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THE TRUTH OF ORIGIN 1

Ignorance, Afflictive Emotions and Karmic Action

The trth of origin shold !e a!andoned

 Dammacakkappavattana-sutta: The origin of sffering as a No!le trth shold !e

a!andoned" In the First No!le Trth the tas# is to nderstand it, in the $econd

No!le trth the tas# is to a!andon it"

The %ases and %onditions that &ead to $ffering

'E&U$ION$IGNORAN%E AFF&I%TI(E

E)OTION$

KAR)I% A%TION TRUE $UFFERING

Of selflesness of

*ersons and

*henomena

Attachment and

aversion

+hsical, mental,

ver!al

sffering

THE TRUTH OF ORIGIN THE TRUTH OF

$UFFERING

The suffering we are experiencing is the result. The table shows its causes. It stars with

a fundamental ignorance of the selfless of persons and phenomena. Through them we

create karmic actions and then we suffer. In the charts, the last column is the truth ofsuffering and the other three are truth of origin. In our life, in even every second, all

these forces are there simultaneously. There cannot e a result without a cause and it is

through the interaction of ignorance, afflictive emotions and karmic actions that there is

the result, suffering.

Ignorance

In Buddhism the root of samsara is ignorance. Some kinds of ignorance are very

obvious, but others are more subtle. Ignorance is the ignition key, the starting point.

Because of the thought, the emotion arises, gross or subtle; the seuence is there.

Because the thought misunderstands reality, the emotions that arise are deluded !se call

them afflictive emotions" and they are again a misunderstanding. Then through them we

react, we do something, mentally or verbally, then there is the result, suffering.

#." The $oot lies in fundamental confusion.

The Buddha said that the origin of suffering is thirst or craving. In %ali it is tanha,

which is literally &thirst'. In Theravadin traditions the word this word is translated as

craving or thirst. (ogsang )yatso*s in his book The +our oble Truths, attributes the

origin of suffering to fundamental ignorance or fundamental confusion. -e also

accepts craving or thirst !that feeling of wanting or longing" the emphasis is in

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fundamental ignorance. epending on people*s mind and basic attitudes one or the

other traditions, theravadin of mayana, fits better.

Ignorance

#." The root lies in +undamental /onfusion0." The two types of Ignorance

i. Ignorance about the law of causality

  a. acuired ignorance

 b. innate ignorance

-is -oliness says1

We found that at the root of the situation lies a fundamental confusion, or in Buddhist

terminology a fundamental ignorance. This confusion applies not only to the way things

are but also to the way causes and effects relate to each other. Therefore in Buddhismwe talk about two types of ignorance. -ere the emphasis is not only on the craving, but

on the root, the ignorance, the fundamental confusions.

2enable (obsang )yatso

 In Buddhist there are said to be two causes of suffering, karma and delusion, however,

all the karmic causes of suffering can be traced back to delusion.

In Buddhist teachings you will often hear that suffering is caused by delusion and

karma. These are said to be the two causes of all our problems. 3hen used in this way,

the term &delusion' here means both our afflictive emotions and their cause, that

fundamental ignorance.

0." The two types of Ignorance

The underlying cause of suffering is that fundamental ignorance. It can be divided into

two1

i. Ignorance about the (aw of /ausality

3hy is that we misunderstand the law of causality4 3hat kind of ignorance is

it4 Two types of ignorance1

a. 5cuired ignorance

The first one does not occur naturally, it is not innate within us, but comes

about when we are influenced by other people*s beliefs or culture.

Because it is common belief or the culture, we naturally assume it to be

right. 3e can see that in the say we so readily trust science in our culture.

5ncient or religious beliefs can also cause this kind of ignorance.

-owever, although we believe in this way and trust in it, we still have this

fundamental confusion of how thins come into being.

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 b. Innate Ignorance

5t other times, our ignorance is not 6ust from what other people tell us,

 but occurring naturally. It is innate, within us. 7ven without culture

 putting confusion in our heads, we can still be confused by our innate

ignorance. There is some kind of natural tendency to see things

wrongly.3hen we are facing difficulties we very spontaneously start to blame someone else, to look for something outside of us that is

responsible. 3e are suffering; someone else is to blame. This is

spontaneous tendency to blame others. This is innate, very natural, not

something somebody has put in our head. 5gain, this is ignorance about

the law of causality.

5fflictive 7motions

Because of this fundamental confusion, an anxiety is created within us, no matter how

subtle. This emotion is deluded of &affictive' because it does not see its ob6ect correctly.

In the first table, on page 8#, afflictive emotions are shown as attachment and aversion.In Buddhism the problem of &attachment' wether being referred to as desire9attachment

:dur.chak  in Tibetan or as thirst :tanha in %ali, is much deeper than this.

5fflictive 7motions

#. $oot and Secondary 5fflictive 7motions

0. The three kinds of craving

i" The craving for sense *leasres

ii. The craving for transitory aggregates.

iii. The craving for existence

#. $oot 5nd Secondary 5fflictive 7motions

5ttachment can be a root afflictive emotion. They are called &secondary afflictive

emotions' because this kind of attachment only arises in certain specific

circumstances whereas &root afflictive emotions' means they produce secondary

ones. <3hat are afflictive emotions4 3here do we draw the line4 /an we have

emotions which are not afflictive4

7motions that arise due to ignorance are those that, merely by their presence,

immediately disturb our mind. -owever, subtle ignorance, produces subtle afflictive

emotions. These are difficult to recognise and so difficult to eliminate. If an emotionis not contaminated by ignorance, like a emotion that comes from a genuine feeling

of compassion or love, then it is an emotion, but not an afflictive emotion. 5lthough

we have some degree of love and compassion, for us, they are still contaminated by

our deluded minds.

0. The Three =inds of /raving

Buddha said1 is this1

The Noble Truth of the Origin of uffering is this! It is this thirst "craving# which

 produces re$e%istence and re$becoming, bound up with passionate greed. It finds

 fresh delight, now here and now there, namely, craving for sense$pleasures& craving

 for e%istence and becoming& and craving for self$annihilation.

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In Tibetan Buddhism there are three types of craving and the seuence is1

i. craving for sense pleasures :%ali1 kama tanha, Tibetan1 dho.sag 

ii. craving for transitory aggregates :%ali1 vibhava tanha, Tibetan1 'ig.sag#

iii. craving for existence :%ali1 bhava tanha, Tibetan1 see.sag 

5s $ahula says :p>g 0?

Tanha "thirst# is not the first or only cause of the arising of dukkha.

i. /raving for Sense %leasures

3e as sentient being have all the five sensory consciousness and are

completely surrounded by external sensory ob6ects. ue to this, the craving

for sensory pleasures is very strong, and not only that, it manifests all the

time, day and night. 7ven during sleep we have this craving for sense

 pleasures. This craving is with us all the time.

Through tanha or thirst we act. ue to this craving for sensory pleasures, weact and doing these actions brings sufferings and difficulties.

ii. /raving for Transitory 5ggregates

+ollowing 56ahn Sumedho and in the %ali tradition, this craving is seen as a

desire to get rid of things. $ahula uses the &thirst for non"existence :self"

annihilation', in %ali it is vibahava tanha. In the @ahayana tradition, nstead

of &craving for non"existence', they use the term &craving for transitory

aggregates', to show that at a certain point during the death process when the

 person is very close to death, there is a clear indication he or she can*t live

with these aggregates any more. 3hen this comes, there is a desire to get rid

of this life*s aggregates. uring the death process, when ti is clear ther is no

way to stay with these present aggregates, then there is a strong feeling to get

rid of them, to want to separate from them, in Theravadin tradition this is

called the &craving for non"existence'. In Tibetan Buddhism, while we are

young and free from sickness we have a strong craving to keep the

aggregates, but at a certaing stage, when that is no longer possible, then there

is a strong craving to get rid of the aggregates.

iii. /raving for existence

3hen there is no hope to stay in this life, then there is a very strong but subtle

craving to continue existing, to have a continuation. ot a craving to continuethis life, which is finishing, but for life, which now means the next life. It

looks beyond wanting to be something in this life to the vital link between

lives. This craving makes the connection to the next life and determines what

kind of life we are gong to have in that life. So this craving is like a bridge

from this life to the next. In Tibetan it is see.sag . It literally means craving for

samsara. Aur strongest need is the need to exist. 5t death it manifests as the

desire to remain in samsara, to continue from this life to the next.