The
truth of the matter
By Ananda Pereira
“Thus
it is, Ananda, that because of sensation (vedana) comes craving
(thanha); because of craving, pursuit (pariyesana); because of pursuit,
gain (labha); because of gain, decision (vinicchaya); because of
decision, excitement (chandaraga); because of excitement, clinging
(ajihosana); because of clinging, enclosing (pariggaha); because
of enclosing, avarice (macchariya); because of avarice, guarding
(arakkha); and because of guarding there comes to be the seizing
of stick and weapon, disunion, strife and quarrelling, slander,
lying and many other unskilful things.”
(Maha Nidana Sutta, Digha Nikaya)
A
man sees a piece of land (vedana), and desires to own it (thanha).
He finds out who the owner is and negotiates for a transfer (pariyesana).
He buys the land (labha) and decides exactly what he is going to
plant (vinicchaya). Having so decided, he thinks about the money
he will make, and the things he will be able to do with the money,
and his thoughts excite him (chandaraga). Thus excited, he clings
to these pleasant dreams and to the land that will make them come
true (ajihosana). He encloses the land with a wall or fence (pariggaha)
and having so enclosed it he becomes selfish, feeling intensely
and personally the intrusion of outsiders (macchariya). He employs
watchers, buys a gun and prepares to protect his property from the
rest of the world (arakkha). And this, as we know, leads to strife
of various kinds, from civil litigation to murder.
It
is the same with other possessions. We cannot help perceiving things,
but when we desire them the consequences follow inevitably. There
is no point in telling the owner of an estate that he should not
protect it with fences or employ watchers to guard it. Having committed
himself by acquiring it, he must do these things in order to ensure
his profits. It is ‘common sense’, and the law recognizes
his rights. This is the man-made law. Its roots lie deeply embedded
in craving. Men accept it as ‘common sense’ because
craving is common to all men, and they have no sense.
To
the Buddhas and the Arahats, who did have sense, all this is stark
lunacy. They see the truth clearly, all the time. Some of us may
glimpse it now and then, hazily. The truth is that it is impossible
to hold things, and that the effort to do so is both foolish and
dangerous. The only thing that a man can be said to own is his character,
even this is not an unchanging entity, but at least he has the power
to conduct its changing, so that it changes for the better. Here
there is no need of fences, watchers and guns: for there is no external
force, however powerful, that can affect a man's character against
his will. When a man is set on evil, as Devadatta was, not even
a Buddha can swerve him from his purpose. So also is the character
of a man who is set on good. Opposition only strengthens such character.
But,
there is always sensation (vedana); and so long as we are not Arahats,
there is always craving (thanha). Craving and its inevitable results
are man's real enemies, not other men. If there was no craving there
would be no pursuit, no gain, no decision, no excitement of desire,
no clinging, no enclosing, no selfishness, no guarding, no seizing
of weapons, no strife and no bloodshed. Craving is like the root
of a long creeper whose fruits are deadly poison.
The
Buddhas and the Arahats saw this truth. That is why they urged the
destruction of craving as the only means of deliverance. It can
be destroyed completely, never to spring up again. Buddhas and the
Arahats are examples of this supreme achievement, even though to
us the task may seem impossible. Enmeshed as we are in craving,
its deadly tendrils woven into the very texture of our being, the
destruction of craving may seem like the destruction of all that
is worthwhile. For, in our insanity, we have created false ideals.
A man is said to be worthless unless he has ambition. The pursuit
of beauty is encouraged as wholesome. Poets have confused beauty
with truth. Parents tell children that they must work hard and "get
on in the world". What is behind it all?
The
Buddha's teaching may seem cold and alien, suicidal even, especially
when we are in the act of pursuing, holding, enclosing or guarding
something that we desire greatly. It is the coldness of truth. If
it seems alien, it is because we are still lunatics, the teaching
is the same. If it seems suicidal, it is because craving forms the
greater part of our being. In our rare and hazy glimpses of the
truth we must admit that the teaching is true.
Such
a glimpse may come on a Vesak day, because of its associations.
On this day, significant to all followers of the Buddha, there is,
for a while, a turning away from false ideals and an attempt to
see the true ideal. May that vision be clear and may the memory
of it linger. It is the only thing that counts. Until such time
as craving is destroyed, this glimpse of truth may serve as a 'guide'.
It may help to control that which must ultimately be destroyed.
Seeing ‘desirable’ things, we may at least curb the
tendency to pursue them, knowing where that pursuit will lead.
(Courtesy Vesak Lipi No. 20) |