suffering is caused by ????

A forum for beginners and members of other Buddhist traditions to ask questions about Theravāda (The Way of the Elders). Responses require moderator approval before they are visible in order to double-check alignment to Theravāda orthodoxy.
User avatar
dylanj
Posts: 936
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2016 1:48 am
Location: San Francisco
Contact:

Re: suffering is caused by ????

Post by dylanj »

Now I wish to introduce to you something that calls for serious thinking. The Buddha in the Titthāyatana Sutta of the Tika Nipāta in the Anguttara Nikāya proclaims these words. “Katamaṁ ca bhikkhave dukkha samudayaṁ ariyasaccaṁ?” “Monks, what is the Noble Truth of the Arising of Suffering?” Do you think it’s craving? You are mistaken. The Buddha says it’s the Paṭicca Samuppāda consisting of twelve links. Avijjā paccayā saṅkhārā, saṅkhāra paccayā viññāṇaṁ , viññāṇa paccayā nāmarupaṁ etc. This is sure to pose a problem to many. Are the Buddha’s statements contradictory? In one place he says suffering is conditioned by craving. In another place it’s Paṭicca Samuppāda with its twelve links. How do we clarify this? Why didn’t the Buddha speak of craving in connection with suffering? It is simple logic that if there is a mother [simile used in suttas for craving], a father [simile used for ignorance] has to be present somewhere. You all know that. Similarly the father is revealed through the Paṭicca Samuppāda Dhamma.

...

In certain places where the Buddha talks of the Law of Dependent Arising the Noble Truth of the Arising of Suffering is directly identified as the Law of Dependent Arising. What we have been discussing is the background of craving. To put it in brief what Paṭicca Samuppāda depicts is nothing more than the background of craving which is ignorance. It changes into a vortex and conceals the inter-relationship from the worldlings. The worldlings always live imprisoned between two ends, two extremes, which create attachments, friction and illusion. The final result is suffering, or the weaving of the five aggregates of grasping. In the discourse on the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha specifically referred to craving as the Noble Truth of the Arising of Suffering. Even when talking of the cessation of suffering, he did not refer to ignorance. “Tassā yeva taṅhāya asesa virāga nirodho cāgo paṭi-nissaggo mutti anālayo” The total detachment and destruction of craving is called the cessation of suffering. At this point one may ask “Where is ignorance?” In the earlier mentioned Titthāyatana Sutta, the cessation of suffering is explained through the reverse order of the Paṭicca Samuppāda. “Avijjāyatveva asesa virāga norodhā saṁkhāranirodho.” With the cessation of ignorance each of the other links cease to be.
http://seeingthroughthenet.net/wp-conte ... ev_1.0.pdf
Chapter 17
Born, become, arisen – made, prepared, short-lived
Bonded by decay and death – a nest for sickness, perishable
Produced by seeking nutriment – not fit to take delight in


Departure from this is peaceful – beyond reasoning and enduring
Unborn, unarisen – free from sorrow and stain
Ceasing of all factors of suffering – stilling of all preparations is bliss
User avatar
dylanj
Posts: 936
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2016 1:48 am
Location: San Francisco
Contact:

Re: suffering is caused by ????

Post by dylanj »

“And what, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering? With ignorance as condition, preparations come to be; with preparations as condition, consciousness; with consciousness as condition, name-and-form; with name-and-form as condition, the six sense bases; with the six sense bases as condition, contact; with contact as condition, feeling; with feeling as condition, craving; with craving as condition, clinging; with clinging as condition, existence; with existence as condition, birth; with birth as condition, old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and anguish come to be. Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering. This is called the noble truth of the origin of suffering.
Titthāyatana Sutta AN 3.61
Born, become, arisen – made, prepared, short-lived
Bonded by decay and death – a nest for sickness, perishable
Produced by seeking nutriment – not fit to take delight in


Departure from this is peaceful – beyond reasoning and enduring
Unborn, unarisen – free from sorrow and stain
Ceasing of all factors of suffering – stilling of all preparations is bliss
magar
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2019 8:52 pm

Re: suffering is caused by ????

Post by magar »

Suffering is caused by ignorance -- by not understanding that the cause of suffering is craving. If there were no ignorance, there'd be no craving; in fact, such a person would be an Arahant.
Post Reply