BUDDHISM, DUKKHA, and REPETITIONS

But for Buddha, this was not a question of the literal meaning of the word Dukkha. In those days, everyone knew what Dukkha meant.

Originally Dukkha described when a wheel was problematic or not running smoothly.

The ancient wooden spoked wheel was an excellent symbol for how life wobbles, and sometimes starts grinding, or gets twisted and blocked.

Sometimes there were extreme degrees of Dukkha, but mostly it was a monotonous squeaking, or rhythmic wobble. The hub of the ancient wheel needed constant maintenance in order to get it to run smoothly, to make it Sukkha.

Buddha's question was: what is the problem with life's wheel? Why is it not running smoothly? Why is it suffering?

In many texts, it is written that the Five Aggregates are Dukkha. The Aggregates, are five umbrella terms or components, which describe how we experience the world. They define the process: manifest form, sensation, perception, concepts and consciousness. The Aggregates apply to all of our senses. They describe the way we sense life.

The process: manifest form, sensation, perception, concepts and consciousness is Dukkha.

The First Truth tells us: Our sensory apparatus is problematic.

We would do well to realise that Buddha had to find words to describe some things which today we take for granted. It's common knowledge these days that an object's light waves enter the retina which sends a signal to the brain, (manifest form, sensation, perception, concepts and consciousness).

Buddha had to describe this process, before he could explain how to correct the dukkha, and create sukkha in the system.

The above introduction and summary is developed in depth in Buddha's First Noble Truth.
The Aggregates are further clarified in The Five Aggregates.
Dukkha In Depth develops all the background material.
The normal, accepted, traditional ideas on the First Noble Truth are discussed in Suffering: The Traditional First Noble Truth.

Craving, Clinging, and Attachment
The traditional view is that the sensory apparatus is influenced by craving: The origin of dukkha "is that Craving which gives rise to fresh rebirth" (Nyanoponika).

Craving is an extreme form of wanting. This limits the universal relevance of the Noble Truths. In addition, the texts almost always refer to the Five Aggregates as "the Five Aggregates of clinging". 'Clinging' is an extreme form of attachment.

Again, the extreme wording severely limits the interpretation of Buddhism and its universal potential.

The common present day view, is that pleasure and wanting lead to attachment. (And due to impermanence and change, any hope of fulfilment or security through attachments is illusory.)

The point is that the simple sense of: "that craving which gives rise to fresh rebirth" is: "that wanting which leads to fresh repetition".

Of special note is the modern translation in The Pali Tipitaka. "It is this craving that occurs again and again" – the Pali word for rebirth can obviously also be translated as "again and again".

Pleasure and wanting lead to repetition.

Attachment, then clinging, and craving, are the results of a long process, they are consequences of a sequence of repetitions. And they all started with one repetition.

Freedom from karma, i.e. freedom from habitual or pre-set repetitions, is the aim of Buddhism.

And Buddha's Second Truth addresses this: The Origin of Dukkha – the start, the first step (and all the other steps in the development) – is that pleasure and delight lead to attraction, then wanting, and then repetitions.

If something is pleasurable, we want to repeat it. When we want something, the idea repeats in our memories. Even the smallest pleasure we have, will lead to some form of repetition of the idea, and often an actual repetition.

A fundamental principle of nature is being described. A principle energy of the wheel is that under the condition of attraction, acceleration is inevitable.

It may well be that extreme forms of wanting like craving, lead to extreme forms of repetition like rebirth; but it is obvious that even the smallest want we have, will lead to some form of repetition, either mental or actual – and this is the prime, basic and universal truth.

The origin of Dukkha is that pleasure and wanting, lead to repetitions.

Repetitions involve us in a timeline. And, once the repetitions start, once the wheels start turning; then they turn with their own karmic momentum.

The First and Second Truth speak of the origin of Dukkha.

The Third and Fourth Truth, and also The Middle Way, show the way to the elimination of Dukkha. The origin of Sukkha.

Please continue with The Middle Way

SECTION FOR SCHOLARS

The texts – which were subject to multiple translations and written more than 400 years after Buddha spoke – have lost their universal application. Buddhists who wish to question this in depth, are invited to read Dukkha in Detail.

References from English Translations
(See Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Translations for links.)

Nyanaponika Thera, "The Heart of Buddhist Meditation" (page 142) Rider & Co. London (1962).
It is that craving which gives rise to fresh rebirth, and, bound up with pleasure and lust, finds ever fresh delight, now here, now there to wit. the Sensual Craving, the Craving for (Eternal) Existence and the Craving for Non-Existence.

Pali Tipitaka
Exposition of the Truth of the Arising of Suffering
"And what, monks, is the Noble Truth of the Arising of Suffering?
It is this craving that occurs again and again and is bound up with pleasure and lust and finds delight now here, now there. That is, the craving for sensual pleasures, the craving for repeated rebirth and the craving for annihilation."

Thanissaro bhikkhu
The craving that makes for further becoming — accompanied by passion & delight, relishing now here & now there — i.e., craving for sensuality, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming.

Burma Piṭaka Association
The origin of dukkha is the Craving which gives rise to fresh rebirth, and, accompanied by pleasure and passion, finds great delight in this or that existence, namely, Craving for pleasures of the senses,[99] Craving for better existence, and Craving for non-existence.

[99] Kāma-taṇhā is hankering after and becoming attached to pleasures of the senses. Bhava- taṇhā is hankering after and becoming attached to continued existence, either the current sensual existence or a better and higher existence in the rūpa (fine material) or arūpa (non-material) brahmā realms, or becoming attached to the rūpa and arūpa jhānas. Vibhava- taṇhā is hankering after and becoming attached to the idea that there is no kamma for rebirth, and hence no future existence.

U Jotika & U Dhamminda
It is that craving which gives rise to fresh rebirth; and which together with delight and clinging, (accepts, enjoys, and) finds great delight in this or that (existence or sense pleasure that happens to arise). Namely, craving for sense pleasures (kamatanha), craving for (better) existences (bhavatanha), and craving for non-existence (vibhavatanha). note97

note97. The craving for pleasurable sights, sounds, smells, tastes and tactile objects is kamatanha. The craving to be born in any sensual; rupa or arupa worlds, and the attachment to rupa or arupa jhanas, and the craving associated with the belief in an eternal and indestructible Self or Soul are all included in the term bhavatanha. The craving that associated with the wrong view that at death one is annihilated and hence that there is no rebirth or results of good or bad actions is vibhavatanha.

Please continue with The Middle Way

Back to Chapter Four : Buddhism and Wheels
Back to THE PANORAMA SENSES Priority Pages