The Analysis of Truth (sutra)

Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly translation (Sacca Vibhanga Sutta, MN 141)

The Buddha Greek influenced Gandhara style, Central Asia (Relational-Buddhism.com)

   

Why did Siddhartha set forth?

Friends, what is the noble truth of the path to the end of suffering? It is this Noble Eightfold Path (right- view, thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration).

Friends, what is right view? It is knowledge of disappointment (suffering)... of the arising of disappointment... of the extinction of disappointment... of the path leading to the extinction of disappointment. Friends, this is called right view.

Buddha Bodh Gaya, vimana above (WQ)

Friends, what is right thought (intention)? Thoughts of renunciation (letting go)... thoughts freed of malice... thoughts freed of cruelty. This is called right thought.

Friends, what is right speech? Abstaining from falsehood... slander... harsh talk... and idle chatter. This is called right speech.

Friends, what is right action? Abstaining from taking the lives of living beings, taking what is not given, taking sexual liberties (sexual misconduct). This is called right action.

(Johan Van Moorhem/flickr.com)

Friends, what is right livelihood? Here (within this Dharma and Discipline) a noble disciple giving up wrong livelihood [dealing in weapons, dealing in living beings (such as raising animals for slaughter, the slave trade, trafficking, prostitution), working in meat production or butchering, selling intoxicants and/or poisons like alcohol and drugs/harmful medicines] gets his/her living through right livelihood. This is called right livelihood.

Friends, what is right effort? 

Letting go! (newlotus.buddhistdoor.com)

1. Here, one produces a wish, strives, initiates effort, holds out mind, exerts for the nonarising of unwholesome and unskillful states of mind/heart [mental, verbal, or physical intentions/actions motivated by greed, hate/fear, or delusion] that have not yet arisen.
2. One produces a wish... exerts for the abandoning of unwholesome and unskillful states mind that have already arisen.
3. One produces a wish... exerts for the arising of wholesome and skillful states of mind not yet arisen.
4. One produces a wish... exerts for the continuation, for the stability, for the absence of confusion, for the increase, for the fullness, for the cultivation of the mind, for the fulfillment of skillful mental states that have already arisen.

This is called right effort.

Friends, what is right mindfulness? Here, friends, one lives seeing the body in the body, mindful, diligent, conscientious, disciplined in this world of covetousness and dejection; seeing the mind in the mind... in this world of covetousness and dejection. This is called right mindfulness.

Friends, what is right concentration?

Levels of jhana in samadhi

1. Here, friends, one -- quite secluded (withdrawn) from sense pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states of mind -- enters and abides in the first meditative absorption (jhana), which is accompanied by applied and sustained ATTENTION with rapture and happiness [joy and bliss] born of seclusion.
2. With the subsiding of applied and sustained attention, one enters and abides in the second meditative absorption, which has confidence and unification of mind transcending applied and sustained attention and filled with rapture and happiness born of concentration.
3. With the fading of rapture, one abides in equanimity, mindful and clearly comprehending, and one experiences in this body that happiness of which the noble ones say, "Happily lives one who has equanimity and mindfulness!" Thus one enters and abides in the third meditative absorption.
4. With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, one enters and abides in the fourth meditative absorption, which has neither-pain-nor-[gross]-pleasure but has instead purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. Friends, this is called right concentration.

This, O friends, is said to be the noble truth of the path leading to the end of all suffering.

Foundations of Buddhism: Four Noble Truths

Francis Story, Buddhist Publication Society (Wheel 34/35), What-Buddha-said.net

(WTPille/Flickr.com). There are these four ennobling truths: 1. the truth of suffering, 2. the truth of the CAUSE of suffering, 3. the truth of the CESSATION of suffering, 4. the truth of the WAY to the cessation of suffering.

By walking thou canst not the world’s end gain;
Nor, if ye win it not, be freed from pain.
But truly, he whose wisdom is profound,
Who rightly sees the world -- by him ’tis found.
He that has lived in holiness shall know
With mind serene the ending of life’s round,
Nor to this world nor other long to go.
(SN, 1.87, verse translation by author)

(Dnl75/Flickr.com)

The Four Noble Truths

Humankind, pondering and disputing, has been engaged for so long in trying to find an answer to the enigma of existence, and so many first-class minds have been devoted to the task, that had the problem been open to solution by the intellect alone we should certainly have been furnished with the definitive blueprint of our being, beyond all doubt or conjecture, many centuries ago.

From the time when prehistoric myth became merged into an attempt to give a rational account of the universe the questions, "What is life? How did it originate? Has it a purpose, and if so, what is it?" have haunted the imagination; yet still for most people they remain unanswered.

Reason has offered a wide range of ingenious possibilities from the speculations of the Eleatics down to the more sophisticated theories of the modern epiphenomenalists, but so far it has failed to provide any reasonable explanation that is not open to equally reasonable objections.

And whilst reason has failed, its alternative, supernatural revelation, has shown itself equally contradictory and inconclusive, and has suffered an even worse defeat. Its historical record has weighed heavily against it because of the disastrous influence it has often exerted in human affairs.



The private revelations of mystics, by their exclusively subjective nature, can never offer more than an insecure foothold for faith in those who have not directly shared them, and a doubtful faith is the father of fanaticism.

The record of man’s speculative thought down the centuries has come to resemble a maze of tracks in a boundless desert. The tracks can be identified by their characteristics; they are the tracks of religion, of philosophy, and obliterating many of these, the more recent tracks of science.

For the most part the tracks of religion go round in circles. Beginning as myth they continue as myth hardened into dogma, and so go over the same ground in endless repetition. Other tracks wander along aimlessly, drawn in this direction and that by new theories, new discoveries and new contacts, their path variable as the wind.

These are the tracks of philosophy, the imprints of man’s restless, inquiring mind -- a mind which, despite its courage and adventurousness, has only the old material to work over and so is reduced to combining ideas in endless permutations, seeking to reconcile the irreconcilable and always failing to reach an end.

Then, superimposed upon these there are the imprints of scientific thought, which has invaded philosophy to an ever-increasing extent, but which at the same time discourages any concern with ultimate issues, or with questions of value and purpose.

Time and again the older tracks of philosophy and religion are seen to have crossed one another, and where they met there are signs of a scuffle. Too often, there is blood on the sands of history.

So it has been ever since man emerged as an animal capable of abstract thinking. Now we have entered a phase in which supernaturalism has given way almost entirely to scientific knowledge, and the approach to the problem is somewhat different. Yet science has not brought us any nearer to the answers.

The tracks of thought still remain indecisive, their beginning a mystery, their end a mark of interrogation. Present day knowledge with its unprecedented accumulation of facts concerning the physical universe and the constitution of living organisms, has provided philosophers with a vast stock of new material to take into account, but so far the result has only been to give the mind more than it can handle.

Far from clarifying the general picture, the effect has been to overcrowd the canvas. To correlate the various specialized branches of knowledge is a stupendous task, and one that is further complicated by the areas of uncertainty in each of them.

The non-specialist is seldom in a position to be able to separate theory from established fact in the scientific disciplines, and this is particularly so in the case of those which relate to the life-processes, such as genetics and biochemistry, and are therefore the most relevant to the inquiry.

Besides this, the facts that science presents often seem to point to opposite conclusions. Despite the great advances that have been made in physics, technology is still working to a great extent with factors that are not completely understood... More

Happiness and the Four Noble Truths

Wisdom Quarterly (based on Access to Insight article)

Breaking Free
"Monastics, it is through not realizing, through not penetrating the Four Noble Truths that this long round of birth and death has been passed through and undergone by me as well as by you. What four?

1. noble truth of dukkha [unsatisfactoriness, woe, suffering]
2. noble truth of the origin of dukkha
3. noble truth of the cessation of dukkha
4. noble truth of the way to the cessation of dukkha.

"But, monastics, now that these four have been realized and penetrated, cut off is the craving for conditioned existence, destroyed is that which leads to renewed becoming, and there is no fresh becoming." — DN 16

What is "Dukkha"?
Duhkha (Sanskrit) [dus + kha, or from duhstha standing badly, unsteady, unhappy] Painful, difficult, out of kilter. As a noun it means pain, affliction, trouble. Dukkha (Pali): (1) painful bodily or psychological feeling. (2) suffering, ill, woe. As the first of the Four Noble Truths and the second of the Three Marks of Existence (ti-lakkhaṇa), the term is not limited to painful experience. It refers to the unsatisfactory nature and general insecurity of all conditioned existence. All phenomena are impermant, impersonal, and ultimately unsatisfactory. This also includes pleasurable experiences. The first noble truth does not deny the existence of pleasurable experience or happiness, as is sometimes wrongly assumed. This is illustrated by the following texts.*

• "The Nobility of the Truths" (Bhikkhu Bodhi)
• "The Four Noble Truths" (Study Guide)

The Elephant's Footprint
"Friends," announced Ven. Sariputra, "just as the footprints of all legged animals are encompassed by the footprint of the elephant, and the elephant's footprint is reckoned foremost among them in terms of size, in the same way, all skillful qualities are gathered under the Four Noble Truths. What four? Under the noble truth of dukkha, its origin, its cessation, and the noble truth of the path of practice leading to its cessation." — MN 28

What to do with each of the Four Noble Truths
When the Buddha spoke of reaching enlightenment he said, "Vision arose, insight arose, understanding arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose with regard to things never heard before:

• 'This is the noble truth of dukkha...'
• 'This noble truth of dukkha is to be comprehended...'
• 'This noble truth of dukkha has been comprehended...'

"Vision arose, insight arose, understanding arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose with regard to things never heard before:

• 'This is the truth of the origination of dukkha...'
• 'This noble truth of the origination of dukkha is to be abandoned...'
• 'This noble truth of the origination of dukkha has been abandoned.'

"Vision arose, insight arose, understanding arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose with regard to things never heard before:

• 'This is the truth of the cessation of dukkha...'
• 'This noble truth of the cessation of dukkha is to be directly experienced...'
• 'This noble truth of the cessation of dukkha has been directly experienced.'

"Vision arose, insight arose, understanding arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose with regard to things never heard before:

• 'This is the truth of the path leading to the cessation of dukkha...'
• 'This noble truth of the path leading to the cessation of dukkha is to be developed...'
• 'This noble truth of the path leading to the cessation of dukkha has been developed.'

"So long as this knowledge and vision — with its three rounds and twelve permutations concerning these Four Noble Truths (cattari ariya saccani) as they actually are — was not perfectly clear, I did not claim to have awakened to perfect enlightenment unexcelled in the universe with its deities (devas), detractors (maras, lit. "killers" or "demons"), and divinities (brahmas), with its recluses and brahmin priests, its royalty and many folk.

"But when this knowledge and vision — with its three rounds and 12 permutations concerning these Four Noble Truths as they actually are — was perfectly clear, then only did I claim to have directly awakened to perfect enlightenment unexcelled in the universe with its deities, detractors, and divinities, with its recluses and brahmin priests, its royalty and many folk.

"Knowledge and vision arose in the following way. 'Unprompted is my complete release. This is my last birth. There is now no further becoming.'" — SN 56.11

1. The First Noble Truth
2. The Second Noble Truth
3. The Third Noble Truth
4. The Fourth Noble Truth

*DUKKHA: "Seeking satisfaction in the world, monastics, I pursued my way. I found that satisfaction in the world. Insofar as satisfaction exists in the world, I have well perceived it by wisdom. Seeking for misery in the world, monastics, I pursued my way. That misery in the world I found. Insofar as misery exists in the world, I well perceived it by wisdom.

"Seeking for an escape from the world, monastics, I pursued my way. Such escape from the world I found. Insofar as an escape from the world exists, I well perceived it by wisdom" (A. 111, 101).

For "If there were no satisfaction to be found in the world, beings would not become attached to the world.... If there were no misery to be found in the world, beings would not become disenchanted with the world.... If there were no release from the world, beings could not escape from it" (A. 111, 102).

The Greatest Gift

A beautiful young bride expected a tremendous gift from her loving fiance. He had pledged his love and promised her the greatest gift that could be bestowed. She had been admiring a diamond ring, and she repeatedly hinted at exactly the one she wanted.

As her wedding day approached, she waited anxiously, hoping her husband loved her enough to get the right ring. Finally her fiance arrived with a gift in hand. He told her how much he loved her and how proud he was to be marrying such a wonderful person as he handed her a large and awkwardly wrapped gift.

It seemed too big to be a ring. She slowly pulled open the wrapping in search of a ring only to find a copy of the Dhammapada instead.

She looked old and ugly as she angrily raised her voice: "You say you love me and you give me a book?!"

"Look inside, look inside!" the man pleaded. But it was no use.

"You want me to read...you've got the wrong girl!" she screeched as she broke off the engagement, leaving him for good. Instead she ran off and married a man with whom she had little in common. He had the sense to buy her with a big, flashy ring.

As she grew older and everyday less attractive, after she had begun a family with her unkind and often stingy new husband, she wondered about her former fiance. She was curious if he had ever married, given how poorly he chose gifts. She decided to pay him a visit.

When she returned home, she was sad to find his half opened gift, the wrapping, and the remnants of her life. It was too difficult to call him. But she remembered him pleading to look inside. She pulled out the copy of the Dhammapada.

With tears, she opened the book and began to turn the pages. Her fiance had carefully highlighted a single verse.

"The gift of the Dharma excels all gifts; the taste of the Dharma excels all tastes; delight in the Dharma excels all delights; the eradication of craving overcomes all ills."

As she read those words, she noticed a receipt from the jeweller's to pick up her diamond ring when the engraving, "LOVE YOU," was completed.

Moral of the Story
How many times do we miss a blessing because it is not packaged as we expect? The moral is simple: Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you do not have. After all, what you now have was once among the things you hoped for. The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be worn for everyone to see. The greatest gift comes through understanding.

• Table of Contents
• Thomas Byrom translation (thebigview.com)

01. Choices - 02. Wakefulness - 03. Mind - 04. Flowers - 05. The Fool - 06. The Wise Person - 07. The Master - 08. The Thousands - 09. Mischief - 10. Violence - 11. Old Age - 12. Yourself - 13. The World - 14. The One who is Awake - 15. Joy - 16. Pleasure - 17. Anger - 18. Impurity - 19. The Just - 20. The Way - 21. Out of the Forest - 22. The Dark - 23. The Elephant - 24. Desire - 25. The Seeker - 26. The True Master

This Dhammapada palm leaf manuscript written in Sinhalese characters (first and last pages shown) is believed to be the oldest extant copy of the text. (Image courtesy of K. D. Paranavitana, Assistant Archivist, Department of National Archives, Sri Lanka).

Patience: Kshanti/Khanti

"Ksanti" (WQ Wikipedia edit)

There are Ten Perfections (dasa pāramī) in Buddhism. They are developed and consummated on the Path to enlightenment:

1. Generosity (dāna)
2. Virtue (sīla)
3. Renunciation (nekkhamma)
4. Wisdom (paññā)
5. Energy (viriya)
6. Patience (khanti)
7. Truthfulness (sacca)
8. Resolve (adhiṭṭhāna)
9. Friendliness (mettā)
10. Equanimity (upekkhā)

Some traditions speak of six or more perfections (pāramitā):

1. Generosity (dāna)
2. Virtue (sīla)
3. Forbearance (kṣānti)
4. Effort (vīriya)
5. Meditative-absorption (dhyāna)
6. Wisdom (prajñā)

To these an additional four are sometimes added:

7. Skillful means (upāya)
8. Determination (praṇidhāna)
9. Psychic power (bala)
10. Knowledge (jñāna)

Kṣhānti (Sanskrit) or khanti (Pali) is translated as patience, forbearance, and forgiveness. It is one of the practices (paramita) or developed character traits one attempts to cultivate and bring to perfection as a means of gaining full enlightenment and final liberation in both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism.

ENLIGHTENMENT

It is not necessary to actually bring them to full perfection to gain the full enlightenment and liberation of a disciple (a savaka-buddha). But they are needed to become an imperfect pacceka-buddha and absolutely necessary for becoming a perfectly-enlightened sammasam-buddha. (See discussion of the various forms of enlightenment at arahant).

Kshanti is the practice of exercising patience in the face of conduct or situations that might not necessarily deserve it — a conscious choice to give patience as if it is a gift. This, rather than being in a state of oppression in which one feels obligated to act in such a way, is said to be the "highest virtue."

Canonical sources
Examples in the Pali Canon identify using forbearance in response to others' anger, cuckolding, torture, and even fatal assaults.

Dhammapada ("Footprints of the Dharma")
Khanti is the first word of the "Patimokkha Exhortation Verse," which monastics utter before confessing their transgressions to one another to reform and behave more in accordance with the Vinaya in the future. It is also found in the Dhammapada, Verse 184:

Forbearance (patient endurance) is the highest virtue;
Nirvana is supreme say those Awakened;
One who harms others is no recluse!

Khantī paramaṃ tapo tītikkhā;
Nibbānaṃ paramaṃ, vadanti buddhā;
Na hi pabbajito parūpaghātī samaṇo hoti paraṃ viheṭhayanto.

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