|
By Jayaram V
"And this, monks is the noble truth of the origination of
dukkha: the craving that makes for further becoming — accompanied by
passion & delight, relishing now here & now there — i.e., craving
for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming."
— Samyutta Nikaya LVI.11
The Buddha's approach to the problem of suffering was
quite
methodical. He was not interested in finding speculative theories to
solve the ubiquitous problem of human suffering. He was well aware of the
temporary escapes, which people invent, under self-induced illusions, in
order to escape from the problem of suffering. He therefore looked for the
original or the root cause, the evil of the evils, by finding which one would
arrive at a permanent solution.
And he arrived at it rightly. He found craving to be the
root cause of all all suffering. He found craving as the central evil that
reduced life into a bundle of painful despair. Craving leads to suffering and
suffering continues because craving does not cease. The being is a captive in
the hands of craving, which forces him to want some thing or the other
always. Even a negative desire, such as not wanting something, or wishing to
stay away from something leads to suffering only. The Dhammapada (335-336)
reads:
"If this sticky, uncouth craving overcomes you in the
world, your sorrows grow like wild grass after rain. If, in the world, you
overcome this uncouth craving, hard to escape, sorrows roll off you, like
water beads off a lotus."
Unless dealt with and removed, this craving persists and survives ones death. It survives
a person's death, because his very consciousness is built and shaped by its
very movements. Death, separates the character of the being from its body,
but does not separate the craving from the consciousness, which it propels
and modifies even beyond. In the wheel of existence, they remain together
till one finds a permanent solution.
"If its root remains undamaged & strong, a tree, even
if cut, will grow back. So too if latent craving is not rooted out, this
suffering returns again & again." - (Dhammapada 338)
Death is a temporary cessation of the physical form, a
brief interlude, a form of change, during which the becoming does not cease,
but continues in a different manner. After the death the personality of the
being continues its existence in a different mode. By virtue of its past
actions and merits, it takes birth again and continues its journey of
continuous becoming. The craving gathers strength by finding fresh excuse for
delight every time and by joining with pleasures here and there.
The Buddha declared that as long as there were delightful
and pleasurable things, the craving would persist. It arises and takes root
in the senses, in the eye, in the ear, in the nose, in the tongue, in the
body, and in the mind. It takes root in things like visual objects, sounds,
smells, tastes, bodily impressions, and mind-objects, and in the
consciousness, sense impression, feelings born of sense impressions,
perception, will, craving, thinking, and reflecting.
When an object is perceived to be pleasant one is
attracted to it. But if it is found unpleasant one is repelled from it. Thus
arise attraction for and repulsion towards the objects that we come into
contact with. Out of the feelings of attraction, repulsion or indifference,
one develops preferences and attachment for things in life.
In this process lust springs up. This feeling of lust,
which is but clinging, leads to the process of becoming (the effects of
karma) and out of the process of becoming is shaped the future birth of a
person. The birth causes decay, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and
despair. Thus comes into existence the whole mass of suffering.
The sensuous craving causes accumulation of both the
present suffering and the future suffering. Present suffering accumulates
when people indulge in sensuous craving that lead to various forms of
conflicts and quarrels or wicked acts like stealing, robbery or seducing the
wives of others which results either in deadly pain or in death.
The accumulation of future suffering arises when, after
falling into various evil ways due to sensuous craving, beings die and at the
dissolution of the body, descend downward into the abyss of hell or into an
intense state of suffering and perdition.
Closely associated with the Noble Truth of Suffering is
the law of karma. According to this law, all beings are owners (cause) as
well as heirs (effect) of their deeds. Whether good or bad, they are the
originators of all their actions. When these deeds ripen they will earn the
fruit of their actions either in this life or in the next life or in any
other future life. Thus beings who give birth to their actions, also
eventually are born out of their own actions later on. As long as the beings
are subjected to sensuous craving, this cycle of birth and rebirth and
suffering from birth to birth goes on till the end of the world. This is called the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering.
Additional Information
You can use these links for additional information on the
Four Noble Truths.
|
