An interrupter can suddenly change the course of one's life. This happened when prince Siddhartha stepped out of the protected palace environment and encountered the reality of old age, sickness and death. The 'interrupter event' triggered his long search for their source. Years of observation led to the discovery of the sole generator of human suffering , dukkha . Craving was the main culprit, fuelled by the interplay of the poisonous triad of ignorance-delusion, greed-attachment, aversion-hatred, which contribute to our misapprehension and cause disillusionment.
Siddhartha's search and rigorous discipline culminated in the transformation of the young prince to the Buddha, the awakened one, and beginning of Buddhism . Buddhism enumerates three types of suffering. The first set is suffering of suffering - dukkha-dukkha covering physical, emotional, pain of birth, ageing, sickness and death.
The second type is viparinama dukkha, constant change, linked to anitya, impermanence and transience; best explained by the wearing off of glitter of the new - things and relationships, a swing between attraction and repelling.
The third form sankhara dukkha - realisation of the all-pervasive sense of insecurity, and groundlessness of one's existence. This suffering is existential due to not accepting the illusory nature of existence, trapping one in samsara, leading to recurrence of cycle of rebirth, or 'wandering' and perpetuating the discontent of the unenlightened.
The Buddha offered a path that dispels the ignorance perpetuating dukkha. The odds could be overcome, neither by undue optimism or pessimism, nor by asceticism or indulgence, but by the dual virtues of sobriety and moderation. It requires faith and confidence to confront the most brutal facts of one's current reality and recognise the detractors in life's sensory festival.
Buddhism throws light on the consequences of unexamined lived existence. The invitation is to reimagine and rededicate ourselves to the deep understanding of the effects of suffering and unbinding our network of affinities, possessions and attachments, at the core of which lies avidya or ignorance. The saving knowledge, prajna, helps identify the operating dynamics called the Four Noble Truths, and the way out through The Eightfold Path - ethics, shila, of appropriate action, speech and livelihood. Next, dhyan, control of mental processes, proper effort, mindfulness and concentration. And finally, wisdom, prajna, development of insight into the nature of reality, including correct view and intention.
The impact of the second and third suffering types depends on our degree of denying, masking, mislabelling, or knowingly resisting the reality that is staring at us, throwing us into the alternating swing of ecstasies and agonies.
There is no life without pain, but lessening suffering is optional. Philosophers sought to reduce the effect of one aspect of dukkha-dukkha, the death dread, Patanjali's abhinivesha, by being constantly reminded of mortality in the phrase memento mori , or maranasati. Every jolt should be a wake-up call to the fact that we are guests and not permanent residents.
None of these imply staying in a permanent state of non-enjoyment of good things in life and circumstances. Sometimes, memento mori is followed by memento vivere remember the death but remember to live. Which gives us Horace's carpe diem, seize the day.
Authored by: Homayun Taba
Siddhartha's search and rigorous discipline culminated in the transformation of the young prince to the Buddha, the awakened one, and beginning of Buddhism . Buddhism enumerates three types of suffering. The first set is suffering of suffering - dukkha-dukkha covering physical, emotional, pain of birth, ageing, sickness and death.
The second type is viparinama dukkha, constant change, linked to anitya, impermanence and transience; best explained by the wearing off of glitter of the new - things and relationships, a swing between attraction and repelling.
The third form sankhara dukkha - realisation of the all-pervasive sense of insecurity, and groundlessness of one's existence. This suffering is existential due to not accepting the illusory nature of existence, trapping one in samsara, leading to recurrence of cycle of rebirth, or 'wandering' and perpetuating the discontent of the unenlightened.
The Buddha offered a path that dispels the ignorance perpetuating dukkha. The odds could be overcome, neither by undue optimism or pessimism, nor by asceticism or indulgence, but by the dual virtues of sobriety and moderation. It requires faith and confidence to confront the most brutal facts of one's current reality and recognise the detractors in life's sensory festival.
Buddhism throws light on the consequences of unexamined lived existence. The invitation is to reimagine and rededicate ourselves to the deep understanding of the effects of suffering and unbinding our network of affinities, possessions and attachments, at the core of which lies avidya or ignorance. The saving knowledge, prajna, helps identify the operating dynamics called the Four Noble Truths, and the way out through The Eightfold Path - ethics, shila, of appropriate action, speech and livelihood. Next, dhyan, control of mental processes, proper effort, mindfulness and concentration. And finally, wisdom, prajna, development of insight into the nature of reality, including correct view and intention.
The impact of the second and third suffering types depends on our degree of denying, masking, mislabelling, or knowingly resisting the reality that is staring at us, throwing us into the alternating swing of ecstasies and agonies.
There is no life without pain, but lessening suffering is optional. Philosophers sought to reduce the effect of one aspect of dukkha-dukkha, the death dread, Patanjali's abhinivesha, by being constantly reminded of mortality in the phrase memento mori , or maranasati. Every jolt should be a wake-up call to the fact that we are guests and not permanent residents.
None of these imply staying in a permanent state of non-enjoyment of good things in life and circumstances. Sometimes, memento mori is followed by memento vivere remember the death but remember to live. Which gives us Horace's carpe diem, seize the day.
Authored by: Homayun Taba
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