Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering (dukkha-samudaya ariya-sacca)
Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering (dukkha-samudaya ariya-sacca)
7. “What is the difference between tanha and lobha?” [Craving] [Greed] // [Pāli] [Desire] [Cause of Suffering]
18. “When meditating, I've begun to ask myself: 'What is the cause of suffering?' A couple of sense desires arise, namely, the lack of intimacy and lack of a healthy relationship with a partner. Do I need to let these (seemingly normal) desires go to get down the path?” [Cause of Suffering] [Relationships] [Sensual desire] [Eightfold Path]
4. “What does “the longing for the good is the cause of the trouble” mean?” [Ajahn Mun] [Craving] [Skillful qualities] [Right Effort] // [Eightfold Path] [Aggregates] [Liberation] [Self-identity view] [Virtue] [Relinquishment] [Jhāna] [Ignorance] [Cause of Suffering]
Story: Sixth Patriarch Sutra: "No mirror, no dust."
Recollection: Ajahn Chah taught you could grasp at either samut (the conventional) or vimut (the transcendant). [Ajahn Chah] [Conventions] [Unconditioned] [Clinging] [Discernment]
6. Comment: There can be this view that the enlightened mind doesn't have any thoughts or defilements. It's just perfectly clear and stable and there's nothing going on. [Liberation] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Unwholesome Roots] [Concentration]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: Clear and stable and nothing going on are two different things.
Follow-up: “Does the enlightened mind not have any unwholesome thoughts or does it just not pick up unwholesome thoughts?” [Unskillful qualities] [Proliferation] [Clinging] [Cause of Suffering]
Story: A palmist looks at Ajahn Chah's hands. [Ajahn Chah] [Aversion] [Personality]
4. “What is the distinction Chao Khun Upāli makes between lokuttara discernment and higher discernment?” [Chao Khun Upāli] [Discernment] [Impermanence] [Aggregates] [Suffering] [Cause of Suffering] // [Commentaries] [Ajahn Chah] [Study monks]
5. “What is the difference between abandoning craving and realizing the abandoning of craving?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Impermanence] [Aggregates] [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] // [Commentaries] [Doubt] [Relinquishment] [Concentration] [Gladdening the mind] [Desire] [Becoming] [Right View]
Sutta: SN 56.11 Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. [Four Noble Truths]
Sutta: MN 121 Cūḷa Suññata Sutta: The Shorter Discourse on Emptiness [Emptiness]
Quote: “The characteristic of cessation is not just ending something and annihilating [it], but it's being willing and able to stop. The nature of the mind is that it doesn't like to stop. And it's [through] that not stopping that we keep creating that sense of me.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Cessation] [Nature of mind] [Self-identity view]
1. “How do I use the teaching today about investigating the cause of suffering when working with betrayal? Been married to high school sweetheart for 40 years. Raised children together and best of friends. Lately he has gone off the deep end. Midlife crisis? - who knows, but he started drinking and acting out sexually. The feelings of shock, betrayal, hurt, anger and fear are beyond words. If new relationship I would leave, but he has been in my life since I was a child. Impossible to accept but hard to leave. How do I find the cause of suffering (noble truth) you spoke of today? And how to bring some equanimity and space around this?” [Cause of Suffering] [Family] [Intoxicants] [Sexual misconduct] [Aversion] [Equanimity]
17. “I've wondered for some time how to put together (a) birth, aging, death or dukkha and (b) the cause of dukkha as craving. Is it correct to say that the source of dukkha is in the mind (i.e., craving)? If so, what does it mean to say that birth, aging, and death—facts that we don't control and can't change—are dukkha? Thank you for your generosity and wisdom.” [Cause of Suffering] [Craving] [Noble Truth of Suffering]
3. “I've been confused between intention and desire. For me, desire arises from non-conceptual craving.” [Volition] [Craving] [Desire] [Language] // [Cause of Suffering] [Right Effort] [Happiness] [Kamma] [Pāli]
5. “Do we have any control over the arising of desire?” [Volition] [Desire] // [Cause of Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Four Noble Truths] [Cessation of Suffering] [Cessation] [Pāli]
14. “When negative feelings arise, whether they be fear, anxiety, loneliness, etc., how do we investigate them? Does breathing into these feelings and being fully present (without trying to push them away) help to become aware of the true cause of these feelings? Is the cause of these feelings always craving of some kind?” [Emotion] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Cause of Suffering] [Craving]
2. “To abandon the cause, does it mean in that moment or completely?” [Cause of Suffering]
1. Quote: “That person is making me suffer....If they would just smarten up and do what I like, then I would be happy. My life would be smooth and peaceful again, just like it always was before.” [Cause of Suffering] [Humor] [Politics and society]
Quote: “Don't believe your mind. It's a liar and a cheat.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Heart/mind] [False speech] [Delusion]
5. “I was reading the book Hooked about desire, consumerism, and society. The author writes about the desire to know things. How does the desire to know relate to practice?” [Desire] [Monastic life] // [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Bases of Success] [Sensual desire] [Craving]
Sutta: SN 51.15: The path has an end. [Great disciples]
4. “How can we skillfully take apart our preconceived notions and assumptions without undermining our ability to think?” [Delusion] [Knowledge and vision] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Cause of Suffering] [Proliferation]
2. “Can one bring up a theme to gain deeper understanding?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Recollection] // [Relinquishment] [Cause of Suffering] [Dependent origination] [Conditionality] [Not-self] [Long-term practice]
Quote: “Whatever is of the nature to arise is of the nature to cease.” — SN 56.11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta [Impermanence]