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The First Noble Truth – Dukkha

Suffering

Reference: Chapter 2, The First Noble Truth: Dukkha

The first Noble Truth of Buddha points to dukkha as something that needs to be understood. The term dukkha contains the ordinary meaning of ‘suffering’, but in addition it also includes deeper ideas, such as, ‘imperfection’, ‘impermanence’, ‘emptiness’, and ‘insubstantiality’. The way to happiness starts with a complete understanding of this term dukkha.

One needs to clearly understand that any object of enjoyment ultimately becomes a source of unsatisfactoriness because of its impermanent nature. For example, one enjoys being with a pleasant, charming and beautiful person. One likes to be with him (or her) again and again. One derives pleasure and satisfaction from that person. But this enjoyment is not permanent, just as that person and all his (or her) attractions are not permanent.

As the situation changes and as one no longer is able to derive that pleasure and satisfaction, one becomes sad. One may become unreasonable and unbalanced. One may even behave foolishly. This is the evil, unsatisfactory and dangerous side of the picture. Now this won’t be the case if one is completely detached. Then there is freedom, liberation. This is true with regard to all enjoyment in life.

Impermanence

From this it is evident that we must take into account not only the ordinary suffering, such as, sickness, old age, distress, etc., but also the impermanence of the pleasures of life. This is dukkha. But the philosophic aspect of dukkha as impermanence goes much deeper.

What we call a ‘being’ or an ‘individual’, or ‘I’, according to Buddhist philosophy, is the perceived center of physical and mental forces. These forces or energies are forever changing. They are expressed as the five aggregates of attachment. They are not the same for two consecutive moments. Here A is not equal to A. They are in a flux of momentary arising and disappearing.

So, there is no permanent, unchanging spirit which can be considered ‘Self’, or ‘Soul’, or ‘Ego’, as opposed to matter. Consciousness is not perceived as Self or Soul that continues as a permanent substance through life. Conciousness changes continually. There is nothing in life that is permanent. All the aggregates are impermanent, all constantly changing.

‘Whatever is impermanent is dukkha’

Buddhism advises us to take a realistic view of life and of the world. We must look at things objectively. We should not be falsely lulled into living in a fool’s paradise, nor should we be frightened and agonized with all kinds of imaginary fears and sins. We should look exactly and objectively what we are and what the world around us is. And that would guide us to perfect freedom, peace, tranquility and happiness.

May 13, 2012 – 6:38 AM Categories: Buddhism | Comments (62)

Tagged spirituality |

The Structure of “I”

Reference: Chapter 2 of Book: What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula

What we call a ‘being’, ‘soul’, ‘individual’, or ‘I’, according to Buddhist philosophy, is only a combination of ever-changing physical and mental forces or energies. These forces or energies may be divided into five groups or aggregates, as follows.

(1) Aggregates of Matter (both internal and external)

The Four Great Elements of Matter –
- Solidity, Fluidity, Heat and Motion
Derivatives of the Four Great Elements –
- INTERNAL
  - The six internal faculties connected to material sense-organs
    - Eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind
- EXTERNAL
  - The corresponding six objects in the external world
    - Visible form, sound, odor, taste, tangible things and mind-objects (idea or thought)

(2) Aggregate of Sensations (both physical and mental)

Pleasant, unpleasant, neutral sensations
- Experienced through the contact of internal faculties with the external objects
  - PHYSICAL
    - Eye with visible forms
    - Ear with sounds
    - Nose with odor
    - Tongue with taste
    - Body with tangible objects
  - MENTAL
    - Mind with mind-objects or thoughts or idea

(3) Aggregate of Perceptions (both physical and mental)

Recognition of physical and mental objects
- Produced through the contact of internal faculties with the external objects
  - PHYSICAL
    - Visual perception when the eye contacts visible forms
    - Auditory perception when the ear contacts sounds
    - Olfactory perception when the nose contacts odors
    - Gustatory perception when the tongue contacts tastes
    - Tactile perception when the body contacts tangible objects
  - MENTAL
    - Mental perception when the mind contacts mind-objects (ideas and thoughts)

(4) Aggregate of Mental Formations

Exertion of volition (will, mental activity)
- All volitional activities (both good and bad)
  - Attention, Will, Determination, Confidence, Concentration, Wisdom, Energy, Desire, repugnance or hate, Ignorance, Conceit, Idea of self, etc. (52 of them)
- Karma (having willed, one acts through body, speech and mind)
  - Karmic effects
- Connected with the six internal faculties and the corresponding six external objects
  - Visual, Auditory, Olfactory, Gustatory, Tactile, Mental

(5) Aggregate of Consciousness

Consciousness is a reaction or response which has
- One of the six faculties as its basis, and
- One of the six corresponding external phenomena as its objects
Consciousness does not recognize an object
- It is a sort of awareness of the presence of an object
Consciousness should not be taken as ‘spirit’ in opposition to matter.
- Consciousness arises out of conditions
- There is no arising of consciousness without conditions
Consciousness depends on matter, sensation, perception and mental formations
- It cannot exist independently of them.

Note: Sensations and perceptions do not produce karmic effects. It is only the volitional actions of mental formations that can produce karmic effects.

Thus, ‘being’, ‘individual’, or, ‘I’, is only a convenient name or a label given to the combination of these five groups. They are all impermanent, all constantly changing. They are not the same for two consecutive moments. Here A is not equal to A. They are in a flux of momentary arising and disappearing.

One thing disappears, conditioning the appearance of the next in a series of cause and effect. There is no unchanging substance in them. There is nothing behind them that can be called a permanent Self, individuality, or anything that can in reality be called ‘I’. But when these five physical and mental aggregates which are interdependent are working together in combination as a physio-psychological machine, we get the idea of ‘I’. But this is only a false idea of self. There is no other ‘being’ or ‘I’, standing behind these five aggregates.

There is no unmoving mover behind the movement. It is only movement. It is not correct to say that life is moving, but life is movement itself. Life and movement are not two different things. In other words, there is no thinker behind the thought. Thought itself is the thinker. If you move the thought, there is no thinker to be found. Here we cannot fail to notice how this Buddhist view is diametrically opposed to the Cartesian cogito ergo sum: ‘I think, therefore I am.’

This is counter-intuitive, indeed.

May 11, 2012 – 6:16 PM Categories: Buddhism | Comments (53)

Tagged buddhist philosophy |

Consciousness

Reference: The First Noble Truth: Dukkha

There is no scientific basis for consciousness that transmigrates and wanders about. There is no consciousness, which expresses, which feels, which experiences the results of good and bad deeds here and there.

According to Buddhist philosophy there is no permanent, unchanging spirit which can be considered ‘Self’, or ‘Soul’, or ‘Ego’. The consciousness should not be taken as ‘spirit’ in opposition to matter. It is a wrong notion that consciousness is a sort of Self or Soul that continues as a permanent substance through life.

Consciousness is only a sort of awareness of the presence of an object. It does not recognize the object. It is perception that recognizes the object. When the eye comes in contact with a color, for instance blue, visual consciousness arises which simply is awareness of the presence of a color; but it does not recognize that it is blue. There is no recognition at this stage. It is perception that recognizes that it is blue.

Buddha explained that consciousness arises out of conditions. There is no arising of consciousness without conditions. Consciousness is named according to whatever condition through which it arises.

Visual consciousness arises on account of the eye and visible forms
Auditory consciousness arises on account of the ear and sounds.
Olfactory consciousness arises on account of the nose and odors.
Gustatory consciousness arises on account of the tongue and tastes.
Tactile consciousness arises on account of the body and tangible objects.
Mental consciousness arises on account of the mind and mind-objects (ideas and thoughts).

The Buddha declared in unequivocal terms that consciousness depends on matter, sensation, perception and mental formations and that it cannot exist independently of them.

‘Were a man to say: I shall show the coming, the going, the passing away, the arising, the growth, the increase or the development of consciousness apart from matter, sensation, perception and mental formations, he would be speaking of something that does not exist.’

May 11, 2012 – 1:19 PM Categories: Buddhism | Comments (88)

Tagged religion, science, spirituality |

Lightning Meets the Land

The Split Second when the Lightning Meets the Land:

Daredevil Photographer Risks his Life

Does lightning start from the land, or from the cloud?

May 9, 2012 – 11:10 AM Categories: Pictures | Comments (2)

KHTK Exercise Set 1 (old)

These exercises are designed to familiarize one with various steps of the practice of Looking as explained in The Basics of Looking.

Exercise 1

PURPOSE: To distinctly recognize physical and mental objects, and any association that may have been taken for granted.

1. Place attention on your physical environment. Become aware of physical objects “outside” of you.

2. Place attention on your mental environment. Become aware of the mental objects (thoughts, feelings, sensations, etc.) “inside” of you.

3. Continue looking until you start to become very aware of physical objects “outside” and mental objects (thoughts, feelings, sensations, etc.) “inside.”

4. Continue looking until you start to become aware of some inconsistency.

Here is an example:

Suppose you are looking at the profile of a person. When the question arises, “How many ears does this person have?” Your mind may say, “Two.” But as you look, you see only one ear. Underlying this inconsistency there is some association that you are not fully aware of.

5. Look more closely at the inconsistency until various associations also start to manifest themselves.

Continuing with the previous example, you may find that there is the thought, “All persons have two ears” associated with the person’s profile you are looking at. You may then be able to look at the person’s profile separately from the thought, and realize that this person may, or may not, have a second ear. This will be a more accurate view.

6. This exercise is complete when you can distinctly recognize physical and mental objects, and any association that may have been taken for granted.

Exercise 2

PURPOSE: To distinctly recognize the mental objects and the activity taking place among them, without participating, or interfering, in any way.

1. Close your eyes while maintaining awareness of both physical and mental environments. Notice that the visual perception may not be there, but the perception of sound, odors, tastes and tactile from physical objects is still there.

2. Simply observe what is there without interfering. You may find that the perception of mental objects, such as, thoughts, feelings, pictures from memories, etc., starts to become sharper with time.

Here is an example:

A memory may come up when you were in school, and you used to be terrified at the sight of a bully. You may get a series of pictures of the school and the person, who bullied you. You may become aware of several incidents of being bullied, the time of the year when those incidents occurred, and a feeling of dread.

3. Look at these mental objects for what they are. Gradually you may become aware of the chattering, or “thinking,” going in the mind.

Continuing with the previous example, thoughts may arise, such as, how the fear of the bully affected your school grades. This thought may remind you of people in the present time who act like that bully. You may also be reminded of fears that worry you in the present. The mind may then start computing how to avoid those people, and how to go about handling those fears. Computations like this may go on and on.

4. Look at this chattering or “thinking” for what it is. Do not participate in it, or interfere with it, in any way. This may be difficult at first, but continue looking without suppressing, resisting, or expecting anything.

5. Gradually, you may find that you can observe not only the various mental objects, but also the activity among them much more clearly.

6. This exercise is complete when you can distinctly recognize the mental objects and the activity taking place among them, without participating, or interfering, in any way.

Exercise 3

PURPOSE: To experience a feeling, emotion, or sensation thoroughly without avoiding, resisting, or suppressing it back.

1. Look at your old family album or old pictures that you may have kept. Alternatively, find something in your past that you have been avoiding to look at.

2. As some feeling, emotion or sensation arises, dive right into the very center of it and feel it thoroughly.

3. Stay with the feeling, emotion or sensation. Do not avoid, resist or suppress it back.

4. Let that feeling, emotion or sensation outpour and discharge as it may.

5. This exercise is complete when you can experience a feeling, emotion, or sensation thoroughly without avoiding, resisting, or suppressing it back.

You may now go back and practice looking per The Practice of Looking.

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Glossary

Physical Objects
The physical objects result from the assimilation of coming perceptual elements from the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

Mental Objects
The mental objects are memories, thoughts, and feelings triggered by incoming perceptual elements.

May 4, 2012 – 8:37 PM Categories: Self-Improvement | Post a comment