THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS By Ajahn Sumedho - DharmaFlower.Net

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dukkha; there is dukkha.’ It’s really important to make this resolutionto go where the suffering is and then abide with it. It is only byexamining and confronting suffering in this way that one can hope tohave the tremendous insight: ‘This suffering has been understood.’So these are the three aspects of the First Noble Truth. This is theformula that we must use and apply in reflection on our lives.Whenever you feel suffering, first make the recognition: ‘There issuffering’, then: ‘It should be understood’, and finally: ‘It has beenunderstood’. This understanding of dukkha is the insight into theFirst Noble Truth.
<strong>THE</strong> SECOND <strong>NOBLE</strong> TRUTHWhat is the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering?It is craving which renews being and is accompanied by relish andlust, relishing this and that: in other words, craving for sensualdesires, craving for being, craving for non-being. But whereon doesthis craving arise and flourish? Wherever there is what seems lovableand gratifying, thereon it arises and flourishes.There is this Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering: such was thevision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that arose in me aboutthings not heard before.This Noble Truth must be penetrated to by abandoning the origin ofsuffering....This Noble Truth has been penetrated to by abandoning the origin ofsuffering: such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and lightthat arose in me about things not heard before.[Samyutta Nikaya LVI, 11]The Second Noble Truth with its three aspects is: ‘There is the originof suffering, which is attachment to desire. Desire should be let go of.Desire has been let go of.’The Second Noble Truth states that there is an origin of suffering andthat the origin of suffering is attachment to the three kinds of desire:desire for sense pleasure (kama tanha), desire to become (bhavatanha) and desire to get rid of (vibhava tanha). This is the statement ofthe Second Noble Truth, the thesis, the pariyatti. This is what youcontemplate: the origin of suffering is attachment to desire.THREE KINDS OF DESIREDesire or tanha in Pali is an important thing to understand.What is desire? Kama tanha is very easy to understand. This kind ofdesire is wanting sense pleasures through the body or the othersenses and always seeking things to excite or please your senses -that is kama tanha. You can really contemplate: what is it like whenyou have desire for pleasure? For example, when you are eating, if youare hungry and the food tastes delicious, you can be aware of wantingto take another bite. Notice that feeling when you are tastingsomething pleasant; and notice how you want more of it. Don’t justbelieve this; try it out. Don’t think you know it because it has beenthat way in the past. Try it out when you eat. Taste something
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Page 17: up with it! I just feel that is the
Page 21: The Second Noble Truth does not ask
Page 24 and 25: practising letting go. The more you
Page 26 and 27: THE THIRD NOBLE TRUTHWhat is the No
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Page 36 and 37: Right Aspiration (samma sankappa)2.
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Page 42 and 43: We begin to realise that we have to
Page 44 and 45: ASPECTS OF MEDITATIONThis reflectiv
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Page 48 and 49: new clothes, isn’t it? You have t
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THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS By Ajahn Sumedho - DharmaFlower.Net

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