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.
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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.
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