SŪKKHIST BUDDHISM

under revision August 2024 Note: I'm developing these ideas now. So this means it's a bit rough in some places, but it's new. The ideas are new, so they're worth reading and then writing back to me about.

But, the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutra's Third Truth: The Cessation of Dukkha; tells us that Dukkha will cease when craving ceases, and craving may be eradicated wherever in the world there is delight and pleasure. It doesn't specify how we should eradicate delight and pleasure, it just says it may be done there.

It doesn't say anything about renunciation.

To eradicate, correct, accomodate, or reverse the process of wanting or craving, worldly delight and pleasure, we could use most forms of renunciation, letting go, devotion, or worship; meditation, prayer, selflessness, or love.

It would be wise to use all available means to overcome dukkha and create sukkha.

The Process
The Second Truth showed us the process which binds us to karma and then dukkha.

Pleasure and delight cause attraction. When attraction repeats, then it can lead to craving.

Repetitions always repeat, that is their nature. The repetitions are the karmic wheels which once set turning continue to turn by themselves. Repetitive attraction causes attachment, repetition is the nature of attachment.

A fundamental principle of nature is being described. A principle energy of the wheel, is under the condition of attraction, acceleration is inevitable. This principle underlies many aspects of learnt behaviour.

Ultimately the wheels turn automatically, without sense or awareness, even without purpose or want. Ultimately we're left wanting the self preserving feeling of the wheels turning, more than anything we were originally needing. This is karma.

Freedom from karma, freedom from the repetitious turning of the wheels, is the goal of Buddhism.

The Good Wheelwright
A good wheelwright would not only cure Dūkkha, he would make a wheel Sūkkha.

The Middle Way, and The Third and Fourth Truths, show ways to get the wheel running Sūkkha.

The Idea that the Third Truth is "The Cessation of Dūkkha" is an impractical view point. It would be better to consider The Third Truth as "The Origination of Sūkkha".

THE ORIGINATION OF SUKKHA

Panoramic sensing is a way of relating to the world directly without wanting anything from it. It more than fulfils the Third Truth.

Sukkhist Buddhism
The First Truth is that our sensory apparatus is Dukkha. The Aggregates are not functioning smoothly.
The Second Truth is that objects and events which cause pleasure lead to wanting – wanting means: wanting to repeat that pleasure. After a series of repetitions, this can develop into desire, attachment, clinging, or craving.

The Third Truth is the release from Dukkha, the development of Sukkha, freedom from Karma.

It's karma, the repetitions, which are the problem, they're not running smoothly.

And we don't want to wait till it's out of control, when the wheels are already racing downhill. It is not just craving we need to 'renounce'; it's the first repetition, it's the first little want, the first attraction, which we need to watch out for. Before the wheels even start turning.

So how do we stop all purposeful wanting, always thinking about what we want or don't want?

The simplest and most direct way to be, without any new desire repetition even starting, is with panoramic sensing.

With pure panoramic sensing as vulnerable animals use it, it is not possible to start thinking or wanting.

It is directly doing and being at the same time. It evolved in order to be ready and waiting, on the lookout, aware, alive, watchful. It is built for that purpose.

It belongs in the list – it deserves to be at the top of the list:

To eradicate, correct, accomodate, or reverse the process of wanting or craving, worldly delight and pleasure, sensing panoramically is the optimal method. It is also can be used together with, as a sort of enzyme, enzymatically, with most forms of renunciation, letting go, devotion, worship, or love; meditation, prayer, or selflessness.

With panoramic sensing, we can channel the first seed of attraction; and at least temporarily interrupt any once compulsive cravings.

Panoramic sensing is a general background necessity.

But everything we can use to help is good. Other animals on our planet survive successfully by combining and alternating panoramic sensing with focused action.

Meditation, renunciation, and other selfless, focused methods are often extreme, hour long, strenuous, self-sacrificial, devoted and dedicated – and they need to be this extreme in order to eliminate the extreme repetitions of compulsive craving.

Prayer and meditation involve very powerful focal points. Strong focal points need intense panoramic sessions to balance them.

There is a great difference involved in the normal practice of eradicating – craving, clinging and attachment – the extreme outcomes after a long series of repetitions; and doing this against a background panoramic awareness, capable of (temporarily at least), overcoming the first sign of a repetition, as practiced in Sukkha.

 

Right Effort
Once we realise that pleasure and wanting lead to repetition (karma), we will discover we want to practice getting the repetitions of the mind running smoothly and generating wholesome karma.

The direct and exclusive aims of renunciation, detachment, or non-attachment fail to use the energy of thinking and wanting which cause the karmic repetitions.

The energy of thinking and wanting are a vital part of life which can be used to generate wholesome karma. This is addressed in Right Effort, the sixth step of The Fourth Truth.

Please continue with The Fourth Truth
Or with Right Effort, the sixth step of The Fourth Truth

 

Impermanence and Change
The idea behind detachment and renunciation, is that due to impermanence and change, any hope of fulfilment or security through attachments is illusory. Desire leads to attachment. And therefore we must renounce, or become detached from, all desire and all attachments.

But with panoramic sensing, we witness impermanence and change as normal and there is fulfilment and security in just being open to sensing it.

Panoramic sensing evolved to recognise the changes, the insecure impermanences, it was built for that purpose. It was built to feel safe in those conditions, in exactly that environment.

Panoramic sensing involves non-attachment and letting go, but they're not the aim. The aim is watchfulness.

To sense panoramically you just have to do it, be watchful. And then, for maybe just a second to start with, we will be completely free of wanting and thinking.

With Sukkha Buddhism we overcome the first and last repetition.

Modern Western Buddhism
Modern Western Buddhism draws from a vast range of ancient Buddhist texts. One of these is the Pali Cannon.

The Pali Cannon contains the oldest texts, the first written. It is known as Old School Buddhism – narrow minded and pure. The Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna's Noble Truths are by far the most detailed version of the Four Truths in the Pali scriptures.

New schools evolved where Buddhism combined with Hindu, Tibetan, and among many other local folk beliefs, Chinese and Japanese (to give Zen).

I don't intend to analyse the differences throughout the entire Buddhist world. Most believe that desire, attachment, clinging, or craving are something to do with the problem – and that this leads to suffering. There are great variations in practice some are deeply philosophical, others are more devotional.

Modern Confusions
Suffering is caused by desire, so we think we must renounce desire. But desire is just a manifest part of the repetitions. Desire is only the focal point of our thoughts.

We think that desire, pleasure, and wanting, lead to attachment; and attachment is or causes karma (repetitions), so we practice detachment, non-attachment, or letting go to overcome this. Even letting-go of focusing is focusing. Trying to do anything by focusing automatically supports the focusing systems. Stop focusing. Go panoramic.

The primary problem is not even the repetitious mind wandering, here and there, reconstructing, memories and hopes, always thinking; and though it can often be very helpful, focused mindfulness in one-pointed concentration, is not the answer, it's just a very intense form ofl focusing.

The correctness of defining the primary problem, is only tested by finding the right answer. And the answer is you've just gotta go panoramic.

Suffering
Buddhists overlook the relevance and importance of Buddhism, to help understand and counteract our modern global chaos. Buddhists oftne practice detachment from worldly events.

And so are blind to actual dukkha these days. in the material civilised world, where the repetitions have taken on new dimensions e.g. inflation, pollution, and the individual development of self image, (see Chapter 3).

Sukkhism and The First Repetition
We don't want to wait till it's out of control, when the wheels are already racing downhill. It is not just craving we need to 'renounce'; it's the first repetition, it's the first little want, the first attraction, which we need to watch out for. Before the wheels even start turning.

The subject matter in the full text of the Third Truth (and the Second) of the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna, is incredibly long-winded. But, it is clearly and emphatically all about the senses and the sensory process. It draws a connection between the Five Aggregates (expanded to a list of Ten Aggregates), and each of the six senses; it lists sixty steps in the sensory process. It describes something which happens not only with the mind, but also with the eye, the ear, the nose, the mouth and the tactile sense.

We could remember that Buddha would have had to find words to describe some things which we take for granted today. We all know that there's an image which reflects on a retina and sends a signal to the brain. He had to describe it first, before he could explain how we could correct dukkha, and create sukkha in the system.

And in this context it is extremely doubtful that the words to distinguish between focused and panoramic perception were available in Buddha's time. In post-lierate times in Europe there was no name for "the peripheral vision" till the late 1800s.

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