Hari
OM
Story-day is for cultural exploration, puraanas and
parables and finding out about leading lights in spiritual philosophy.
We
are following the text "Beyond Sorrow" in which we
explore the nature of suffering and how to manage and move through
difficulties.
The
first essay in this publication is a lengthy one, therefore only an excerpt is
going to be placed here, and you are encouraged to obtain the book itself from
the link above in order to obtain the full context and depth of meaning
intended by the authors.
THE
ETERNAL MORAL ORDER AND BUDDHISM
Drs.
S. Chatterjee and D.M. Datta
The
authors first discuss the basis of philosophy from the Indian perspective then
give a section on Belief in Moral Order followed by one on Rising Above Karma.
The remaining sections will be presented in redacted form now;
Buddha on Suffering
Buddha
always tried to enlighten persons on the most important questions of sorrow;
its origins, its cessation and the path leading to that cessation. The essence
of Buddha's enlightenment, which he is eager should be shared with all, are
what have become known as the Four Noble Truths. They are;
- Life in the world is full of suffering
- There is a cause of this suffereing
- It is possible to stop suffering
- There is apth which leads to the cessation of suffering.
All
teachings of Gautama Buddha centre around these Four Noble Truths.
The
sights of suffering that upset the mind of young Siddhartha were of disease,
old age and death. His enlightened mind, as Buddha, however realised that more than
these, the very essential conditions of life appeared without exception be
fraught with misery. All that is born of attachment is misery. In the first
section [of this essay], it was mentioned that Indian philosophy tended to the
pessimistic and this we find that the First Noble Truth is supported by all
Indian thinkers. The Charvakas ('eat, drink, be merry' materialists) would
decry this view, telling of all the pleasures and pains to be enjoyed on earth.
However, the Buddha (and other Indian philosophers) tell that the transitory
pleasures and the pains felt at their loss are the very things which set up
uncertainty in life; for it is the fear of the loss of pleasure which builds
fear and anxiety.
Thus
we enter the fourth section, Cause of Suffering
The
origin of life's evil is explained by Buddha in the light of his idea of
'natural causation'. According to this, nothing is unconditional; the existence
of everything depends on some conditions; in turn, there must be something
because of which our misery comes into existence. Buddha says it is because
there is a birth. If a man were not
born, he would not have been subject to misery.
Birth
is the will to become, a predisposition to be born. How does the tendency come
about? From the desire to grasp the objects of the world; we crave to enjoy
those objects, sights, sounds and so on.
From
where does this desire originate? We would not have any desire for objects had
we not tasted or experienced them before. The very senses through which we
experience are the urge which remain with us and build the tendency to be born.
These do not develop in the mother's womb, but can only come into existence
with the descending of consciousness into the embryo. The bringing in of
impressions (samskaaras) from past existence. The impressions that cause
rebirth of the individualised consciousness are due to ignorance about
Truth...if the transitory nature of the world were properly realised, there
would not be any karma left to result in birth.
In
the fifth section of this essay the Cessation of Suffering is discussed in
terms of removing the 'condition' of ignorance. This is fulfilled through the
perfect control of passions and with constant contemplation of Truth;
practicing these leads the person through the four stages of concentration to
perfect wisdom, wherein there is no more worldly attachment.
The
Forth Noble Truth tells of the path, which Buddha followed and is therefore
available for others to follow also. Clues regarding this path are derived from
the knowledge of the chief conditions of the cause of misery. Buddha
recommended the eightfold path, which is open to all, monks as well as laymen.
It consists in the acquisition of the following qualities; right views, right
resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right
mindfulness and right concentration. On deeper inspection these can be found to
fall into three wider things; conduct, focus and knowledge. In Indian
philosophy, knowledge and morality are considered inseparable, not only because
the doing of good depends on the knowledge of what is good, but also because
perfection of knowledge is regarded as impossible without morality and perfect
control of passions and prejudices. Following the eightfold path brings one up
to the level of full concentration on Truth, wherein it is found that ignorance
and desire are cut at their roots and thus the source of misery and suffering
vanishes.
[AV-Blog addendum; yes, these are going to be serious
forays into philosophy of suffering! True, the idea of reaching to moksha or
nirvana may seem far too impractical for daily living - but in truth, it is when
we have a structure, such as the eightfold path spoken of here, that we can
build a more hopeful outlook and have an anchor to tide us over the rough seas
of life…]
