Surrounded by Dukkha

“Bhikkhus, it is through not realizing, through not penetrating the Four Noble Truths that this long course of birth and death has been passed through and undergone by me as well as by you.  What are these four?  They are the noble truth of dukkha; the noble truth of the origin of dukkha; the noble truth of the cessation of dukkha; and the noble truth of the way to the cessation of dukkha.  But now, bhikkhus, that these have been realized and penetrated, cut off is the craving for existence, destroyed is that which leads to renewed becoming, and there is no fresh becoming.”  The Buddha¹

The Buddha shared the four noble truths in his first sermon after attaining enlightenment.  His teachings had shown the Middle Way to thousands and his many lessons cherished by his followers.  He had preached for over 50 years and was coming to the end of his life.  He had one more important task ahead of his passing, reminding his disciples to practice what he had taught, to live the Middle Way.

This retelling of the noble truths directed to his monastic followers, the monks also known as the bhikkhus.  They in turn would share it with others keeping the Awakened One’s teachings alive.  Dukkha is the focus of the four noble truths.  There is no literal translatable word in English for the Pali word Dukkha.  Often dukkha translates as suffering, misery or pain.  The deeper sense is the unsteadiness of life due to the nature of change.  Even the best of times will come to an end, joy will stop and death will come.

An old Tibetan Monk walking with a cane

Due to the misunderstanding of the word dukkha, Buddhists are typically viewed as non-caring or pessimistic.  This is not the case for Buddhists have great joy in their lives but they do temper their emotions with the fact that everything changes.  We do not expect bad things to always happen, we just expect change to always occur.  It is a realistic view of the natural order of life.

The origin of this unsteadiness of life comes from life itself.  Life is not bad in and of itself, living is pleasurable.  When I was a younger man, I thoroughly enjoyed running mountain trails.  I got to where I could run 20+ miles in various terrain.  The exhilaration was a wonderful experience with the clean air and the mountain streams.  I can not do that anymore.  I have had three mini-strokes and a full stroke.  I walk with a cane.  Simple steps now cause unsteady balance and pain as my legs do not function the way they used to.

My health and vigor are not what they once were.  I know impermanence first hand as do all of us really.  Change is all around us, it cannot be stopped.  Does this mean I am sad all the time?  No, of course not.  I think back often of the great runs I had and they cheer me to this day but I do know I am not able to do them again.  This is dukkha in action.  The stress of my physical limitations are hard to bear so I just don’t carry them around.  I can think of the joy I received from my physical activity in the past but I do not cling to it, I do not crave the ability to run mountain trails.

Craving would cause more suffering, more dukkha.  Where does craving and longing start?  The Buddha said:  ”All that we are is the result of what we have thought.”  Lust, greed, jealousy and on the list goes, these start with a single thought.  The thought is then chewed much like an animal chews cud.  We keep the idea on the burner adding a little here and there until that single thought has become a complete play in our minds.

The Awakened One proclaimed:
“It is wrong to think that misfortunes come from the east or from the west; they originate within one’s own mind.  Therefore, it is foolish to guard against misfortunes from the external world and leave the inner mind uncontrolled.”

The pain of this world starts in the mind of the person suffering.  Others can cause you harm but this also started within their mind so it all has an original source.

Prince Siddhartha was fully aware of the gratification and pleasures of the senses of the world around him.  He was a very wealthy prince, all of his needs met, he married a beautiful woman and had a son.  He traveled in a throne chair when he went out of the castle.  The finest foods and drink placed before him.

His life changed one day when he was traveling in his kingdom.  His servants and guards ordered to keep the sick and aged away from him, he had never seen their likes before.  The crowd was very large on this trip and some sick and older people appeared wanting to see their Prince.  He saw for the first time the old, sick and distressed and he asked why this was so.  His aide informed him that all would get sick and die one day including the Prince.  Siddhartha wanted to learn more and came upon a funeral pyre, a person had recently passed away and the distraught family was suffering.  The young Prince felt the sorrow in his heart and nothing could satisfy him after that.  He had to set out and find a way to stop suffering.

The Buddha knew the joys the world had to offer, he also knew they were temporary and could be left.  When enlightenment came the Buddha knew a way to end the dukkha or suffering of life.  He taught his disciples where this unsteady state arose from, within themselves.  In the next post we will discuss how this suffering can end and the way to stop it.  May the Buddha bless you.

1 – Text Citation

“Maha-parinibbana Sutta: Last Days of the Buddha” (DN 16), translated from the Pali by Sister Vajira & Francis Story. Access to Insight, 9 October 2010,http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.16.1-6.vaji.html .