What with suicide bombings and the devastation in Haiti it feels like no matter where I look I only find death and hate and violence.  That is one of the reasons why I don't watch the news anymore-- the permeation of terrible things in the media is almost inescapable.  But though it saddens my heart to see all the pain people everywhere suffer, to turn away from it would be an even greater fault.  Pain is a part of life-- dukkha, suffering.

That's one part of the Four Noble Truths: The Noble Truth of Dukkha.  From Access to Insight:

"Now this, monks, is the Noble Truth of dukkha: Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, & despair are dukkha; association with the unbeloved is dukkha; separation from the loved is dukkha; not getting what is wanted is dukkha. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are dukkha." — SN 56.11

While at first this seemed simultaneously blatant and pessimistic to me, the idea has had time to turn over in my mind.  And really, when I think about it, suffering is an aspect of life as inextricable as breathing.  If it is not physical pain then it is mental worries; from scarring trauma to everyday stress, dukkha is everywhere.

The Buddha lists dukkha in many forms.  Death, not to mention sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair, seems a readily obvious cause of suffering.  Separation from something or someone you love is painful, especially separation from a close family member, friend, or lover.

But some of the others forced me to think.  How is birth suffering?  Isn't birth something to be celebrated, a new life coming into the world?  However, musing on it, birth is the very commencement of exposure to dukkha.  It is where the pain and needs and wants begin.  Birth also technically means rebirth, still in samsara, still moving restlessly between worlds with each new life.  As such, birth can be considered dukkha.

What about "association with the unbeloved"?  Well, before I could figure that one out, I had to define unbeloved.  The unbeloved could be a coworker you don't get along with, a teacher that rubs you the wrong way.  But it could also be that you don't like thunderstorms and it just so happens to start pouring down rain when you're walking home without an umbrella.  The unbeloved could be having to sit through classes of your least favorite subject, eating broccoli, listening to Taylor Swift polka, your annoying ex-boyfriend leaving messages on your answering machine.  Association with the unbeloved is stressful and hurtful and can leave a person terribly unhappy.  Association with the unbeloved is dukkha.

The matter of "not getting what is wanted" has posed the greatest problem for me in my study of the Dhamma.  I concede that disappointment is suffering, that wanting-- or craving, as it's frequently called-- is dukkha.  I can apply this concept of "eliminating craving" to material possessions with relative ease; I can slowly deconstruct my cravings for new clothes, for pretty notebooks, maybe even for food, eventually (in fact, I've already started trying to eliminate these material cravings in my daily life).  I can even, to a certain extent, apply this to the need to succeed, to please people, to be viewed as charming or pretty or sexy or smart, although I suspect it will be much easier in theory than practice.

But once past these levels, this is where the teaching begins to lose clarity for me, and perhaps I'm not yet ready to understand it, but if wanting is bad, then should one not want to live, should one not want to be happy, should one not want to end suffering, should not one want to attain Nibbana?

For now, I'm chalking this one up to a lack of knowledge and experience.  Perhaps in reading the suttas and further familiarizing myself with the Dhamma will help answer these questions.  Until then, I'll be continuing my studies diligently. :)

Happiness to all!

I stumbled upon Theravada Buddhism completely by accident, actually.  I was harmlessly poking around a website on religious tolerance and education (Religious Tolerance.org, in fact, which is a magnificent source of unbiased, thorough information).  I didn't know anything about Buddhism so I began reading and clicking links all over the place, heading progressively toward the ideas I most agreed with.  Finally, after about a half an hour of clicking and reading and clicking and reading, I alighted on Theravada Buddhism, and it felt like something inside of my body had fallen into place, spiritually.

Now I can't say that I would call myself a Buddhist, and I can't say that I wouldn't.  I'm still learning, still reading.  I'd say I'm a student of the Buddha, of the Pali canon, of the suttas.  So I intend to use this blog as portal to reflection and discussion of the concepts introduced to me in my studies and experience.  I hope you decide to join me, no matter what your beliefs may be, and feel free to add your opinion or join/start a discussion. :)

My main resource is Access to Insight, an exhaustive collection of translated Pali canon and commentary.  I covered most of the material in their Beginnings section, and am now approaching the Dhammapada-- a very famous Buddhist text.

From the Introduction:

It is an ever-fecund source of themes for sermons and discussions, a guidebook for resolving the countless problems of everyday life, a primer for the instruction of novices in the monasteries. Even the experienced contemplative, withdrawn to forest hermitage or mountainside cave for a life of meditation, can be expected to count a copy of the book among his few material possessions.

As such, I've felt that the Dhammapada would be a good starting point for my more in-depth study.  I hope every Sunday to bring up a reflection or discussion topic on a particular piece of the Dhamma and see what results.

Happiness and loving kindness to all!