Sessão nº21

"II. In the “Discourse on the Turning of the Wheel of Dharma” (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta), the traditional summary of the Buddha’s first sermon, the Buddha’s teaching is summarized in Four Noble Truths.

1. The Four Noble Truths are:
   1. The truth of suffering (dukkha).
   2. The truth of the arising of suffering.
   3. The truth of the cessation of suffering (also known as nirvana or
   nibbana).
   4. The truth of the path that leads to the cessation of suffering.
   
2. The terms dukkha and nibbana are cited in Pali, the language of the earliest Buddhist scriptures. Pali is best understood as a vernacular form of Sanskrit, the classical language of India.
   

III. Some say that all of the Noble Truths are contained by implication in the seemingly simple claim that “all is suffering.”

12

A.

B.

When people come to Buddhism for the first time, this statement often seems to be a barrier. It seems to mean that the Buddha (and, by implication, all Buddhists) was pessimistic. The first important intellectual challenge in the study of Buddhism is to understand how this simple statement about suffering leads not to pessimism but to a sense of liberation and peace.
Traditional sources say that “all is suffering” in one of three ways:

1. Dukkha-dukkha (suffering that is obviously suffering): Some
   things cause obvious physical or mental pain.
   
2. Viparinama-dukkha (suffering due to change): Even the most
   pleasurable things cause suffering when they pass away.
   
3. Samkhara-dukkha (suffering due to conditioned states):
   Pleasurable things can cause pain even in the midst of the pleasure, if the pleasure is based on an illusion about the nature of the object or about the nature of the self.
   

To make these abstractions more concrete, we can use the example of an automobile.
1. A car causes dukkha-dukkha if you drive it into the back of a bus. 2. A car causes viparinama-dukkha if you drive it through a New England winter and watch it disintegrate in the snow and salt. 3. A car causes samkhara-dukkha if you think there is something in your sense of self that will be enhanced by attachment to the car.
The significance of these three kinds of suffering can be explained further by relating them to the three “marks” of existence.

C.
D.

1. 2. 3.

Everything is suffering.
Everything is impermanent.
Nothing has any self, or “all is no self” (anatta).

IV. What do Buddhists mean when they say that there is “no self”?

1. In traditional Buddhism, “no self” means that there is no permanent
   identity to continue from one moment to the next.
   
2. If there is no permanent identity, what makes up the human personality?
   
   1. The answer to this question is: five “aggregates,” from material form (rupa) to consciousness (vinnana).
      
   2. These five aggregates are only momentary, but they group together to give the illusion of permanence, like the flow of a river or the flame of a candle.
      
3. If there is no self, what is reborn?
   
   1. The “stream” or “flame” of consciousness 
      
   2. Because of the causal continuity between moments in the flame, it
      is possible to say that I am the “same” person from one moment to
      the next.
      
   3. But when we look closely at the flame, we realize that it changes at
      every moment, and the idea that one moment is the same as another is nothing but an illusion.
      

V. Is the doctrine of suffering pessimistic?

1. The concept of no-self helps us understand why Buddhists do not consider the doctrine of suffering to be as negative as it seems.
   
   1. From a Buddhist point of view, it is simply realistic to accept that
      the human personality and all of reality are constantly changing.
      
   2. The cause of suffering is not the change itself, but the human
      desire to hold on to things and prevent them from changing.
      
2. When Buddhists look at the world through the lens of no-self, they do not approach it in a pessimistic way.
   
   1. They understand that if everything changes, it is possible for
      everything to become new.
      
   2. And if they accept the doctrine of suffering, it is possible to
      approach even the most difficult situations in life with a sense of lightness and freedom.
      
3. This doctrine also helps a person move forward on the path to nirvana.
   
   1. If a Buddhist realizes that there is no permanent self, there is no
      longer any reason to be attached to all the things that bring
      someone back in the cycle of death and rebirth.
      
   2. Just a hint of this realization is enough to start unraveling the chain
      of causes that bind people to samsara and get them moving toward nirvana. "
      Malcolm D. Eckel
      
      
      ©2003 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership