Teachings of the Buddha, relevant tidbits of Buddhist philosophy Options

[kalki]

The Four Noble Truths

1. Life means suffering.

2. The origin of suffering is attachment.

3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.

4. The path to the cessation of suffering.



1. Life means suffering.

To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too.

2. The origin of suffering is attachment.

The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas, and -in a greater sense- all objects of our perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, ardour, pursuit of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or in short: craving and clinging. Because the objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily follow. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a "self" which is a delusion, because there is no abiding self. What we call "self" is just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.

3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.

The cessation of suffering can be attained through nirodha. Nirodha means the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. The third noble truth expresses the idea that suffering can be ended by attaining dispassion. Nirodha extinguishes all forms of clinging and attachment. This means that suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. Attaining and perfecting dispassion is a process of many levels that ultimately results in the state of Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from all worries, troubles, complexes, fabrications and ideas. Nirvana is not comprehensible for those who have not attained it.

4. The path to the cessation of suffering.

There is a path to the end of suffering - a gradual path of self-improvement, which is described more detailed in the Eightfold Path. It is the middle way between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive self-mortification (asceticism); and it leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth. The latter quality discerns it from other paths which are merely "wandering on the wheel of becoming", because these do not have a final object. The path to the end of suffering can extend over many lifetimes, throughout which every individual rebirth is subject to karmic conditioning. Craving, ignorance, delusions, and its effects will disappear gradually, as progress is made on the path.

[Kalisurfer]

THE COURAGE TO WAIT

"When you’re like a keg of dynamite about to go off, patience means just slowing down at that point—just pausing—instead of immediately acting on your usual, habitual response. You refrain from acting, you stop talking to yourself, and then you connect with the soft spot. But at the same time you are completely and totally honest with yourself about what you are feeling. You’re not suppressing anything; patience has nothing to do with suppression. In fact, it has everything to do with a gentle, honest relationship with yourself."

Pema Chodron— From "Practicing Peace in Times of War"

[kalki]

The Twelve Links of Dependent Origination

How Life Arises, Exists, Continues and Ceases
By Barbara O'Brien, About.com Guide

The Buddha said there are twelve links (nidanas) in the "chain" of Dependent Origination. Dependent Origination is the Buddhist teaching on how things come to be, are, and cease to be. According to this teaching, no beings or phenomena exist independently of other beings and phenomena.

The Twelve Links show us how Dependent Origination "works." Please note that there is no first link. The "numbering" could begin anywhere. Although they are described in a linear way, in fact each link connects to all the other links.


1. Ignorance (Avidya)
Avidya means lack of light or lack of understanding. In Buddhism, "ignorance" usually refers to ignorance of the Four Noble Truths, in particular that life is dukkha (unsatisfactory; stressful).

Ignorance also refers to ignorance of anatman, a teaching that there is no "self" in the sense of a permanent, integral, autonomous being within an individual existence. What we think of as our self, our personality and ego, are temporary creations of the skandhas.

The twelve links are illustrated in the outer ring of the Bhavachakra (Wheel of Life). Ignorance is depicted as a blind man or woman. Ignorance conditions the next link in the chain, volitional action.


2. Volitional Formation (Samskara)
Ignorance links to samskara, which can be translated volitional action, formation, impulse, motivation, or karma formation. Out of ignorance come thoughts, words and actions that sew the seeds of karma. Samskara are the impulses that come before action, and action creates karma.

In the outer ring of the Bhavachakra (Wheel of Life), samskara usually is illustrated as potters making pots.

Volitional formation conditions the next link, consciousness.


3. Consciousness (Vijnana)
Vijnana usually is translated to mean "consciousness." In Buddhist teaching there are many kinds of vijnana. Very generally, vijnana is what happens when one of the six faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind) reacts to or becomes aware of one of the six external phenomena (visible form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and ideas and thoughts). The third link includes all kinds of vijnana.

In the outer ring of the Bhavachakra (Wheel of Life), vijnana is represented by a monkey. A monkey leaps thoughtlessly from one thing to another, easily tempted and distracted by sensations. Monkey energy pulls us away from ourselves and away from the dharma.

Vijnana conditions the next link, name and form.


4. Name and Form (Nama-rupa)
Nama-rupa is name and form, corporeality and mentality, the joining of the five skandhas into an individual existence. With name and form also come sensory perception.

In the outer ring of the Bhavachakra (Wheel of Life), nama-rupa is represented by people in a boat, traveling through samsara.

Nama-rupa works together with the next link, faculties and objects, to condition other links.


5. Faculties and Objects (Shadayatana)
The Vijnana, or consciousness, link described above involves the the six faculties or sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind) and six corresponding external phenomena, or objects (visible form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and ideas and thoughts). The faculties and their corresponding objects are the shadayatana.

Of course, the sense organs do not exist separately from the previous link, physical form. If you reflect on the links, you see that each link connects to every other link.

The Bhavachakra (Wheel of Life) illustrates shadayatana as a house with six windows.

Shadayatana relates directly to the next link, which is the contact between faculties and objects.
6. Contact (Sparsha)
Sparsha is contact with environment, or the contact with the faculties and object discussed of Shadayatana. The Wheel of Life illustrates sparsha with an embracing couple.

The contact of faculties and objects leads to the experience of sensation, which is the next link.


7. Sensation (Vedana)
Vedana is the recognition and experience of sensations. These experiences are pleasurable or painful, which leads to desire and aversion.

The Wheel of Life illustrates vedana with an arrow piercing an eye to represent sense data piercing the senses.

Sensation conditions the next link, craving.


8. Craving (Trishna)
The Second Noble Truth teaches that trishna -- thirst, desire or craving -- is the cause of stress or suffering (dukkha).

If we are not mindful, we are perpetually being jerked around by desire for what we want and aversion of what we don't want. In this state we heedlessly create karma, which keeps us entangled in the cycle of rebirth.

The Wheel of Life illustrates trishna with a man drinking beer, usually surrounded with empty bottles. Desire and aversion conditions the next link, clinging.


9. Clinging or Grasping (Upadana)
Upadana is a grasping and clinging mind. We cling to sensual pleasures, mistaken views, external forms and appearances. Most of all, we cling to ego and a sense of an individual self, a sense reinforced moment-to-moment by our cravings and aversions. Upadana also represents clinging to a womb and the beginning of rebirth.

The Wheel of Life illustrates Upadana by picturing a monkey, or sometimes a person, reaching for a fruit.

Upadana conditions the next link, becoming.


10. Becoming (Bhava)
Bhava is new becoming, set in motion by the other links. The Wheel of Life illustrates bhava by picturing a couple making love or a woman in an advanced state of pregnancy.

Becoming conditions the next link, birth.


11. Birth (Jati)
The cycle of rebirth naturally includes birth. In the Wheel of Life, a woman in childbirth illustrates jati.

Birth inevitably leads to old age and death.


12. Old Age and Death (Jara-maranam)
The chain comes to old age and death, or the dissolution of what came to be. The karma of one life sets in motion another life, rooted in ignorance (avidya). A circle is closed.

In the Wheel of Life, Jara-maranam is illustrated with a corpse.

The Four Noble Truths teach us that release from the cycle of samsara is possible. In the resolution of ignorance, volitional formations, craving and grasping there is liberation from birth and death and the peace of nirvana.