The Buddha - What is Buddhism?

The First Noble Truth - Dukkha

The First Noble Truth states that all existence is dukkha. We must explain this Pali word, since no counterpart exists in English. In the context of the Four Noble Truths, "dukkha" indicates something that is inherently unsatisfactory because unstable and ever-changing. Although dukkha is often rendered as "suffering," i.e., painful feeling as opposed to pleasant, that is not really its sense in the Four Noble Truths. The word "suffering" is not broad enough, since dukkha also applies to the most pleasant (sukha) feelings and events as well as to overtly painful ones.

The gist of this Truth is that even the most blissful sensations cause unhappiness in the end, when they change and disappear. It's said that pleasure is pleasant when it exists and unpleasant when it ceases; and that pain is unpleasant when it exists and pleasant when it ceases. Pleasure and pain are like the two sides of the hand; we cannot have the palm without the back. Likewise, one cannot isolate pleasure, cannot experience only pleasure in life without enduring the unhappiness that occurs when that pleasure dissolves. A relative, intermittent happiness, one that often alternates with outright pain, is the best to be gotten from life as we know it. This is partly because mind and matter can't really be controlled or subjected to our willpower. They can't be made to endure or disappear just because we want them to. For example, no one can prevent the body from aging, sickening and eventually dying.

Furthermore, the very building blocks of existence, mind and matter, are themselves dukkha. They are so unstable that they're actually changing and dissolving all the time, arising and passing away from moment to moment, although we cannot see this phenomena unless we cultivate mindfulness. Mind and matter are mere empty vibrations, without substance; inherently illusory, they cannot provide genuine happiness. Whatever happiness we do experience is tainted by the prospect of its alteration and loss. Because of this instability, every sensation in the changing complex that we call "existence" is ultimately frustrating, unsatisfying and unsatisfactory - dukkha. Although we have flashes of pleasure and relative content, pure happiness can only be found when we look beyond mind and matter.

Although the first Noble Truth has been called pessimistic, Buddhist scholars have pointed out that Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic, but realistic. It presents things just as they are, neither better nor worse. We might add that the Buddhist outlook is one of tremendous hope, since a solution to the problem of dukkha is given in the fourth Noble Truth, a solution which amounts to a guarantee. That solution is the eight-fold path. Anyone who follows the eight-fold path to its completion will arrive at the end of suffering, just as anyone who travels a known route to Seattle is bound to reach that city in the end, provided he doesn't stop driving. As long as one keeps walking on the path, there can be no question of failure.

Few have noticed how positive and hopeful is the message of the Noble Truths. But just look at what they tell us: that total freedom from dukkha, which is a happiness greater than we could imagine, is a real possibility; and, best of all, that there exists a clear path to that happiness. It is not something to be obtained by luck or special dispensation but effort, the effort of following a proscribed course of action, which anyone can do.

Before hearing these Truths, we didn't know that Nibbana existed. But now, knowing that pure happiness is possible, we can decide to try for it or not. Yet most of us are content to slog along in dukkha. The problem, the Buddha implied, is that we aim too low. Is that the attitude of a pessimist?

Another concept contained in the First and Second Noble Truths, and perhaps the most important teaching of Buddhism, is that of anatta. Anatta is another Pali word, variously translated as nonself, not-self, soullessness, insubstantiality, impersonality, and so on. The Buddha declared that no self exists anywhere in the universe, either within the minds of beings or without. It is merely a convention, an imaginary construct like a pink elephant, an illusion due to ignorance. In practical terms, anatta means that, at the deepest level, one cannot influence or control mind and matter, because those phenomena arise and disappear only when triggered into being by appropriate conditions.

It stands to reason that if something is our self we ought to be able to control and direct it, whereas things that are not self cannot be entirely controlled. We think that the body is self, that it belongs to us. But how much control do we have over it, really? Can we prevent it from growing old and dying? Can we make it taller with a wish? Can we order its DNA to change? No; it goes its own way in those regards. Body and mind cannot be affected by willpower alone; the relevant conditions must be present.

An example will illustrate what we mean by "conditions." Someone who's never heard Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata can't sit down and play it without flaw, merely because he wishes to do so. No matter how strong his willpower, it's impossible. On the other hand, if he creates the necessary conditions by listening and putting in the hours of practice, he might be able to perform the piece. But the performance would be a natural outcome of the time spent in practice, not just the wish to perform the sonata. Likewise, all the varied forms of mind and matter require certain conditions in order to exist or cease, and no one can alter them at will.

We should not misunderstand nonself to mean that we are powerless, that we can only throw up our hands. Nonself and conditionality don't mean that things are destined to be a particular way. We can still effect changes, even total transformations - if we couldn't, why would it be important to follow the eight-fold path? But we can do so only by generating those conditions from which the outcome arises inevitably, not by forcing it into existence through willpower.

Anatta, nonself, makes up the last characteristic in the trio of qualities common to all conditioned phenomena. These three qualities are: dukkha (unsatisfactoriness or suffering), anicca (impermanence) and anatta (nonself). Dukkha we've already covered. Impermanence was touched on when we spoke of the transient nature of mind and matter. Although other religions speak of suffering and impermanence (though they may not mean quite the same things by those terms) Buddhism alone speaks of anatta. Although not explicitly stated, anatta is implied in the First Noble Truth because dukkha is named; and where there is dukkha, there is also anatta. The three characteristics are merely different aspects of the same quality, like different facets of a single emerald.

Those who clearly see one of these characteristics will transcend mind and matter, and therefore transcend suffering.

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The Second Noble Truth - Tanha

The next question is: where does dukkha, unsatisfactoriness, come from? The answer is: not from any external power. The cause of dukkha arises from within ourselves, although we cannot trace it back to a first moment of origination. But the fact that it comes from our own minds is good news, since stopping the cause of suffering is then entirely within our power.

The Second Noble Truth states that dukkha results from craving or desire. Although other causes are involved, desire is the predominant one. Desire is a cause of suffering because it leads to renewed existence. We were not thrust into this world because God created us, but because past craving and ignorance caused us to be reborn with the particular mind and body that we have now.

Here we must introduce the concept of rebirth. Buddhist theory states that beings, until they eliminate desire and ignorance, are reborn into the world over and over again, although it isn't a soul or self who passes from one existence to another. At each rebirth, a new configuration of mind and body arises, prompted into existence by conditions. (But in the strict sense rebirth occurs each moment because flashes of consciousness arise and vanish continually, from one instant to the next. Each "flash" is a separate phenomenon; there is no self threading the series together.)

Once reborn, many types of unsatisfactoriness and suffering arise. However, if we could prevent rebirth from occurring, then no unhappiness (no dukkha) could occur either. So the ultimate aim of the Buddhist is to stop the process of rebirth and "enter" Nibbana. Nibbana is liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

The Buddha's teachings are based on the premise that the process of existence, from the wheeling of the planets to the splitting of a cell, occurs according to laws of cause and effect. Desire is a cause of rebirth because whenever we desire and cling to people, sensations, and so on, we create what is called "kamma" (Sanskrit: karma). Kamma produces rebirth which, in turn, entails suffering.

In Buddhism, "kamma" does not mean fate or destiny, but intentional action. When one snatches a piece of cake out of desire, that is an action, a kamma; and an action is a type of cause that has an effect. Or we could say it is a seed that bears a fruit, a result. An action triggered by unwholesome mind-states gives an unpleasant result, one triggered by wholesome mind-states, a pleasant result. However, the result may appear much later than the cause (the kamma), even in another lifetime, which makes it very difficult to see the connection between the cause and the effect.

Anyone wishing to know the Buddha's teachings must fully understand this concept of "cause and effect," or dependent origination, as it is perhaps the most fundamental of all. It states that all mental and material phenomena exist only dependent upon conditions, and that suffering results from a process, a chain-reaction of twelve conditions which, luckily, can be interrupted with mindfulness. Unfortunately, we do not have space here to delve into this profound teaching. For a real understanding of Buddhist thought the reader is urged to consult one of the many books on the subject (see, for instance, The Significance of Dependent Origination in Theravada Buddhism, Nyanatiloka Mahathera, Buddhist Publication Society).

To sum up: by desiring and forming attachments to things we create kamma. That kamma produces rebirth, which in turn entails suffering. Stuck in one flawed existence after another, we fail to realize the freedom of Nibbana.

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The First Noble Truth - Dukkha

The Third Noble Truth - Nirodha

The Third Noble Truth is, "the truth of the cessation of dukkha." It is possible to be liberated from dukkha, from existence as we know it, with all its ills. That freedom is known as "Nibbana." What is Nibbana? It is the extinction of craving. We read in the Majjhima Nikaya that, "Nibbana is the greatest bliss." (M. 75). But Nibbana should not be misunderstood as being a physical place, a kind of heaven. Buddhist cosmology describes many realms, including heavens and hells; but existence in all of those spheres is temporary. Nibbana, on the other hand, is permanent.

Nibbana is the summum bonum, the goal of the Buddhist. It was this goal that the Buddha urged his disciples to work toward with diligence. Although the Buddha is gone, Nibbana is still within reach, and we needn't wait until after death to see it. By eliminating dukkha's cause (i.e., craving) we can free ourselves at any time.

It's said that Nibbana is not "out there" in the distance. It isn't a shining place at the end of some far-away road. Neither is it a state of any kind, since it isn't conditioned by anything. But Nibbana is not nothingness. Nor is it the extinction of the self since, strictly speaking, no self existed in the first place. It is very difficult to speak about Nibbana because it cannot be pinned down with language - words slip off it. Whatever we might say about it will be incorrect in some regard. Nibbana must be experienced directly to be comprehended.

But in order to have some idea of it intellectually, we can say that Nibbana is the total extinguishing of greed, hatred and delusion. It is often spoken of as freedom. Other synonyms are: peace, an island, a refuge, safety. It is called the highest happiness, but happiness of an entirely different order than what we're used to.

Take this exchange between the Buddha's chief disciple, Sariputta, and Udayi; Sariputta declared: "Oh friend! Nibbana is happiness! Nibbana is happiness!" Udayi asked, "But, friend Sariputta, what happiness can there be if there is no sensation?" Sariputta replied, "That there is no sensation is itself happiness."

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The First Noble Truth - Dukkha

The Fourth Noble Truth - Magga

Now that we know that a refuge called Nibbana exists, how do we reach it? By practicing the eight-fold path, which is the fourth Noble Truth. If they are to transform one's life, the Noble Truths must be realized directly, in a personal epiphany, not merely grasped intellectually or believed in. Those who see these Truths clearly also realize Nibbana; they are said to be "enlightened." Any being is capable of attaining enlightenment.

How does one "realize" the Four Noble Truths? By cultivating: right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration, right understanding, and right thought. These are the factors of the path. (For more information on the individual factors, click on the link, The Eight-fold Path). These eight factors fall into three categories: morality, concentration, and wisdom. Morality is a necessary foundation for higher states of spiritual knowledge. The basic level of morality that a Buddhist should work to establish is given in The Five Precepts. One undertakes to refrain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and harmful speech, and taking intoxicants.

All eight path factors can be cultivated simultaneously through the practice of insight meditation (vipassana-bhavana), also called "mindfulness." Indeed, the practice of mindfulness lies at the very heart of Buddhism. Without it, the teachings are as so many empty shells.

Concentration meditation existed long before the Buddha's time, but it leads only to a rarefied mental state called, "neither-perception-nor-nonperception," not to complete liberation from suffering. It was the Buddha who discovered and systematized the practice of mindfulness, which leads directly to wisdom and Nibbana. The method is detailed in the Satipatthana Sutta, which states: "This is the only way, O Bhikkhus, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the destruction of suffering and grief, for reaching the right path, for the attainment of Nibbana, namely, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness."

One needn't call oneself a "Buddhist" to follow the Buddha's teachings. Nor is it necessary to make obeisance before monks, or offer incense at a temple. The truth transcends ritual, language and labels. One who practices the eight-fold path until realizing the dhamma, the ultimate truth of reality, will be a living testament to the Noble One's words.

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The First Noble Truth - Dukkha