User:Taming the hedgehog

The Four Noble Truths of the Mahasatipatthana

1. Buddha started questioning because of old age, death and illness, but I believe his answer was about life in general.

Dukkha originally referred to the axle and hub of the spoked wheel. It was Sukkha when it was running smoothly and Dukkha if not (1). (The spoked wheel had been invented around 2,500 years before Buddha, in his time the hub was still being developed with metal plates and animal fat. This new invention was revolutionising life).

Part of the the text says: "In short, the five aggregates ... are dukkha ... the aggregate of corporeality .. feeling .. perception .. mental formations .. consciousness"(2).

So, I find this means: the process between corporeality and consciousness is not running smoothly. This includes not only big sufferings but also every small problem.

2. The origin of dukkha. The 2nd (and 3rd) Truth do not mention any of the extreme forms of suffering in the first truth. The 2nd (and 3rd) Truth discuss exclusively one subject, the aggregates : the process between corporeality and consciousness. They describe this process in ten steps for each of the six sense bases. The modern full translations tell us 60 times that each step "... has the characteristic of being delightful and pleasurable. When this craving arises, it arises there;"(2) It would be easy to get lost in the details of this process, the important point is the text emphasises how at any point in the process between corporeality and consciousness, craving arises as the result of delight and pleasure.

However I feel something is missing. I can feel pleasure for baked beans but I dont crave them. I find pleasure and delight lead first to preferences and then intentions. For craving to arise I need a collection of preferences, intentions and sensations. Craving is only the most extreme form of wanting.

The text says: "It is that craving which gives rise to fresh rebirth"(2). So, this extreme form of wanting leads to a big repetition.

I would like to consider the origins, the preferences and intentions and what happens with these very simple forms of wanting. I feel sure that every small preference leads to small repetitions. Preferences are there because of previous pleasure, previous references (pre-references). Every intention is a preference for the future. The past and future : The point is that it is a repetition. I am thinking particularly of the endless repetition of thoughts and how these pre-set our experience and response to what is happening now.

I believe Buddha is saying that the delightful and pleasurable, wanting and craving, all give rise to endless repetition, all give rise to not being now. Essentially this is no change from the usual understanding, only showing that it can also be applied to the smallest factor.

The process between corporeality and consciousness is not running smoothly because of preferences and intentions; and craving and wanting, because they pre-set us.

Having said that. The reason craving is so important is that it expresses our basic fixations and pre-determining desires. (We need them, we would feel lost without them, unless we have something like the Eightfoldpath to believe in or follow). Craving and Clinging can be considered as hindrances ... whereas preferences and intentions may be vital.

3. The Third Truth : That which leads to Dukkha can also be used to lead to Sukkha.

The text repeats 60 times, for each step of the process between corporeality and consciousness that it "... has the characteristic of being delightful and pleasurable. When this craving is abandoned it is abandoned there; when it ceases, it ceases there."(2) Here I believe Buddha was originally talking about : delight in the Dharma, the pleasure of mindfulness, the pleasure of not wanting and being now.

These ideas are continued on my talk page. Please visit and discuss.

4. The 4th. Truth, the eightfold path, seems generally understood.==

Sources
 * 1. Wikipedia, Dukkha, Etymology, Sargeant []
 * 2. Mahasatipatthana Sutta translated by U Jotika & U Dhamminda http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/mahasati.htm or http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/mahasati.pdf
 * Mahasatipatthana (in French, the only full translation without any paraphrasing which i have found) http://www.buddha-vacana.org/fr/sutta/digha/dn22.html
 * references to other original source translations are on http://www.ToBeorTaboo.de/axis/dukkha/references.html

These ideas are continued on my talk page. Please visit and discuss. RobinTaming the hedgehog (talk) 18:34, 20 July 2014 (UTC)