Attachment is the root of all suffering. That is what Buddhists teach. By suffering, they do not mean the situation you are in, the pain you are in, or the challenge you face. They mean the resulting loss of peace and unhappiness that your situation, pain or challenge has brought you. Everyone, even Buddhists, have pain, difficulties, challenges in their lives. When they practice, “letting go of attachments” though, they do not experience suffering. They do not attach to the pain, the situation, the struggle or the challenge. They do not attach to their thoughts about those things either. They focus on the perfection of the Eightfold Path. I am not a Buddhist teacher, and I do not pretend to understand all of the Buddha’s teachings. I have a cursory understanding, an am working on my own perfection of the Eightfold Path.
My current study, and this post, is in the understanding of the 4 Noble Truths.
- The truth of suffering (Dukkha)
- The truth of the origin of suffering (Samudāya)
- The truth of the cessation of suffering (Nirodha)
- The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (Magga)
The truth of suffering is that we all experience certain physical things in our lives, like pain, discomfort, struggles, but mental suffering is something we create ourselves and is not necessary.
The origin of suffering is craving of things to be or become. A friend recently called it “grasping”. We are always grasping or craving things to be different from what they are. We have goals, ideas, wants, etc. to be richer, smarter, better in some way. The non-fulfillment of those cravings or graspings is what is actually causing the suffering. In fact it is the illusion of the non-fulfillment of those ideas that is actually causing the suffering. Byron Katie of “The Work”, calls it fighting reality. We are attached to wanting, and we are attached to thinking what we want is not what we have. We are always looking into the future or into the past and not right here, right now, and at what is beautiful in this one moment. That is the origin of suffering, not the actual pain, struggle or even discomfort. It is the attachment to the thoughts about it.
The cessation of suffering then, is to release the grasping and the thoughts. It does not mean to not have pain, challenges, or discomfort. It does not mean we do not have thoughts about our situation. It means, to not attach to those thoughts as being real. I can make my actual pain leave me, when I refuse to let is stop me, for example. As I focus on how much pain I am in, complain about how it is getting in my way, the more pain I feel I am in.
The path to the cessation of suffering is the 8fold path. See below.
- Right understanding:
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Right thought:
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Right speech:
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Right conduct:
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Right means of making a living:
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Right mental attitude or effort:
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Right mindfulness:
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Right concentration:
I am not a Buddhist, and I also believe in the 8fold path leading to the cessation of suffering and enlightenment. What I believe is that we have to find our own way to follow the path. What the “right” way is widely debated. All religions have a path, the “right” way to do things. This is the Buddhist’s path. I do not believe 100% in how every person interprets the 8fold path’s “rights”. I think it is up to us to figure out what it means to us.
The right understanding comes from the basic belief in the 4 Noble truths. We cannot follow a path to remove suffering unless we understand why it is there, and that we are able to do that.
Right thoughts are about what we do choose to believe in. In the Buddhist faith, that is Buddhism. In other religions it is their Dogma or Dharma. I am not a fan of there being one “right” thought. Many Buddhists also subscribe to this idea. Buddhism is one way to believe, and there are many others. When I personally think of “right” thought, I think of believing in something greater than ourselves and bigger than our small understanding of life and the universe. That the thoughts we have are just thoughts, and none of them are true. Not even the 8fold path is “true”. It is one truth that you may follow, and there are others that are also just as true. The Universal Universalist church also subscribes to this notion. All beliefs are valid, which means none of them are “truer” than the other. Each has a valid point of reference and can teach us what our “path” is supposed to be.
Right speech is a chakra thing for me. Speak your truth, whatever that is. If it harms another, that might be about them and how they think of what you say, or it may be about what you said. Either way, do not hide your truth from the world. If what you believe causes suffering for you or others, holding it in is no way to find a way to release that suffering. You will not get rid of it by hiding it. Speak it, and learn from it. Also, try not to hurt other people with your words on purpose. Try to do what is most beneficial for others. Since only they know what that is, do your best.
Right conduct is like speech. Don’t do things that hurt others on purpose. We all do things and other people are harmed in some way sometimes. Might be what we did or simply what they thought we did. Don’t do things that harm on purpose.
Right means of making a living. Match up your income with your values and purpose in life. If you do not know what that is, find out. And don’t take money for hurting others on purpose.
Right mental attitude or effort. Try. Don’t say you are going to try, actually try. Make an effort to work on yourself, your path and your purpose. Don’t just say you want to end your suffering, actually do something about it.
Right mindfulness, pay attention. Be aware of yourself and others. Meditation is a great way to do this. Learning to talk less and listen more. Listening beyond what people say to what they feel and who they are at their true nature. Being quiet and listening to your higher self. Stop thinking so much, and just be, and pay attention, don’t attach.
Right concentration is mostly about focus. If you are all over the place, that might make this whole thing hard. Finding your focus though, will come when you find your path and purpose. It is the last step for a reason. Once you find your purpose, focus on it, and it will guide your life well. You will not need to suffer as in your purpose you will have all that you need.
There is also a focus on the 10 perfections that will lead you on your way.
The 10 perfections are:
- Generosity
- Ethics
- Patience
- Effort/Perseverance
- Meditative concentration
- Wisdom
- Loving-kindness/Compassion
- Truthfulness
- Renunciation
- Equanimity
The first 7 are what one of my mantras is about. I have them tattooed on my left arm, or rather their Tibetan symbols for them. I had only thought there were the 7 of the mantra, and this resource had 10. I see no issue with the last three, but do not understand the last 2 yet. I will research what they are about. #4 is in my newer tattoo. Look at that post for more on that. I also think that I will end this post here. When I have done some more research on this list, I will come back with a new post.