The Second Noble Truth is
that of the arising or origin of dukkha (Dukkhasamudaya-ariyasacca).
The most popular and well-known definition of the Second
Truth as found in innumerable places in the original texts
runs as follows:
‘It is this
“thirst” (craving, tanhā) which produces re-existence
and re-becoming (ponobhavikā), and which is bound up
with passionate greed (nandirāgasahagatā), and which
finds fresh delight now here and now there (tatratatrābhinandini),
namely, (1) thirst for sense- pleasures (kāma-tanhā), (2) thirst for existence and becoming (bhava-tanhā) and (3) thirst for non-existence (self-annihilation, vibhava-tanhā).
In this
‘thirst’, desire, greed, craving, manifesting itself in
various ways, that gives rise to all forms of suffering and
the continuity of beings. But it should not be taken as the
first cause, for there is no first cause possible as,
according to Buddhism, everything is relative and
inter-dependent. Even this ‘thirst’, tanhā, which is
considered as the cause or origin of dukkha, depends
for its arising (samudaya) on something else, which
is sensation (vedanā),
and sensation arises depending on contact (phassa),
and so on and so forth on the circle which is known as
Conditioned Genesis (Paticca-samuppāda), which we
will discuss later.
So tanhā,
‘thirst’, is not the first or the only cause of the arising
of dukkha. But it is the most palpable and the
‘all-pervading thing’.
Hence in certain places of the original Pali texts
themselves the definition of samudaya or the origin
of dukkha includes other defilements and impurities (kilesā,
sāsavā dhammā), in addition to tanhā ‘thirst’
which is always given the first place.
Within the necessarily limited space of our discussion, it
will be sufficient if we remember that this ‘thirst’ has as
its centre the false idea of self arising out of ignorance.
Here the term
‘thirst’ includes not only desire for, and attachment to,
sense-pleasures, wealth and power, but also desire for, and
attachment to, idea and ideals, views, opinions, theories,
conceptions and beliefs (dhamma-tanhā).
According to the Buddha’s analysis, all the troubles and
strife in the world, from little personal quarrels in
families to great wars between nations and countries, arise
out of this selfish ‘thirst’. From this point of view, all
economic, political and social problems are rooted in this
selfish ‘thirst’.
Great statesmen who try to settle international disputes and
talk of war and peace only in economic and political terms
touch the superficialities, and never go deep into the real
root of the problem. As the Buddha told Rattpāla: ‘The world
lacks and hankers, and is enslaved to “thirst” (tanhādāso).’
Every one
will admit that all the evils in the world are produced by
selfish desire. This is not difficult to understand. But now
this desire, ‘thirst’, can produce re-existence and
re-becoming (ponobhavikā) is a problem not so easy to
grasp. It is here that we have to discuss the deeper
philosophical side of the Second Noble Truth corresponding
to the philosophical side of the First Noble Truth. Here we
must have some idea about the theory of karma and
rebirth.
There are
four Nutriments (āhāra) in the sense of ‘cause’ or
‘condition’ necessary for the existence and continuity of
beings” (1)
ordinary material food (kabalinkārāhāra), (2)
contact of our sense-organs (including mind) with the
external world (phassāhāra), (3)
consciousness (viňňānāhara) and (4) mental
volition or will (manosaňcetanāhāra).
One these
four, the last mentioned ‘mental volition’ is the will to
live, to re-exist, to continue, to become more and more.
It creates the root of existence and continuity, striving
forward by the way of good and bad actions (kusalākusalakamma).
It is the same as ‘Volition’ (cetanā).
We have seen earlier
that volition is karma, as the Buddha himself has defined
it. Referring to ‘Mental volition’ just mentioned above the
Buddha says: ‘When one understands the nutriment of mental
volition one understands the three forms of ‘thirst’ (tamhā).’
Thus the terms ‘thirst’, ‘volition’, ‘mental volition’ and
‘karma’ all denote the same thing: they denote the desire,
the will to be, to exist, to re-exist, to become more and
more, to grow more and more, to accumulate more and more.
This is the cause of the arising of dukkha, and this
is found within the Aggregate of Mental Formations, one of
the Five Aggregates which constitute a being.
Here is one
of the most important and essential points in the Buddha’s
teaching. We must therefore clearly and carefully mark and
remember that the cause, the germ, of the arising of
dukkha itself, and not outside; and we must equally well
remember that the cause, the germ, of the cessation of
dukkha, of the destruction of dukkha, is also
within dukkha itself, and not outside. This is what
is meant by the well-known formula often found in original
Pali texts: Yam kiňci samudayadhammam sabbam tam
nirodhadhammam ‘Whatever is of the nature of arising,
all that is of the nature of cessation.’
A being, a thing, or a system, if it has within itself the
nature of arising, the nature of coming into being, has also
within itself the nature, the germ, of its own cessation and
destruction. Thus dukkha (Five Aggregates) has within
itself the nature of its own arising, and has also within
itself the nature of its own cessation. This point will be
taken up again in the discussion of the Third Noble Truth,
Nirodha.
Now, the Pali
word kamma or the Sankrit word karma (from the
root kr to do) literally means ‘action’, ‘doing’. But
in the Buddhist theory of karma it has a specific meaning:
it means only ‘volitional action’, not all action. Nor does
it mean the result of karma as many people wrongly and
loosely use it. In Buddhist terminology karma never means
its effect; its effect is known as the ‘fruit’ or the
‘result’ or karma (kamma-phala or kamma-vipāka).
Volition may
relatively be good or bad, just as a desire may relatively
be good or bad. So karma may be good or bad relatively. Good
karma (kusala) produces good effects, and bad karma (akusala)
produces bad effects. ‘Thirst’, volition, karma, whether
good or bad, has one force as its effect: force to
continue-to continue in a good or bad direction. Whether
good or bad it is relative, and is within the cycle of
continuity (samsāra). An Arahant, though he acts,
does not accumulate karma, because he is free from the false
idea of self, free from the ‘thirst’ for continuity and
becoming, free from all other defilements and impurities (kilesā,
sāsavā dhammā). For him there is no rebirth.
The theory of
karma should not be confused with so-called ‘moral justice’
or ‘reward and punishment’. The idea of moral justice, or
reward and punishment, arises out of the conception of a
supreme being, a God, who sits in judgment, who is a
law-giver and who decides what is right and wrong. The term
‘justice’ is ambiguous and dangerous, and in its name more
harm than good is done to humanity. The theory of karma is
the theory of cause and effect, of action and reaction; it
is a natural law, which has nothing to do with the idea of
justice or reward and punishment. Every volitional action
produces its effects or results. If a good action produces
good effects and a bad action bad effects, it is not
justice, or reward, or punishment meted out by anybody or
any power sitting in judgment on your action, but this is in
virtue of its own nature, its own law. This is not difficult
to understand. But what is difficult is that, according to
the karma theory, the effects of a volitional action may
continue to manifest themselves even in a life after death.
Here we have to explain what death is according to Buddhism.
We have seen
earlier that a being is nothing but a combination physical
and mental forces or energies. What we call death is the
total non-functioning of the physical body. Do all these
forces and energies stop altogether with the non-functioning
of the body? Buddhism says ‘No’. Will, volition, desire,
thirst to exist, to continue, to become more and more, is a
tremendous force that moves whole lives, whole existences,
that even moves the whole world. This is the greatest force,
the greatest energy in the world. According to Buddhism,
this force does not stop with the non-functioning of the
body, which is death; but it continues manifesting itself in
another form, producing re-existence which is called
rebirth.
Now, another
question arises: If there is no permanent, unchanging entity
or substance like Self or Soul (ātman), what is it
that can re-exist or be reborn after death? Before we can go
on to life after death, let us consider what this life is,
and how it continues now. What we call life, as we have so
often repeated, is the combination of the Five Aggregates, a
combination of physical and mental energies. These are
constantly changing: they do not remain the same for two
consecutive moments. Every moment they are born and they
die. ‘When the Aggregates arise, decay and die, O bhikkhu,
every moment you are born, decay and die.’
Thus, even now during this life time, every moment we are
born and die, but we continue. If we can understand that in
this life we can continue without a permanent, unchanging
substance like Self or Soul, why can’t we understand that
those forces themselves can continue without a Self or a
Soul behind them after then non-functioning of the body?
When this
physical body is no more capable of functioning, energies do
not die with it, but continue to take some other shape or
form, which we call another life. In a child all the
physical, mental and intellectual faculties are tender and
weak, but they have within them the potentiality of
producing a full grown man. Physical and mental energies
which constitute the so-called being have within themselves
the power to take a new form, and grow gradually and gather
force to the full.
As there is
no permanent, unchanging substance, nothing passes from one
moment to the next. So quite obviously, nothing permanent or
unchanging can pass or transmigrate from one life to the
next. It is a series that continues unbroken, but changes
every moment. The series is, really speaking, nothing but
movement. It is like a flame that burns through the night:
it is not the same flame nor it is another. A child grows up
to be a man of sixty. Certainly the man of sixty is not the
same as the child of sixty years ago, nor is he another
person. Similarly, a person who dies here and is reborn
elsewhere is nether the same person, nor another (na ca
so na ca aňňo). It is the continuity of the same series.
The difference between death and birth is only a
thought-moment: the last thought-moment in this life
conditions the first thought-moment in the so-called next
life, which, in fact, is the continuity of the same series.
During this life itself, too, one thought-moment conditions
the next thought-moment. So from the Buddhist point of view,
the question of life after death is not a great mystery, and
a Buddhist is never worried about this problem.
As long as
there is this ‘thirst’ to be and to become, the cycle of
continuity (samsāra) goes on. It can stop only when
its driving force, this ‘thirst’, is cut off through wisdom
which sees Reality, Truth, Nirvāna.
