Page 32 - 加拿大佛教会湛山精舍杂志季刊第75期

法脈摭實
D HARMA COLLECTION

birth and death together with the many kinds of de- itability. Such deterioration of happy states is Âsuf-
filements rise as causes and effects, then from effects fering as a result of decay”. When there is neither the
which are known their causes can be traced. When evidence of happiness nor its decay, there is still the
the causes are correctly identified and contemplated, change due to impermanence. It is referred to as “suf-
they vanish and when there are no causes, there are no fering as a consequence of action.”
more effects. This is essentially the method as used by
Theravadins. It liberates one from one’s own karma. Physical pain is caused by external conditions such as
Phenomena are recognized as impermanent, unsatis- experiencing extreme cold, heat, effects of pollution,
factory and void of self; eventually, complete libera- poisonous plants, having to negotiate arduous terrain
tion or nirvana is attained. To transcend the world is and such; or by internal conditions such as thirst, hun-
the purpose of Buddhadharma according to the Ther- ger, exhaustion, worry, and so forth.
avada. Within it there are two vehicles by means of
which liberation can be attained, namely, the vehicle Realms of mental anguish include all varieties gener-
of the hearer or sravaka and that of pratyeka-buddha. ated by interactions and relationships between people
The former heard, understood and thereby entered the such as deceit, loss of the loved one, ambition, jeal-
Tao; the latter observed causes and conditions and by ousy, and so forth. The eight kinds of suffering com-
means of that effort attained liberation. The sravaka mon to all people are: Birth, old age, disease, death,
examines dharmas in terms of the Four Noble Truths loss of love, encounter with the detestable, frustrated
as the following table illustrates: ambitions, and the ills related to the five skandhas.
All of us are affected by these and intelligence with-
out the support of wisdom is of no help. The search
for the cause of it all begins at this point; it leads us to
the second of the Noble truths, the Cause of Suffering.

Suffering does not arise by itself but by its causes
and they, in turn, arise due to karma. The three kar-
ma-generating sources are body, speech,. and mind.
Mind is the worst offender by far because it directs
all our actions including our speech and, of course,
our thoughts. Karmic manifestations of mind include
the following defilements: Desire, hate, ignorance,
pride, doubt, perverted view regarding a permanent
The doctrine as taught by Theravadins commences self, extreme views, deluded views, obstinate views,
with karmic power as the first of the Noble Truths, and rigid views regarding ascetic practices and pro-
i.e. suffering as the root cause of past, present and fu- hibitions. Conjointly with the three realms, the above
ture rebirths in the six realms. According to the Great ten defilements produce eighty-eight delusory views
Wisdom Commentary, three kinds of suffering are re- and eighty-one kinds of suffering. Deluded views
lated to our physical bodies, namely, disease, old age steer the nascent thoughts in the wrong direction and
and death, and three kinds of mental anguish gener- misinterpreted and misdirected feelings follow in its
ated by greed, hatred and ignorance. These manifest wake. Deluded views are not difficult to discard but
themselves in the realms of hells, animals, and hungry to stop misleading or unskillful thoughts is hard to do.
ghosts, In addition, we have pain and suffering due to Defilements as causes and conditions for unwhole-
decay as well as that due to action. There is also pain some karma all are rooted in deluded views and mis-
within pain, and there is the notion of suffering in the leading thoughts and generate untold suffering. Who-
midst of happiness due to knowledge of pain’s inev- ever wants to get out of the endless cycle of birth and

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