4) APPENDIX - THE FIRST NOBLE TRUTH
Part Four - version 1.0 :
APPENDIX - THE FIRST NOBLE TRUTH
Buddhas
teaching was written about 400 years after he spoke, after 400 years
memorising and repetition. During his teaching buddha often repeated the
4 noble truths and there are many varying originals and translations.
In
his first teaching, the Sermon at Benares, he talked of the middle way
and the 4 noble truths, these two ideas were his most immediate concerns
as a teacher.
Buddha taught "the middle path, which keeps aloof
from both extremes", and then apparently continued with : "Now, this, O
bhikkhus, is the noble truth concerning suffering: Birth is suffering,
decay is suffering, disease is suffering, death is suffering. etc."
If
this is the middle way and we wish to keep aloof from both extremes ...
then why describe just one extreme? very simple thinking would suggest
looking at the other extreme : love is joy, health is joy, birth can
surely be joy, death can be peaceful, surely not purely and only
suffering.
But according to the text and present translations,
all these key experiences in life are judged in a very one sided way, as
suffering.
And apparently, he gave this very short description
of suffering to 5 ascetics who already had a deep understanding of the
Hindu teaching on desire illusion impermanence and the consequent
suffering.
In the Mahasatipatthhana in the first truth, buddha
apparently describes the suffering states in detail, allowing no
flexibility in the translation of dukkha :
"And what, monks is
lamentation? The crying and lamenting, the act of crying and lamenting,
and the state of crying and lamentation that arises because of this or
that loss (of relatives, or possessions) or this or that painful state
that one experiences - this monks, is called lamentation."
And
such dictionary defintions are given for old age, sorrow, lamentation,
physical pain, mental pain, anguish, having to associate with those one
dislikes, and being separated from those one loves or likes.
There
is also a form of mirror logic used in the summary where for "wishing
for what one cannot get is suffering" aparrently buddha used all the
previous suffering experiences as examples "Oh that we were not subject
to sorrow, lamentation, physical pain, mental pain and anguish! Oh that
sorrow, lamentation, physical pain, mental pain, and anguish would not
happen to us!"
In the previous Hindu thinking it was desire and
attatchment to the impermanent changing things of this world which leads
to suffering.
But this new central buddhist texts seems to
suggest everything is suffering, a preconditioned permanent state, and
an eternal truth! - do we truly think this was buddhas middle way? If he
was enlightened - then he surely had something new .. something which
wasnt already in the Hindu texts ... something which he had become
enlightened about ...
How different it would all be if the
translation was "the wheel of life is not running smoothly" and as
buddha appears to be saying in the 2nd and 3rd truth, that it is not
even the changing nature of the world - but our attitudes - how we
perceive understand and relate to life which is not running smoothly.
-------------------------------
I
accept the traditional view that buddha left home originally to find
the truth about suffering, but that is only a part of what he found :
the truth about the wheel of life.
I accept that Buddha
understood many things which i do not - but i also understand that this
first truth must be largely the work of a commentator.
If you are
a buddhist whichever branch - please let us think "having overcome
grief and covetousness" ... free of hoping that these are the buddhas
actual words .. free of years of tradition and honoured teachers.
These
texts are all we have of buddhas thinking ... but i believe to
unquestioningly maintain that these are the exact words of the buddha,
is simply causing suffering and much unecessary confusion in the world.
|