The First Noble Truth

Suffering
 Suffering
• Everything is suffering. Life itself is suffering. What we
got pain, distress, agony, lamentation, all are forms of
suffering.
• What we understand pleasure is also suffering
• Our very much existence is suffering.
• The reason not to realize suffering is the reason for
suffering too i.e. ignorance.
Suffering in textual references
• Please refer to Lalitavistara sixteenth chapter,
page-134

• Also Geshe Rabten deliberation of 1969 at

Dharamshala and now available in a book form
at the Tibet house at Lodi road, New Delhi-3. The
Graduated Path of Liberation, Page 1
Suffering, the first noble truth
• 1. Suffering caused by suffering སྡུག་བསྔལ་ཀྱི་སྡུག་བསྔལ། दुःखदुखता
• This type of suffering includes the pain, sadness and everyday
suffering recognized by all beings. Even the smallest insect can
recognize it. No creatures want this suffering. The reason why all
creatures are so busy and active is that they are trying to avoid this
type of suffering. Ants, for instance, are busy all day and night to avoid
suffering from hunger; countries fight each other for fear of suffering
from domination (even though this method creates more suffering).
Suffering
• 2. Suffering caused by change འགྱུར་བའི་སྡུག་བསྔལ། विपरिणाम दुःखता
• This type starts as happiness and then changes into suffering. Most
beings do not recognize this as suffering. Worldly happiness looks like
happiness, but in time it too changes into suffering. If we are hot and
immerse ourselves in cold water it is very pleasant to start with, but
after a while it becomes painfully cold. If we are cold and stay in the
sun to get warm we will, after some time, suffer from being burnt.
When friends meet after a long time they are delighted, but if they
then remain continually together they may quarrel and grow tired of
each other.
Suffering
• 3. All-embracing suffering caused by mental formation ཁྱབ་པའི་འདུ་བྱེད་
ཀྱི་བསྡུང་བསྔལ། संस्कार दुःखता।
• This type is even more difficult to recognize than the suffering caused by
change. It is the suffering inherent in samsara (the whole round of
existence) and the cause of the previous two kinds of suffering. It
covers, or embraces, all beings in samsara. As the earth is the
foundation of our life, so this type of suffering is the foundation of the
other two. If someone cuts us we automatically feel pain simply because
we have bodies; our very existence is the root cause of this suffering.
Lalita Vistara Page 134
• तत्र कतमद् दुःखं। जातिरपि दुःखं जरापि दुखं व्याधिरपि दुखं मरणम् अपि अप्रिय संयोगो ऽपि प्रिय
विप्रयोगोऽपि दुःखं। यद् अपि इच्छन् पर्येषमाणो न लभते तद अपि दुखं। संक्षेपात् प़ञ्च उपादान स्कन्धा दुखम।
इदं उच्यते दुखं।

There what is Suffering? Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is

suffering, contact with unpleasant is suffering, separation from pleasant
is suffering. When one wishes something and does not get, is also
suffering. In short, the five aggregates are suffering. This is called
suffering.
The Second Noble Truth; Cause of Suffering
• The Second Truth seeks to determine the cause of suffering. In
Buddhism, desire and ignorance lie at the root of suffering. By desire,
Buddhists refer to craving pleasure, material goods, and immortality, all
of which are wants that can never be satisfied. As a result, desiring
them can only bring suffering. Ignorance, in comparison, relates to not
seeing the world as it actually is. Without the capacity for mental
concentration and insight, Buddhism explains, one's mind is left
undeveloped, unable to grasp the true nature of things. Vices, such as
greed, envy, hatred and anger, derive from this ignorance. 
From the Text Lalitavistara
•तत्र कतमो दुःख समुदयः। या इयं तृष्णा पौनर्भवी नन्दी रागसहगता तत्र
तत्र अभिनन्दिनी अयम् उच्यते दुःख समुदयः।
•དེ་ལ་སྡུག་བསྔལ་ཀུན་འབྱུང་བ་གང་ཞི་ན། གང་འདི་ཡང་འབྱུང་བ་སྲིད་པ་དང་།
དགའ་བའི་འདོད་ཆགས་དང་ལྡན་པ་དང་། དེ་ད་དེར་མངོན་པར་དགའ་སྟེ། འདི་སྡུག་
བསྔལ་ཀུན་འབྱུང་བ་ཞེས་བྱའོ།
What it means?
• Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving [triṣṇā, "thirst"]
which leads to re-becoming, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there;
that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for becoming, craving for disbecoming.
• What gives the pleasure?
• It is our memory of previous sensations arisen due to the feeling.
• And why that feeling?
• That is because feelings are divided into three group and out of habit formation, we tend to give
rise to one of them.
• What are these three?
• Feeling of pleasure, feeling of pain and feeling of neither pleasure not pain.
• What are these chain reaction of feeling? Can we find the root cause?
• Yes, we can. These are twelve in number as told by the Buddha himself.
 द्वादश निदान
• Also known by the Theory of Dependent origination,
the Theory of causation, twelve link of internal
dependent origination, pratityasamutpada, also in
pali, paticcasamuppada, the Theory of Action and its
corresponding result
 Commencement of Vicious circle; First
Nidāna
Traditional Alternative Reconstructed
Nidana Explanation
interpretation interpretation] predecessor
SN12.2: "Not knowing
suffering, not knowing
the origination of
suffering, not knowing
the cessation of
suffering, not knowing
Avijjā अविज्जा, अविद्या Ignorance Ignorance [Ignorance]
the way of practice
leading to the cessation
of suffering: This is
called ignorance. It leads
to action, or
constructing activities."]
 Second Nidāna, Volition formations,
Sacrements
Nidana Traditional interpretation
Fabrications, constructing
Saṅkhāra, संखारा, संस्कार activities (any action of body,
speech or mind)
Alternative interpretation]
Volitional impulses
Reconstructed predecessor Explanation
SN 12.2: "These three are
fabrications: bodily
fabrications, verbal
fabrications, mental
fabrications. These are called
fabrications."[59]
Harvey: any action, whether
[Activities]
meritorious or harmful, and
whether of body, speech or
mind, creates karmic imprint
on a being.[61] This includes
will (cetana) and planning.[61]
 It leads to transmigratory
consciousness.
 Third Nidāna, Consciousness (to continue)
Nidana Traditional interpretation Alternative interpretation] Reconstructed predecessor Explanation

SN12.2: "These six are classes

of consciousness: eye-
consciousness, ear-
consciousness, nose-
consciousness, tongue-
consciousness, body-
consciousness, intellect-
consciousness. This is called
Viññāṇa विञ्ञाण, विज्ञान Rebirth consciousness Sensual consciousness Sensual consciousness consciousness.
Bucknell: In the Maha-nidana
Sutta, which contains ten
links, vijnana and nama-
rupa are described as
conditioning each other,
creating a loop which is
absent in the standard
version of twelve links.
 Fourth Nidāna, Name and Form Body and
Mind
Nidana Traditional interpretation Alternative interpretation] Reconstructed predecessor Explanation

SN12.2:
"Feeling, perception, intenti
on, contact, and
attention: This is called
name. The four great
elements, and the body
↑
dependent on the four great
Name-and-Form (mentality Name-and-Form (body and elements: This is called
Nāmarūpa नामरूप and corporeality) mind)
Sense objects
form.
Bucknell: originally, nama-
+
rupa referred to the six
classes of sense-objects,
which together with the six-
senses and the six sense-
consciousnesses
form phassa, "contact.
 Fifth Nidāna, Six Sense organs
Reconstructed
Nidana Traditional interpretation Alternative interpretation] Explanation
predecessor
Saḷāyatana, सळायतन Six-fold sense bases Six-fold sense bases Six-fold sense bases SN 12.2: "[T]he eye-
medium, the ear-
षडायतन medium, the nose-
medium, the tongue-
medium, the body-
medium, the intellect-
medium."
 Sixth Nidāna, Contact

Traditional Alternative Reconstructed

Nidana Explanation
interpretation interpretation] predecessor
Phassa, फस्स, स्पर्श Contact[63] Contact Contact The coming together of
the object, the sense
medium and the
consciousness of that
sense medium is called
contact.
 Feeling, Sensation

Feeling or sensations are of

six
forms: vision, hearing, olfac
tory sensation, gustatory se
nsation, tactile sensation,
and intellectual sensation
(thought). In general,
Vedanā, वेदना Feeling (sensation) Feeling (sensation) Feeling (sensation) vedanā refers to the
pleasant, unpleasant
and/or neutral sensations
that occur when our
internal sense organs come
into contact with external
sense objects and the
associated consciousness.
 Craving, Strong desire

SN 12.2: "These
six are classes of
craving: craving
for forms, craving
for sounds,
craving for smells,
Taṇhā, तण्हा, तृष्णा Craving ("thirst") Craving ("thirst") Craving ("thirst")
craving for tastes,
craving for tactile
sensations,
craving for ideas.
This is called
craving.”
 Clinging

SN 12.2: "These
four are
clingings: sensual
Clinging Clinging and Clinging
Upādāna clinging, view
(attachment) grasping (attachment)
clinging, practice
clinging and self
clinging."
 Existence, Becoming
SN 12.2: "These three are becoming: sensual
becoming,[note 19] form becoming, formless becoming.
* Thanissaro Bhikkhu :"Nowhere in the suttas does
he [the Buddha] define the term becoming, but a
survey of how he uses the term in different contexts
suggests that it means a sense of identity in a
particular world of experience: your sense of what
you are, focused on a particular desire, in your
Becoming (karmic force, personal sense of the world as related to that desire.
Bhava similar to volitional Becoming (behavior serving * A Glossary of Pali and Buddhist Terms: "Becoming.
Becoming
भव(kammabhava) formations), craving and clinging)[3] States of being that develop first in the mind and can
existence[note 18] then be experienced as internal worlds and/or as
worlds on an external level. * Bhikkhu Bodhi: "(i) the
active side of life that produces rebirth into a
particular mode of sentient existence, in other words
rebirth-producing kamma; and (ii) the mode of
sentient existence that results from such activity
* Payutto: "[T]he entire process of behavior
generated to serve craving and clinging
(kammabhava)
 Birth

SN 12.2: "Whatever birth, taking birth, descent,

coming-to-be, coming-forth, appearance of
aggregates, & acquisition of [sense] media of the
various beings in this or that group of beings, that is
called birth."
Analayo: "birth" may refer to (physical) birth; to
rebirth; and to the arising of mental phenomena. The 
Birth (similar to Birth (arising of Vibhanga, the second book of the Theravada 
Jāti,जाति rebirth feeling of distinct Birth Abbidhamma, treats both rebirth and the arising of
consciousness) self) mental phenomena. In the Suttantabhajaniya it is
described as rebirth, which is conditioned by
becoming (bhava), and gives rise to old age and death
(jarāmaraṇa) in a living being. In
the Abhidhammabhajaniya it is treated as the arising
of mental phenomena
Nanavira Thera: "...jati is 'birth' and not 'rebirth'.
'Rebirth' is punabbhava bhinibbatti'.
Old Age and Death

SN 12.2: "Whatever aging, decrepitude,

brokenness, graying, wrinkling, decline of
life-force, weakening of the faculties of
the various beings in this or that group of
beings, that is called aging. Whatever
Jarāmaraṇa Aging, death, Threats to the
deceasing, passing away, breaking up,
and this entire autonomy and Aging, death, etc.
जरामरण mass of dukkha position of self
disappearance, dying, death, completion
of time, break up of the aggregates,
casting off of the body, interruption in
the life faculty of the various beings in
this or that group of beings, that is called
death.
• Ignorance - An old blind person groping for his way with a cane
• Karmic formations - A potter shaping a vase on a wheel. The pots the
potter makes symbolise the actions of body, speech and mind with
which he moulds his karma in the wheel of life. Karmic imprints or
traces from actions in previous lives affect our present and future lives
in the form of certain propensities, just as the potter’s wheel keeps
turning after a single push.
• Consciousness - A monkey swinging from a tree. The monkey
represents our consciousness, the way we tend to spring from one
thought to another in an uncontrolled manner.
• Name and form - A person (or people) on a boat. The five skandhas
that make up our sense of ‘self’ need a physical body: form (the boat)
and a psyche: name (the mental skandhas: feeling, perception, mental
formations, consciousness).
• Six sense organs - A house with five windows and a door. This
symbolises the six senses by which the outer world is perceived. In
the wheel of life they are represented by an empty house because
this is a time when the organs of the embryo are developing but not
yet functioning.
• Contact - A couple embracing
• Sensation - A person with an arrow in their eye
• Craving - A woman offering a drink to a man
• Grasping - A man plucking fruit from a tree
• Becoming - A beautiful bride (sometimes depicted as a couple making
love or a pregnant woman)
• Birth - A woman giving birth
• Old age and death - Bearers with a corpse