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- The word of The Buddha
- An Outline of the teachings of the Buddha in the words of the
Pali canon
- Compiled, translated, and explained by
Nyanatiloka
The Four Noble Truths
Thus has it been said by the Buddha, the Enlightened One:
D.16.
It is through not understanding, not realizing four things, that I,
Disciples, as well as you, had to wander so long through this round of rebirths. And what
are these four things? They are:
The Noble Truth of Suffering (dukkha);
The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering (dukkha-samudaya);
The Noble Truth of the Extinction of Suffering (dukkha-nirodha);
The Noble Truth of the Path that leads to the Extinction of Suffering
(dukkha-nirodha-gaamini-pa.tipadaa).
S. LVI. 11
As long as the absolutely true knowledge and insight as regards these
Four Noble Truths was not quite clear in me, so long was I not sure that I had won that
supreme Enlightenment which is unsurpassed in all the world with its heavenly beings, evil
spirits and gods, amongst all the hosts of ascetics and priests, heavenly beings and men.
But as soon as the absolute true knowledge and insight as regards these Four Noble Truths
had become perfectly clear in me, there arose in me the assurance that I had won that
supreme Enlightenment unsurpassed.
M. 26
And I discovered that profound truth, so difficult to perceive,
difficult to understand, tranquilizing and sublime, which is not to be gained by mere
reasoning, and is visible only to the wise.
The world, however, is given to pleasure, delighted with pleasure,
enchanted with pleasure. Truly, such beings will hardly understand the law of
conditionality, the Dependent Origination (pa.ticca-samuppaada) of everything;
incomprehensible to them will also be the end of all formations, the forsaking of every
substratum of rebirth, the fading away of craving, detachment, extinction, Nibbaana.
Yet there are beings whose eyes are only a little covered with dust:
they will understand the truth.
I. The Noble Truth of Suffering
D.22
What, now, is the Noble Truth of Suffering?
Birth is suffering; Decay is suffering; Death is suffering; Sorrow,
Lamentation, Pain, Grief, and Despair are suffering; not to get what one desires, is
suffering; in short: the Five Groups of Existence are suffering.
What, now, is Birth? The birth of beings belonging to this or that
order of beings, their being born, their conception and springing into existence, the
manifestation of the Groups of Existence, the arising of sense activity: this is called
birth.
And what is Decay? The decay of beings belonging to this or that order
of beings; their becoming aged, frail, grey, and wrinkled; the failing of their vital
force, the wearing out of the senses: this is called decay.
And what is Death? The departing and vanishing of beings out of this or
that order of beings. their destruction, disappearance, death, the completion of their
life-period, dissolution of the Groups of Existence, the discarding of the body: this is
called death.
And what is Sorrow? The sorrow arising through this or that loss or
misfortune which one encounters, the worrying oneself, the state of being alarmed, inward
sorrow, inward woe: this is called sorrow.
And what is Lamentation? Whatsoever, through this or that loss or
misfortune which befalls one, is wail and lament, wailing and lamenting, the state of woe
and lamentation: this is called lamentation.
And what is Pain? The bodily pain and unpleasantness, the painful and
unpleasant feeling produced by bodily impression: this is called pain.
And what is Grief? The mental pain and unpleasantness, the painful and
unpleasant feeling produced by mental impression: this is called grief.
And what is Despair? Distress and despair arising through this or that
loss or misfortune which one encounters: distressfulness, and desperation: this is called
despair.
And what is the `Suffering of not getting what one desires'? To beings
subject to birth there comes the desire; `O, that we were not subject to birth! O, that no
new birth was before us!' Subject to decay, disease, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain,
grief, and despair, the desire comes to them: `O, that we were not subject to these
things! O, that these things were not before us!' But this cannot be got by mere desiring;
and not to get what one desires, is suffering.
The Five Khandhas, or Groups of Existence
And what, in brief, are the Five Groups of Existence? They are
corporeality, feeling, perception, (mental) formations, and consciousness.
M. 109
All corporeal phenomena, whether past, present or future, one's own or
external, gross or subtle, lofty or low, far or near, all belong to the Group of
Corporeality; all feelings belong to the Group of Feeling; all perceptions belong to the
Group of Perception; all mental formations belong to the Group of Formations; all
consciousness belongs to the Group of Consciousness.
These Groups are a fivefold classification in which the Buddha has summed up all the
physical and mental phenomena of existence, and in particular, those which appear to the
ignorant man as his ego or personality. Hence birth, decay, death, etc. are also included
in these five Groups which actually comprise the whole world.
The Group of Corporeality (ruupa-khandha)
M. 28
What, now, is the `Group of Corporeality?' It is the four primary
elements, and corporeality derived from them.
The Four Elements
And what are the four Primary Elements? They are the Solid Element, the
Fluid Element, the Heating Element, the Vibrating (Windy) Element.
The four Elements (dhaatu or mahaa-bhuuta), popularly called Earth, Water, Fire and
Wind, are to be understood as the elementary qualities of matter. They are named in Pali,
pa.thavi-dhaatu, aapo-dhaatu, tejo-dhaatu, vaayo-dhaatu, and may be rendered as Inertia,
Cohesion, Radiation, and Vibration. All four are present in every material object, though
in varying degrees of strength. If, e.g., the Earth Element predominates, the material
object is called `solid', etc.
The `Corporeality derived from the four primary elements' (upaadaaya ruupa or upaadaa
ruupa) consists, according to the Abhidhamma, of the following twenty-four material
phenomena and qualities: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, visible form, sound, odour, taste,
masculinity, femininity, vitality, physical basis of mind (hadaya-vatthu; see B. Dict.),
gesture, speech, space (cavities of ear, nose, etc.), decay, change, and nutriment.
Bodily impressions (pho.t .thabba, the tactile) are not especially mentioned among
these twenty-four, as they are identical with the Solid, the Heating and the Vibrating
Elements which are cognizable through the sensations of pressure, cold, heat, pain. etc.
1. What, now, is the `Solid Element' (pathavii-dhaatu)? The solid
element may be one's own, or it may be external. And what is one's own solid element?
Whatever in one's own person or body there exists of karmically acquired hardness,
firmness, such as the hairs of head and body, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones,
marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, diaphragm, spleen, lungs, stomach, bowels, mesentery,
excrement and so on-this is called one's own solid element. Now, whether it be one's own
solid element, or whether it be the external solid element, they are both merely the solid
element.
And one should. understand, according to reality and true wisdom, `This
does not belong to me; this am I not; this is not my Ego'.
2. What, now, is the `Fluid Element' (aapo-dhaatu)? The fluid element
may be one's own, or it may be external. And what is one's own fluid element? Whatever in
one's own person or body there exists of karmically acquired liquidity or fluidity, such
as bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, skin-grease, saliva, nasal mucus, oil of
the joints, urine, and so on-this is called one's own fluid element. Now, whether it be
one's own fluid element, or whether it be the external fluid element, they are both merely
the fluid element.
And one should understand, according to reality and true wisdom, `This
does not belong to me; this am I not; this is not my Ego'.
3. What, now, is the `Heating Element' (tejo-dhaatu)? The heating
element may be one's own, or it may be external. And what is one's own heating element?
Whatever in one's own person or body there exists of karmically acquired heat or hotness,
such as that whereby one is heated, consumed, scorched, whereby that which has been eaten,
drunk, chewed, or tasted, is fully digested, and so on-this is called one's own heating
element. Now, whether it be one's own heating element, or whether it be the external
heating element, they are both merely the heating element.
And one should understand, according to reality and true wisdom, `This
does not belong to me; this am I not; this is not my Ego'.
4. What, now, is the `Vibrating (Windy) Element' (vaayo-dhaatu)? The
vibrating element may be one's own, or it may be external. And what is one's own vibrating
element? What in one's own person or body there exists of karmically acquired wind or
windiness, such as the upward-going and downward-going winds, the winds of stomach and
intestines, the wind permeating all the limbs, in-breathing and out-breathing, and so
on-this is called one's own vibrating element. Now, whether it be one's own vibrating
element or whether it be the external vibrating element, they are both merely the
vibrating element.
And one should understand, according to reality and true wisdom, `This
does not belong to me; this am I not; this is not my Ego.'
Just as one calls `hut' the circumscribed space which comes to be by
means of wood and rushes, reeds, and clay, even so we call `body' the circumscribed space
that comes to be by means of bones and sinews, flesh and skin.
The Group of Feeling (vedanaa-khandha)
S.XXXVI, 1
There are three kinds of Feeling: pleasant, unpleasant, and neither
pleasant nor unpleasant (indifferent).
The Group of Perception (sa~n~naa-khandha)
S. XXII, 56
What, now, is Perception? There are six classes of perception:
perception of forms, sounds, odors, tastes, bodily impressions, and of mental objects.
The Group of Mental Formations
(sankhaara-khandha)
What, now, are Mental Formations? There are six classes of volitions
(cetanaa): will directed to forms (ruupa-cetanaa), to sounds, odors, tastes, bodily
impressions, and to mental objects.
The `group of Mental Formations' (sankhaara-khandha) is a collective term for numerous
functions or aspects of mental activity which, in addition to feeling and perception, are
present in a single moment of consciousness. In the Abhidhamma, fifty Mental Formations
are distinguished, seven of which are constant factors of mind. The number and composition
of the rest varies according to the character of the respective class of consciousness
(see Table in B. Dict). In the Discourse on Right Understanding (M.9) three main
representatives of the Group of Mental Formations are mentioned: volition (cetanaa), sense
impression (phassa), and attention (manasikaara). Of these again, it is volition which,
being a principal `formative' factor, is particularly characteristic of the Group of
Formations, and therefore serves to exemplify it in the passage given above.
For other applications of the term sankhaara see B. Diet.
The Group of Consciousness (vi~n~naa.na-khandha)
S. XXII. 56
What, now, is consciousness? There are six classes of consciousness:
consciousness of forms, sounds, odors, tastes, bodily impressions, and of mental objects
(lit.: eye-conscious-ness, ear-consciousness, etc.).
Dependent Origination of Consciousness
M. 28
Now, though one's eye be intact, yet if the external forms do not fall
within the field of vision, and no corresponding conjunction (of eye and forms) takes
place, in that case there occurs no formation of the corresponding aspect of
consciousness. Or, though one's eye be intact, and the external forms fall within the
field of vision, yet if no corresponding conjunction takes place; in that case also there
occurs no formation of the corresponding aspect of consciousness. If, however, one's eye
is intact, and the external forms fall within the field of vision, and the corresponding
conjunction takes place, in that case there arises the corresponding aspect of
consciousness.
M. 38
Hence I say: the arising of consciousness is dependent upon conditions;
and without these conditions, no consciousness arises. And upon whatsoever conditions the
arising of consciousness is dependent, after these it is called.
Consciousness, whose arising depends on the eye and forms, is called
`eye-consciousness' (cakkhu-viññaa.na).
Consciousness, whose arising depends on the ear and sounds, is called
`ear-consciousness' (sota-viññaa.na).
Consciousness, whose arising depends on the olfactory organ and odors,
is called `nose-consciousness' (ghaana-viññaa.na).
Consciousness, whose arising depends on the tongue and taste, is called
`tongue-consciousness' (jivhaa-viññaa.na).
Consciousness, whose arising depends on the body and bodily contacts,
is called `body-consciousness' (kaaya-viññaa.na).
Consciousness, whose arising depends on the mind and mind objects, is
called `mind-consciousness' (mano-viññaa.na).
M. 28
Whatsoever there is of `corporeality' (ruupa) on that occasion, this
belongs to the Group of Corporeality. Whatsoever there is of `feeling' (vedanaa), this
belongs to the Group of Feeling. Whatsoever there is of `perception' (saññaa), this
belongs to the Group of Perception. Whatsoever there are of `mental formations'
(sankhaara), these belong to the Group of Mental Formations. Whatsoever there is of
consciousness (viññaa.na), this belongs to the Group of Consciousness.
Dependency Of Consciousness On The Four Other
Khandhas
S. XXII. 53
And it is impossible that any one can explain the passing out of one
existence, and the entering into a new existence, or the growth, increase and development
of consciousness, independently of corporeality, feeling, perception, and mental
formations.
The Three Characteristics of Existence
(ti-lakkha.na)
A. III. 134
All formations are `transient' (anicca); all formations are `subject to
suffering' (dukkha); all things are `without a self' (anattaa).
S. XXII, 59
Corporeality is transient, feeling is transient, perception is
transient, mental formations are transient, consciousness is transient.
And that which is transient, is subject to suffering; and of that which
is transient and subject to suffering and change, one cannot rightly say: `This belongs to
me; this am I; this is my Self'.
Therefore, whatever there be of corporeality, of feeling, perception,
mental formations, or consciousness, whether past, present or future, one's own or
external, gross or subtle, lofty or low, far or near, one should understand according to
reality and true wisdom: `This does not belong to me; this am I not; this is not my Self'.
The Anatta Doctrine
Individual existence, as well as the whole world, are in reality nothing but a process
of ever-changing phenomena which are all comprised in the five Groups of Existence. This
process has gone on from time immemorial, before one's birth, and also after one's death
it will continue for endless periods of time, as long, and as far, as there are conditions
for it. As stated in the preceding texts, the five Groups of Existence-either taken
separately or combined-in no way constitute a real Ego-entity or subsisting personality,
and equally no self, soul or substance can be found outside of these Groups as their
`owner'. In other words, the five Groups of Existence are `not-self' (anattaa), nor do
they belong to a Self (anattaniya). In view of the impermanence and conditionality of all
existence, the belief in any form of Self must be regarded as an illusion.
Just as what we designate by the name of `chariot' has no existence apart from axle,
wheels, shaft, body and so forth: or as the word `house' is merely a convenient
designation for various materials put together after a certain fashion so as to enclose a
portion of space, and there is no separate house-entity in existence: in exactly the same
way, that which we call a `being' or an `individual' or a `person', or by the name `I', is
nothing but a changing combination of physical and psychical phenomena, and has no real
existence in itself.
This is, in brief, the Anattaa Doctrine of the Buddha, the teaching that all existence
is void (suñña) of a permanent self or substance. It is the fundamental Buddhist
doctrine not found in any other religious teaching or philosophical system. To grasp it
fully, not only in an abstract and intellectual way, but by constant reference to actual
experience, is an indispensable condition for the true understanding of the Buddha-Dhamma
and for the realization of its goal. The Anatiiaa-Doctrine is the necessary outcome of the
thorough analysis of actuality, undertaken, e.g. in the Khandha Doctrine of which only a
bare indication can be given by means of the texts included here.
For a detailed survey of the Khandhas see B. Dict.
S. XXII. 95
Suppose a man who was not blind beheld the many bubbles on the Ganges
as they drove along, and he watched them and carefully examined them; then after he had
carefully examined them they would appear to him empty, unreal and unsubstantial. In
exactly the same way does the monk behold all the corporeal phenomena, feelings,
perceptions, mental formations, and states of consciousness-whether they be of the past,
or the present, or the future, far or near. And he watches them, and examines them
carefully; and, after carefully examining them, they appear to him empty, void and without
a Self.
S. XXII. 29
Whoso delights in corporeality, or feeling, or perception, or mental
formations, or consciousness, he delights in suffering; and whoso delights in suffering,
will not be freed from suffering. Thus I say.
Dhp. 146-48
- How can you find delight and mirth
- Where there is burning without end?
- In deepest darkness you are wrapped!
- Why do you not seek for the light?
- I.ook at this puppet here, well rigged,
- A heap of many sores, piled up,
- Diseased, and full of greediness,
- Unstable, and impermanent!
- Devoured by old age is this frame,
- A prey to sickness, weak and frail;
- To pieces breaks this putrid body,
- All life must truly end in death.
The Three Warnings
- A. III. 35
Did you never see in the world a man, or a woman, eighty, ninety, or a
hundred years old, frail, crooked as a gable-roof, bent down, resting on crutches, with
tottering steps, infirm, youth long since fled, with broken teeth, grey and scanty hair or
none, wrinkled, with blotched limbs? And did the thought never come to you that you also
are subject to decay, that you also cannot escape it?
Did you never see in the world a man, or a woman who, being sick,
afflicted, and grievously ill, wallowing in his own filth, was lifted up by some and put
to bed by others? And did the thought never come to you that you also are subject to
disease, that you also cannot escape it?
Did you never see in the world the corpse of a man, or a woman, one or
two or three days after death, swollen up, blue-black in color, and full of corruption?
And did the thought never come to you that you also are subject to death, that you also
cannot escape it?
Samsara
- S. XV. 3
Inconceivable is the beginning of this Sa.msaara; not to be discovered
is any first beginning of beings, who obstructed by ignorance, and ensnared by craving,
are hurrying and hastening through this round of rebirths.
Sa.msaara-the wheel of existence, lit, the `Perpetual Wandering'-is the name given in
the Pali scriptures to the sea of life ever restlessly heaving up and down, the symbol of
this continuous process of ever again and again being born, growing old, suffering, and
dying. More precisely put: Sa.msaara is the unbroken sequence of the fivefold
Khandha-combinations, which, constantly changing from moment to moment, follow continually
one upon the other through inconceivable periods of time. Of this Sa.msaara a single life
time constitutes only a tiny fraction. Hence, to be able to comprehend the first Noble
Truth, one must let one's gaze rest upon the Sa.msaara, upon this frightful sequence of
rebirths. and not merely upon one single life time, which, of course, may sometimes be not
very painful.
The term `suffering' (dukkha), in the first Noble Truth refers therefore, not merely to
painful bodily and mental sensations due to unpleasant impressions, but it comprises in
addition everything productive of suffering or liable to it. The Truth of Suffering
teaches that, owing to the universal law of impermanence, even high and sublime states of
happiness are subject to change and destruction, and that all states of existence are
therefore unsatisfactory, without exception carrying in themselves the seeds of suffering.
- Which do you think is more: the flood of tears, which weeping and
wailing you have shed upon this long way-hurrying and hastening through this round of
rebirths, united with the undesired, separated from the desired-this, or the waters of the
four oceans?
- Long have you suffered the death of father and mother, of sons,
daughters, brothers, and sisters. And whilst you were thus suffering, you have indeed shed
more tears upon this long way than there is water in the four oceans.
- S. XV. 13
- Which do you think is more: the streams of blood that, through your
being beheaded, have flowed upon this long way, these, or the waters of the four oceans?
- Long have you been caught as robbers, or highway men or adulterers; and,
through your being beheaded, verily more blood has flowed upon this long way than there is
water in the four oceans.
- But how is this possible?
- Inconceivable is the beginning of this Sa.msaara; not to be discovered
is any first beginning of beings, who, obstructed by ignorance and ensnared by craving,
are hurrying and hastening through this round of rebirths.
- S. XV. 1
- And thus have you long undergone suffering, undergone torment, undergone
misfortune, and filled the graveyards full; truly, long enough to be dissatisfied with all
the forms of existence, long enough to turn away and free yourselves from them all.
II. The Noble Truth of the Origin
of Suffering
D. 22
What, now, is the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering? It is
craving, which gives rise to fresh rebirth, and, bound up with pleasure and lust, now
here, now there, finds ever-fresh delight.
The Threefold Craving
There is the `Sensual Craving' (kaa.ma-ta.nhaa), the `Craving for
(Eternal) Existence' (bhava-ta.nhaa), the `Craving for Self-Annihilation'
(vibhava-ta.nhaa).
`Sensual Craving (kaama-ta.nhaa) is the desire for the enjoyment of the five sense
objects.
`Craving for Existence' (bhava-ta.nhaa) is the desire for continued or eternal life,
referring in particular to life in those higher worlds called Fine-material and Immaterial
Existences (ruupa-, and aruupa-bhava). It is closely connected with the so-called
`Eternity-Belief' (bhava- or sassata-di.t.thi), i.e. the belief in an absolute, eternal
Ego-entity persisting independently of our body.
`Craving for Self-Annihilation' (lit., `for non-existence', vibhava-ta.nhaa) is the
outcome of the `Belief in Annihilation' (vibhava- or uccheda-di.t.thi), i.e. the delusive
materialistic notion of a more or less real Ego which is annihilated at death, and which
does not stand in any causal relation with the time before death and the time after death.
Origin of Craving
But where does this craving arise and take root? Wherever in the world
there are delightful and pleasurable things, there this craving arises and takes root.
Eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, are delightful and pleasurable: there this craving
arises and takes root.
Visual objects, sounds, smells tastes, bodily impressions, and mind
objects, are delightful and pleasurable: there this craving arises and takes root.
Consciousness, sense impression, feeling born of sense impression,
perception, will, craving, thinking, and reflecting, are delightful and pleasurable: there
this craving arises and takes root.
This is called the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering.
Dependent Origination of All Phenomena
M. 38
If, whenever perceiving a visual object, a sound, odour, taste, bodily
impression, or a mind-object, the object is pleasant, one is attracted; and if unpleasant,
one is repelled.
Thus, whatever kind of `Feeling' (vedanaa) one experiences-pleasant,
unpleasant or indifferent-if one approves of, and cherishes the feeling, and clings to it,
then while doing so, lust springs up; but lust for feelings means `Clinging' (upaadaana),
and on clinging depends the (present) `process of Becoming'; on the process of becoming
(bhava; here kamma-bhava, Karma-process) depends (future) `Birth' (jaati); and dependent
on birth are `Decay and Death', sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair. Thus arises
this whole mass of suffering.
The formula of the Dependent Origination (pa.ticca-samuppaada) of which only some of
the twelve links have been mentioned in the preceding passage, may be regarded as a
detailed explanation of the Second Truth.
Present Karma-Results
M. 13
Truly, due to sensuous craving, conditioned through sensuous craving,
impelled by sensuous craving, entirely moved by sensuous craving, kings fight with kings,
princes with princes, priests with priests, citizens with citizens; the mother quarrels
with the son, the son with the mother, the father with the son, the son with the father;
brother quarrels with brother, brother with sister, sister with brother, friend with
friend. Thus, given to dissension, quarrelling and fighting, they fall upon one another
with fists, sticks, or weapons. And thereby they suffer death or deadly pain.
And further, due to sensuous craving, conditioned through sensuous
craving, impelled by sensuous craving, entirely moved by sensuous craving, people break
into houses, rob, plunder, pillage whole houses, commit highway robbery, seduce the wives
of others. Then, the rulers have such people caught, and inflict on them various forms of
punishment. And thereby they incur death or deadly pain. Now, this is the misery of
sensuous craving, the heaping up of suffering in this present life, due to sensuous
craving, conditioned through sensuous craving, caused by sensuous craving, entirely
dependent on sensuous craving.
Future Karma-Results
And further, people take the evil way in deeds, the evil way in words,
the evil way in thoughts; and by taking the evil way in deeds, words and thoughts, at the
dissolution of the body, after death, they fall into a downward state of existence, a
state of suffering, into an unhappy destiny, and the abysses of the hells. But this is the
misery of sensuous craving, the heaping up of suffering in the future life, due to
sensuous craving, conditioned through sensuous craving, caused by sensuous craving,
entirely dependent on sensuous craving.
Dhp. 127
- Not in the air, nor ocean-midst,
- Nor hidden in the mountain clefts,
- Nowhere is found a place on earth,
- Where man is freed from evil deeds.
Karma As Volition
- A. VI. 63
It is volition (cetanaa) that I call `Karma' (action). Having willed,
one acts by body, speech, and mind.
There are actions (kamma) ripening in hells. . . ripening in the animal
kingdom. . . ripening in the domain of ghosts. . . ripening amongst men. . . ripening in
heavenly worlds.
The result of actions (vipaaka) is of three kinds: ripening in the
present life, in the next life, or in future lives.
Inheritance of Deeds (Karma)
- A. X. 206
All beings are the owners of their deeds (kamma, Skr: karma), the heirs
of their deeds: their deeds are the womb from which they sprang, with their deeds they are
bound up, their deeds are their refuge. Whatever deeds they do-good or evil-of such they
will be the heirs.
A. III. 33
And wherever the beings spring into existence. there their deeds will
ripen; and wherever their deeds ripen, there they will earn the fruits of those deeds, be
it in this life, or be it in the next life, or be it in any other future life.
S. XXII. 99
There will come a time when the mighty ocean will dry up, vanish, and be
no more. There will come a time when the mighty earth will be devoured by fire, perish,
and be no more. But yet there will be no end to the suffering of beings, who, obstructed
by ignorance, and ensnared by craving, are hurrying and hastening through this round of
rebirths.
Craving (ta.nhaa), however, is not the only cause of evil action, and thus of all the
suffering and misery produced thereby in this and the next life; but wherever there is
craving, there, dependent on craving, may arise envy, anger, hatred, and many other evil
things productive of suffering and misery. And all these selfish, life-affirming impulses
and actions, together with the various kinds of misery produced thereby here or
thereafter, and even all the five groups of phenomena constituting life-everything is
ultimately rooted in blindness and ignorance (avijjaa).
Karma
The second Noble Truth serves also to explain the causes of the seeming injustices in
nature, by teaching that nothing in the world can come into existence without reason or
cause, and that not only our latent tendencies, but our whole destiny, all weal and woe,
result from causes (Karma), which we have to seek partly in this life, partly in former
states of existence. These causes are the life-affirming activities (kamma, Skr: karma)
produced by body, speech and mind. Hence it is this threefold action (kamma) that
determines the character and destiny of all beings. Exactly defined Karma denotes those
good and evil volitions (kusala-akusala-cetanaa), together with rebirth. Thus existence,
or better the Process of Becoming (bhava), consists of an active and conditioning `Karma
Process' (kamma-bhava), and of its result, the `Rebirth Process' (upapatti-bhava).
Here, too, when considering Karma, one must not lose sight of the impersonal nature
(anattataa) of existence. In the case of a storm-swept sea, it is not an identical wave
that hastens over the surface of the ocean, but it is the rising and falling of quite
different masses of water. In the same way it should be understood that there are no real
Ego-entities hastening through the ocean of rebirth, but merely life-waves, which,
according to their nature and activities (good or evil), manifest themselves here as men,
there as animals, and elsewhere as invisible beings.
Once more the fact may be emphasized here that correctly speaking, the term `Karma'
signifies only the aforementioned kinds of action themselves, and does not mean or include
their results.
For further details about Karma see Fund. and B. Dict.
III. The Noble Truth of the
Extinction of Suffering
D.22
What, now, is the Noble Truth of the Extinction of Suffering? It is the
complete fading away and extinction of this craving, its forsaking and abandonment,
liberation and detachment from it.
But where may this craving vanish, where may it be extinguished?
Wherever in the world there are delightful and pleasurable things, there this craving may
vanish, there it may be extinguished.
S. XII. 66
Be it in the past, present, or future, whosoever of the monks or
priests regards the delightful and pleasurable things in the world as impermanent
(anicca), miserable (dukkha), and without a self (anattaa), as diseases and cankers, it is
he who overcomes craving.
Dependent Extinction of All Phenomena
S. XII. 43
And through the total fading away and extinction of Craving (ta.nhaa),
Clinging (upaadaana) is extinguished; through the extinction of clinging, the Process of
Becoming (bhava) is extinguished; through the extinction of the (karmic) process of
becoming, Rebirth (jaati) is extinguished; and through the extinction of rebirth, Decay
and Death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, grief and despair are extinguished. Thus comes
about the extinction of this whole mass of suffering.
S. XXII. 30
Hence the annihilation, cessation and overcoming of corporeality,
feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness: this is the extinction of
suffering, the end of disease, the overcoming of old age and death.
The undulatory motion which we call a wave-and which in the ignorant spectator creates
the illusion of one and the same mass of water moving over the surface of the lake-is
produced and fed by the wind, and maintained by the stored-up energies. Now, after the
wind has ceased, and if no fresh wind again whips up the water of the lake, the stored-up
energies will gradually be consumed, and thus the whole undulatory motion will come to an
end. Similarly, if fire does not get new fuel, it will, after consuming all the old fuel,
become extinct.
Just in the same way this Five-Khandha-process-which in the ignorant worldling creates
the illusion of an Ego-entity- is produced and fed by the life-affirming craving
(ta.nhaa), and maintained for some time by means of the stored-up life energies. Now,
after the fuel (upaadaana), i.e. the craving and clinging to life, has ceased, and if no
new craving impels again this Five-Khandha-process, life will continue as long as there
are still life-energies stored up, but at their destruction at death, the Five-Khandha
-process will reach final extinction.
Thus, Nibbaana, or `Extinction' (Sanskrit: nirvaana; from nir +root vaa to cease
blowing, become extinct) may be considered under two aspects, namely as:
1. `Extinction of Impurities' (kilesa-parinibbaana), reached at the attainment of
Arahatship, or Holiness, which generally takes place during life-time; in the Suttas it is
called `saupaadisesa-nibbaana', i.e. `Nibbaana with the Groups of Existence still
remaining'.
2. `Extinction of the Five-Khandha-process' (khandha-parinibbaana), which takes place
at the death of the Arahat, called in the Suttas: `an-upaadisesa-nibbaana' i.e. `Nibbaana
without the Groups remaining'.
NIBBAANA
A. III. 32
This, truly, is Peace, this is the Highest, namely the end of all Karma
formations, the forsaking of every substratum of rebirth, the fading away of craving.
detachment, extinction, Nibbaana.
A. III. 55
Enraptured with lust, enraged with anger, blinded by delusion,
overwhelmed, with mind ensnared, man aims at his own ruin, at the ruin of others, at the
ruin of both, and he experiences mental pain and grief. But, if lust, anger, and delusion
are given up, man aims neither at his own ruin, nor at the ruin of others, nor at the ruin
of both and he experiences no mental pain and grief. Thus is Nibbaana immediate, visible
in this life, inviting, attractive, and comprehensible to the wise.
S.XXXVIII.1
The extinction of greed, the extinction of hate, the extinction of
delusion: this, indeed, is called Nibbaana.
The Arahat, or Holy One
A. VI. 55
And for a disciple thus freed, in whose heart dwells peace, there is
nothing to be added to what has been done, and naught more remains for him to do. Just as
a rock of one solid mass remains unshaken by the wind, even so neither forms, nor sounds,
nor odors, nor tastes, nor contacts of any kind, neither the desired nor the undesired,
can cause such a one to waver. Steadfast is his mind, gained is deliverance.
Snp. 1048
And he who has considered all the contrasts on this earth, and is no
more disturbed by anything whatever in the world, the peaceful One, freed from rage, from
sorrow, and from longing, he has passed beyond birth and decay.
The Immutable
Ud. VIII. 1
Truly, there is a realm, where there is neither the solid, nor the
fluid, neither heat, nor motion, neither this world, nor any other world, neither sun nor
moon.
This I call neither arising, nor passing away, neither standing still,
nor being born, nor dying. There is neither foothold, nor development, nor any basis. This
is the end of suffering.
Ud. VIII. 3
There is an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. If there were
not this Unborn, this Unoriginated, this Uncreated, this Unformed, escape from the world
of the born, the originated, the created, the formed, would not be possible.
But since there is an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed,
therefore is escape possible from the world of the born, the originated, the created, the
formed.
- IV. The Noble Truth of the Path That Leads to the
Extinction of Suffering
- The Two Extremes, and the Middle Path
SS. LVI. 11
To give oneself up to indulgence in Sensual Pleasure, the base, common,
vulgar, unholy, unprofitable; or to give oneself up to Self-mortification, the
painful, unholy, unprofitable: both these two extremes, the Perfect One has avoided, and
has found out the Middle Path, which makes one both to see and to know, which
leads to peace, to discernment, to enlightenment, to Nibbaana.
The Eightfold Path
It is the Noble Eightfold Path, the way that leads to the extinction of
suffering, namely:
1. |
Right Understanding
Sammaa-di.t.thi
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III. Wisdom
Paññaa
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2.
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Right Thought
Sammaa-sankappa
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3.
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Right Speech
Sammaa-vaacaa
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I. Morality
Siila
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4.
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Right Action
Sammaa-kammanta
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5.
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Right Livelihood
Sammaa-aajiva
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6.
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Right Effort
Sammaa-vaayaama
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II. Concentration
Samaadhi
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7.
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Right Mindfulness
Sammaa-sati
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8.
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Right Concentration
Sammaa-samaadhi
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This is the Middle Path which the Perfect One has found out, which
makes one both see and know, which leads to peace, to discernment, to enlightenment, to
Nibbaana.
The Noble Eightfold Path
(Ariya-a.t.thangikamagga)
The figurative expression `Path' or `Way' has been sometimes misunderstood as implying
that the single factors of that Path have to be taken up for practice, one after the
other, in the order given. In that case, Right Understanding, i.e. the full penetration of
Truth, would have to be realized first, before one could think of developing Right
Thought, or of practising Right Speech, etc. But in reality the three factors (3-5)
forming the section `Morality' (sila) have to be perfected first; after that one has to
give attention to the systematic training of mind by practising the three factors (6-8)
forming the section `Concentrations (samaadhi); only after that preparation, man's
character and mind will be capable of reaching perfection in the first two factors (1-2)
forming the section of `Wisdom' (paññaa).
An initial minimum of Right Understanding, however, is required at the very start,
because some grasp of the facts of suffering, etc., is necessary to provide convincing
reasons, and an incentive, for a diligent practice of the Path. A measure of Right
Understanding is also required for helping the other Path factors to fulfil intelligently
and efficiently their individual functions in the common task of liberation. For that
reason, and to emphasize the importance of that factor, Right Understanding has been given
the first place in the Noble Eightfold Path.
This initial understanding of the Dhamma, however, has to be gradually developed, with
the help of the other Path factors, until it reaches finally that highest clarity of
Insight (vipassanaa) which is the immediate condition for entering the four Stages of
Holiness and for attaining Nibbaana.
Right Understanding is therefore the beginning as well as the culmination of the Noble
Eightfold Path.
M. 139
Free from pain and torture is this path, free from groaning and
suffering: it is the perfect path.
Dhp. 274-75
Truly, like this path there is no other path to the purity of insight.
If you follow this path, you will put an end to suffering.
Dhp. 276
But each one has to struggle for himself, the Perfect Ones have only
pointed out the way.
M. 26
Give ear then, for the Deathless is found. I reveal, I set forth the
Truth. As I reveal it to you, so act! And that supreme goal of the holy life, for the sake
of which sons of good families rightly go forth from home to the homeless state: this you
will, in no long time, in this very life, make known to yourself, realize, and make your
own.
Preface and Introduction
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