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1. ‘This, O bhikkhus, is
the Noble1 Truth of Suffering:
Birth is
suffering;
Decay is
suffering;
Illness
is suffering;
Death is
suffering.
Presence of
objects we hate is suffering;
Separation
from objects we love is suffering;
Not to
obtain what we desire is suffering.
The fivefold clinging to existence
is suffering.’
2. ‘This, O bhikkhus, is
the Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering:
Craving, that leads to
re-birth, Accompanied by pleasure and lust, Finding its delight here and
there.
This craving is
threefold, namely,
craving for pleasure,
craving for existence,
craving for prosperity.’
3 ‘This, O bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering:
the complete cessation
of this craving –
a cessation which
consists in the absence of every passion –
with the abandoning of this craving,
with the doing-away with
it,
with the deliverance
from it,
with the destruction of
craving.’
4 ‘This, O bhikkhus, is the Noble Truth of the Path which leads to the Cessation
of Suffering:
that holy eightfold
path,
right belief,
right aspiration,
right speech,
right conduct,
right means of livelihood,
right endeavour,
right memory,
right meditation.
No one knows what the
Pali term: sama (or samma) originally meant. Christian translators of the 19th century, such as
Rhys-Davids, chose the English term ‘right’, thereby giving it a moral tone.
Currently the most efficient translation of sama (or samma) is @best.
The above list is high
quality social engineering. The ending of dukkha differs completely from
that described by the Sakya Buddha to his ascetic initial converts.
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Note 1: The epithet ‘Noble’ as been inserted as translation for the
Pali word arya, and whose precise meaning is unknown.
Note 2: There is no
statement as to the fact of suffering.
Note 3: 7 specific
causes of dukkha are listed. These can be easily verified through daily
experience in Indian villages. It’s a very primitive but effective pitch.
Five more causes (i.e. the asavas) are added from the lately invented 3 characterisitics sutta preached to bhikkus (i.e. the homeless
wanderers) only.
Here craving for rebirth
is decided as THE cause of dukkha. Moreover, craving for pleasure is
singled out. The second threefold part
reprises the first, hence is redundant. Here the social engineering aspect
of the 3 Noble Truths schedule becomes apparent. This dour opinion mirrors
the one presented by St Paul to his Christian converts. Elsewhere the
Sakyan Buddha elaborates on the torments of indulging in sensory pleasure.
This view of the origin
of dukkha does not match the more abstract and universal causes given in
the 3 characteristics sutta where anicca and anatta are provided as causes.
Nor does it reflect the content of the 8 characteristics sutta. Nor does it
reflect the Dependent Origination schedule of causes, starting with
ignorance.
See:
The expanded list of the causes of dukkha
In the
‘ending of suffering’ Noble Truth the fact of cessation (noble Truth 3) and
the cause of cessation (Noble Truth 4) are conflated, a serious logical
error.
A new cause
of dukkha is added to that of craving, namely passion. Its cessation
eliminates dukkha.
Note the
monumental cock-up: The 4th Noble Truth of the Sakya Buddha
should read, ‘Ending craving (or ending the asavas) ends suffering’, and
which is already given in Noble Truth No 3.
The 4th
Noble Truth as presented in the standard list emerged in a later era,
possibly in an urban environment when an awakened bhikkhu saw the need for
a serious theoretical upgrade and radical change of the Buddha dharma of
‘Suffering and release therefrom’. The primitive and detailed village pitch
no longer worked because it lacked universal application. So he introduced
the Maitreya Buddha notion of the
ending of dukkha, namely @best performance. He thereby indirectly conceded
that dukkha happened as a performance regulating operation, namely that it
arose if and when an individual under-performed any one of n operations.
That was modern indeed.
Consequently, the Maitreya Buddha’s 4 Noble Truths
read:
1. There is dukkha
(unpleasantness = sorrow = suffering)
2. Its cause is
less-than-@-best performance
3. There is an end to
dukkha
4. @ best performance ends
dukkha
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