☸️ A Basic Foundation in Buddhism:
Kinpusen lectures by Rev. Masahirao Asahda.
Editing and Translation by Jisho 


A Basic Foundation in Buddhism Part 3: 

The Second Noble Truth — The Truth of a Cause (集諦; jūtai)


The order which the four noble truths are presented in reflect the entirety of  Buddhist doctrine. The first noble truth teaches us the principle of suffering arising due to confusion, bewilderment, delusion and ignorance, the second noble truth teaches us that this suffering has a cause and the third noble truth teaches us that the origin of suffering can be found in the five aggregates (skandhas).


In life, we cannot avoid suffering. Not just in my life, but existence itself is marked by this suffering. Sakyamuni examined this suffering very carefully and through his awakening taught that one must look at the root cause of suffering as a means of liberation, just as one would look at the root-cause of a disease to understand its cure. In looking at the root-cause of suffering and where from it arises, it is taught to examine the five skandhas which outline the process of aggregation and coagulation.


For example, let us consider the 'suffering experienced when we are separated from the persons, conditions and that which we love' (愛別離苦; aibetsuriku). Parting with a loved one involves suffering due to attachment and desire, which transforms love into grief and suffering. The 'suffering of death' (死苦; shiku), too, points to the great agony which comes from wanting to live. The high-priests of old said, "When you are sick, tend to and take care of the sickness. When one is dying, tend to and take care of dying." This state of mind points to a place where the suffering of sickness and death no longer exist. Regular people like me however are constantly faced with suffering.


It is said that when investigating the causes of suffering, you will inevitably arrive at the roots of ignorance (愚癡; guchi), aversion (瞋恚; shini) and craving (貪欲; tonyoku), which are expressed as greed, hate, pride, foolishness, envy, desire and all kinds of reactive patterns, mental disturbances, habitual afflictions and obscurations. And so 'craving' can be said to be the source of greed, 'aversion' can be said to be the source of hate and 'ignorance' can be said to be the source of foolishness.


The heart-mind of ignorance, aversion and craving is the driving force of suffering. Please put your hand to your heart and really think about it. When you are suffering and can't help but ask where it comes from, you will find that there's nowhere to look apart from these three, which we refer to as the three root kleśās (煩悩; bonnō).


That temples ring their bells 108 times on New Year's Eve and the fact that rosary beads number 108 are well known. Many people also have heard that the number 108 refers to the 108 kleśās (百八煩悩; hyakuhachibonno). The kinds of kleśā which afflict us appear differently for each of us. Further, the kleśās can also be divided into the finer number of 84,000. Regardless of the number, the root is none other than the so called three-poisons of ignorance, aversion and craving. This is why they are referred to as the three root kleśās. 


The truth of the arising of suffering (集諦; jutai) refers to the arising of these kleśās, which invite suffering. We face suffering (the truth of suffering) and therefore we must investigate the origin of suffering (the truth of the arising of suffering). This is the basis of the great physician-king [an epithet of buddhas and bodhisattvas] who 'knows illness (suffering) well and knows the source of the illness (the kleśās) well'. This is why the buddhas are compared to the kings of medicine, where treatment is applied once the cause of suffering has been determined. Here 'treatment' refers to the realm of awakening. This leads us to the next two truths; the truth of the cessation of suffering and the truth of a path to the cessation of suffering.








— a basic foundation in buddhismthe truth of a cause