What Did the Buddha Teach?
In his enlightenment, the Buddha learned great truths about the cause of suffering and the means for ending it. These truths constitute the core of the Dharma. We saw in Chapter 4 that in Hindu usage the Sanskrit word dharma has a wide range of meanings, including “law,” “duty,” and “righteousness.” In Buddhist contexts, Dharma generally refers to the teachings of the Buddha.
Interdependent Origination
We will begin our investigation of the Buddha’s teaching with the doctrine of interdependent origination, also known as dependent origination, because so much of the Dharma is based on it.
To most of us, the world seems to be a composite system consisting of different and separate things. The chair you are sitting in certainly appears to exist on its own, apart from all other things in the room. And it is likely that you see yourself as existing independently of everyone and everything around you.
Probing deeply into the nature of reality, the Buddha saw things very differently. He taught that reality is a complex of interrelated and interdependent phenomena in which nothing exists apart from anything else. Instead, all things depend on all other things for their coming- into-existence—that is, for their origination. Of course, everyone recognizes at some level that this is the case. Someone built your chair, for example, and your parents had something to do with you. But the Buddha’s teaching goes far beyond this in explaining that the coming-into- existence of every phenomenon depends on other phenomena which are themselves dependent upon still other phenomena, and so on. All things originate in a state of dependence on all other things.
Of course, things also remain in existence after their origination—or at least they seem to. How can this be explained? And what are things, really? Here, again, the Buddha taught that all things are interdependent—so much so, in fact, that they have no existence whatsoever in and of themselves.
Once again, take your chair as an example. Probing deeply, you will find that it consists of different elements: height, width, wood, legs, texture, firmness, color, and so on. But you will not find “chair.” Instead, your chair exists only as a complex of “not chair” elements, and only for as long as these constituent parts remain together. And so it is with all things. Each thing exists only as a collection of other elements, having no independent existence of its own.The Three Marks of Existence: Impermanence, Suffering, and No-Self
Building on his teaching about the interdependence of things, the Buddha taught that there are Three Marks of Existence: impermanence, suffering, and no-self.
Impermanence
The Buddha’s teaching about impermanence holds that all things are always changing. Nothing remains the same, even for a moment. All things are always in a state of becoming. For example, imagine a blade of grass. It may seem static even if we observe it for hours, but the truth is that it is growing and becoming a different blade of grass in every moment.
Suffering
The Buddha’s teaching about dukkha, or suffering, is central to the Dharma. He once said, “I have taught one thing and one thing only, suffering and the cessation of suffering.” The Buddha taught that suffering is caused by tanha, a Pali word most commonly translated as “desire” but also as “craving,” “clinging,” and “thirsting.” All work well in describing our wanting to hold on to things when, in fact, nothing can be held. Desire is rooted in ignorance of the true nature of things—and, in particular, ignorance of impermanence—and can take the form of an attachment to something we want in our lives or an aversion to something we don’t want. These three qualities of ignorance, attachment, and aversion are known as the Three Poisons. The suffering that arises from them can take innumerable forms. Wanting something you don’t have is suffering. Fearing that something you have might be lost is suffering.
Believing that you cannot be happy unless you have something is suffering. Being averse to something is suffering. Wanting things to stay the same is suffering. Wanting things to be different is suffering. Stress and worry are suffering. Envy and jealousy are suffering. Anger, hatred, grief, loneliness, and frustration are suffering. Finally, the unhealthy influences these mental phenomena have on the body bring suffering.No-self
The third of the Three Marks of Existence is the absence of any unchanging self or identity in things, including ourselves. This is the essence of the Buddha’s teaching about no-self (Sanskrit, anatman; Pali, anatta). As we saw in Chapter 4, Hinduism teaches that we have at the core of our being atman, an eternal self or soul. The Buddha rejected this idea. Of course, the doctrine of no-self does not state that you do not exist. Clearly, you do. But just as there is nothing we could call “chair” among the many qualities of the chair we described earlier, there is no unchanging “you” among the ever-changing qualities—body, mind, thought, movement, and many others—that constitute your existence. The Buddha taught that these qualities are rooted in the five skandhas (Sanskrit, “bundles”), transitory phenomena that give rise to our sense of self: material form, feelings, perceptions, mental constructions, and awareness. Because these are always in flux, we are as well. Each of us has an existence that is always changing in response to changes happening throughout the great web of interdependent and impermanent phenomena that make up reality.
It can be difficult to accept this idea. After all, we are attached to our individual identities and want to keep them for as long as we live—and, perhaps, even after we die. No-self might seem to imply a destruction or annihilation of something we like very much—ourselves. But this is not the case. Instead, the Buddha urged only that his followers recognize that what we call the self is not concrete, permanent, or independent of other things.
The great benefit he saw in this teaching is that it opens the way to living without the suffering that arises from a false notion of self and from clinging to things that cannot be held. The Buddha found the full realization of this ideal in his enlightenment and in the bliss of nirvana.Compare the Buddha’s teachings about the self or soul with the teachings of other religions.
The Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path
We saw earlier that the Buddha first taught the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path in his Sermon in the Deer Park. Now that we have investigated his teachings about the nature of reality, we are in a good position to understand these central features of the Dharma.
The First Noble Truth acknowledges that suffering is a part of human existence. The Second Noble Truth identifies desire as the cause of suffering. Of course, the Buddha did not teach that all forms of desire bring suffering. Our desire for such things as nourishment, employment, and a decent place to live is healthy and productive. But when we desire to grasp and hold on to things that cannot be held, our desire is unhealthy and will bring suffering. The good news is that there is a way to minimize, and even to end, desire and the suffering it causes. This is the message of the Third Noble Truth. The Fourth Noble Truth tells us that the solution to the problem of desire and suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path.
The Four Noble Truths
1. Suffering is inherent in life.
2. The cause of suffering is desire.
3. There is a way to put an end to desire and suffering.
4. The way is the Noble Eightfold Path.
Treading the Noble Eightfold Path, we follow in the footsteps of the Buddha in eradicating the Three Poisons of ignorance, attachment, and aversion, the root causes of suffering. Moving beyond ignorance to an understanding of the true nature of things—that they are impermanent and interdependent, with no thing having its own existence or identity—we no longer desire them, for we know they are not at all what we once imagined them to be. The suffering caused by attachment and aversion subsides and is replaced by equanimity, a peace of mind that is perfected in nirvana, as the Buddha discovered.
The eight aspects of the Noble Eightfold Path are sometimes divided into three divisions, each with its own goal. The first includes Right View and Right Intention. Here, the aim is to ensure that one understands and accepts the Buddha’s teachings about impermanence, suffering, and no-self and is committed to striving for goals consistent with them. The second division has the purpose of cultivating ethical conduct through Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood. The Buddha taught that unethical conduct is an obstacle to mental clarity. For this reason, destructive speech, immoral behavior, and making a living in a way that is harmful to oneself or others are to be avoided. The third division promotes concentration. Through Right Effort, one seeks to eliminate all qualities of the mind that give rise to unwholesome thought and action and to encourage those that produce more positive effects. Right Mindfulness is the observation of thoughts, feelings, and all other phenomena that occur in the body and mind. Finally, Right Concentration involves progress through four stages of concentration until one achieves a state of nonattachment and equanimity.
The Noble Eightfold Path
1. Right View: seeing things as they are, in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings.
2. Right Intention: making a commitment to tread the path to enlightenment in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings.
3. Right Speech: addressing others with kindness, while abstaining from lying, divisive or abusive speech, and idle chatter.
4. Right Action: abstaining from killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct.
5. Right Livelihood: making a living in a way that harms no one and benefits all.
6. Right Effort: striving to abandon all thought and action that is harmful to oneself or others and to cultivate virtues that benefit oneself and others.
7. Right Mindfulness: focused awareness of the body and mind and the phenomena arising within and affecting each.
8. Right Concentration: cultivating concentration that leads to equanimity beyond pleasure and pain.
Karma and Rebirth
In the West, karma (Sanskrit, “action”) is often understood as a force that shapes our lives in good and bad ways in accordance with the good and bad things we do. Although there is some truth in this, the Buddha’s teaching is not so simple. The Buddha taught that karma has as much to do with the intentions that precede our actions as with the consequences of our actions. For this reason, we can understand karma as “intentional action.” When our intentions arise from the Three Poisons of ignorance, attachment, and aversion—the primary causes of suffering—our lives are shaped in ways that make them more difficult. However, when our intentions are consistent with the ideals of wisdom, nonattachment, and nonaversion, out lives are shaped in ways that make them more pleasant and allow us to make progress to nirvana and an end to suffering.
According to the Buddha’s doctrine of no-self, our sense of self arises from the interrelationship of the five skandhas. Death brings a separation of the skandhas and an end to the sense of self. Nothing permanent or substantial remains. And yet there is a connection between one life and the next; there is a kind of rebirth. The Buddha’s teaching on this point is obscure and much debated. What is clear is that karma brings about the conditions for the coming-into-existence of a new set of skandhas. This, in turn, gives rise to another sense of self. Nothing concrete passes from one life to the next; there is only the karma associated with one life shaping the qualities of another. Buddhists have used a variety of analogies to illustrate this idea. According to one, rebirth resembles what happens when one candle is used to light another. A light appears where none had existed before, and yet nothing has passed over except the energy, which we might imagine as a kind of karmic energy, generated by the first candle.
Nirvana
The ultimate goal of Buddhist practice, nirvana is an “extinguishing” or “blowing out” of desire that leads to suffering and a liberation from rebirth in samsara. Because this is utterly unlike anything one might experience with ordinaiy awareness, no comparison is possible. For this reason, the Buddha said very little about nirvana.
VOICES:
An Interview with Katherine Sei
Katherine Sei is an American Buddhist who lives in California. She is a practitioner of Vajrayana Buddhism and has been a student of Lama Lodru Rinpoche for nearly three decades. She is the facilitator of a Buddhist study center in Sacramento.
As a Buddhist, what is the most important aspect of human existence? What should Buddhists do or focus on in life?
The most important aspect of human existence, to me, is that we have an opportunity to evolve as beings. This evolution encompasses uncovering our true nature. This true nature is comprised of a spontaneous, natural compassion and a clear wisdom as to “what is really going on here.” I’ve found through all the years of meditation that we all tend to really limit our minds, and the expression of our true wise and benevolent nature. As I uncover and begin to understand my mind’s true nature, and learn to let go of my limiting definitions of self, others, and events in my life, suffering diminishes. Life becomes more joyful, more peaceful, and I feel more interconnected with everyone. Life also becomes very, very interesting as I begin to become aware of all the interconnections of karmic causes and effects, and I can relax into the “play” of events.
Katherine Sei.
Does Buddhism give you a unique outlook on life? How so or why?
I’m not sure if Buddhism gives a unique outlook as much as a useful outlook on life in this culture. The teachings of Lord Buddha are not necessarily unique to Buddhism—I think many aspects of Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam provide a framework for becoming a more loving and wise person. What may be unique in terms of Buddha’s teachings is that one can examine one’s mind and one’s life through meditation practices. It’s more like a science than a religion, analogous to a physicist learning mathematics to explore the universe. I’ve found through meditation that life isn’t quite as rigid as we often make it out to be. Knowing that, one can learn to let go of many of the emotional habits and knee-jerk reactions. One can find many creative solutions to life’s problems, big and small, from “What is death?” or “What does it all mean?” to “How do I deal with my angry boss?” “How do I deal with the stress in my life?” and so on.
What single event in your life would you characterize as your most meaningful religious experience?
It’s hard to pick one single event in my life that I consider most meaningful. Three come to mind. First would be when I took refuge with Trungpa Rinpoche in the 1980s. At that time, I discovered that I could treat others and myself with more gentleness. The second event would be when I met Ven. Lama Lodru Rinpoche, my direct teacher for the past twenty-seven years. Lama Lodru has taught me the same meditation practices that Tibetan lamas go through in a formal three-year retreat, but spread out over fifteen years. In doing this, he demonstrated that anyone can learn to meditate and apply it in their day-to-day life. One doesn’t have to become a monk or nun to become liberated. The third event was having the nature of my mind pointed out by Mingyur Rinpoche. Mingyur Rinpoche is a Tibetan lama who had to overcome panic attacks when he was a teenager. He showed me how applicable Buddha’s teachings on meditation are to all aspects of life.
\our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind.
If a man speaks or acts with a pure mind, joy follows him as his own shadow.-