as follows:

 

One day the Lord Buddha went on almsround in the city of Rajagaha, and seeing a female piglet, smiled to himself. Ananda noticed the Buddha’s smiling and asked the reason. Later, the Buddha revealed the story of the past that that piglet had previously been born as a hen in the yard of the monk’s almonry in the time of kakusandha Buddha and had regularly overheard the preaching of monks on the practice of insight meditation and had been filled with faith thereby. Passing away from that lifetime, the hen was reborn as a royal princess family by the name of Ubbari. One day, the jprincess entered the royal lavatory (cesspit) and saw a pile of maggots there. The sight stimulated her to wise recollection and she attained the first absorption. Passing away from that lifetime, the princess was reborn in the Brahma-world. Passing away from the Brahma-world, she was born continuously in the Cycle of Existence until she came to be born as a sow in the time of our present Buddha. Hearing the tale of the past, Ananda and the rest of the monastic community were moved by the perils of the Cycle of Existence.

 

 

The Lord Buddha taught that the extent of craving in the minds of living beings is so great as to be beyond words.

 

Having completed his sermon, the Lord Buddha preached on the peril of Craving for the Brahma-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 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 it 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 [arahattamagganana] 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 increasingly frequently, until our essing wrong as right and harmful things as harmless will be our continuous perspective of the world. We lose our interst to train ourselves in meditation and in the absence of absorption or insight, false view prods us in the direction of unwholesome behaviour. The Karmic fruits of such unwholesome behaviour  will bring us retribution in both this life and the next.

 

 

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