Duhkha Hypothesis: Nathan Roets's Four Noble Truths
The Duhkha Hypothesis
Nathan Roets
In his now famous discourse at Deer Park - traditionally believed to have been his first - the Buddha revealed his Four Noble Truths. These constitute what many consider to be the core ‘dharma’ (the truth about the universe and life as reflected in the Buddha's teachings). The First and Second Noble Truths offer the Buddha's specific diagnosis of ‘duhkha’, while the Third and Fourth give us his prescription for attaining ‘nirvana’ (liberation from ‘duhkha’). I want to spend some time briefly examining this diagnosis, and explore some of the ways we can know it to be true.
The First Noble Truth tells us that ‘duhkha’ pervades all of life; the Second identifies ‘tanha’ as being the ‘samudaya’ - the origin …show more content…
Similarly, “attachment” may be a more appropriate translation for ‘tanha’.
This diagnosis - that desire/attachment is the cause of an all-pervading suffering/dissatisfaction in life - does not seem immediately relatable to most. Yet herein lies the cause for their being Noble Truths - or, as some have put it, “truths for the [spiritually] noble.” For they are somewhat nuanced: only when we examine the motivations behind our every pursuit and the reasoning behind our every reaction in an honest manner, and pursue such examinations to their true conclusions, we see that dissatisfaction is to be found in every instance, and that attachment underlies every …show more content…
For this I ask the reader’s forgiveness. It would be best if I offer another illustrative example - this time, a personal anecdote.
An ex-girlfriend of mine (whom we’ll refer to as “Jane”) ended our relationship very abruptly a few years ago. No explanation was given for her decision at the time, though I later discovered - through a mutual friend - that Jane had fallen pregnant and had an abortion. I understood and respected her reasons for having the abortion: but what devastated me anew was that I couldn't have been there to offer her the emotional support she needed - or receive that which I needed too.
And therein lies my ‘duhkha’: not only in the failure of our relationship, but also in the inability to properly process the influx of feeling and emotion following the abortion. My ‘tanha’ regarding our companionship (a positive) led to an experience of duhkha in the absence (a negative) of that
Nathan Roets
In his now famous discourse at Deer Park - traditionally believed to have been his first - the Buddha revealed his Four Noble Truths. These constitute what many consider to be the core ‘dharma’ (the truth about the universe and life as reflected in the Buddha's teachings). The First and Second Noble Truths offer the Buddha's specific diagnosis of ‘duhkha’, while the Third and Fourth give us his prescription for attaining ‘nirvana’ (liberation from ‘duhkha’). I want to spend some time briefly examining this diagnosis, and explore some of the ways we can know it to be true.
The First Noble Truth tells us that ‘duhkha’ pervades all of life; the Second identifies ‘tanha’ as being the ‘samudaya’ - the origin …show more content…
Similarly, “attachment” may be a more appropriate translation for ‘tanha’.
This diagnosis - that desire/attachment is the cause of an all-pervading suffering/dissatisfaction in life - does not seem immediately relatable to most. Yet herein lies the cause for their being Noble Truths - or, as some have put it, “truths for the [spiritually] noble.” For they are somewhat nuanced: only when we examine the motivations behind our every pursuit and the reasoning behind our every reaction in an honest manner, and pursue such examinations to their true conclusions, we see that dissatisfaction is to be found in every instance, and that attachment underlies every …show more content…
For this I ask the reader’s forgiveness. It would be best if I offer another illustrative example - this time, a personal anecdote.
An ex-girlfriend of mine (whom we’ll refer to as “Jane”) ended our relationship very abruptly a few years ago. No explanation was given for her decision at the time, though I later discovered - through a mutual friend - that Jane had fallen pregnant and had an abortion. I understood and respected her reasons for having the abortion: but what devastated me anew was that I couldn't have been there to offer her the emotional support she needed - or receive that which I needed too.
And therein lies my ‘duhkha’: not only in the failure of our relationship, but also in the inability to properly process the influx of feeling and emotion following the abortion. My ‘tanha’ regarding our companionship (a positive) led to an experience of duhkha in the absence (a negative) of that