The Third Noble Truth
The third noble truth is the cessation of suffering through which it is explained that the causes of karma and the defilements can be removed. We have control over suffering because karma and the defilements take place within us--we create them, we experience them. For that reason we don't need to depend on anyone else to remove the cause of suffering. The truth of universal origination means that if we do unvirtuous actions, we are creating suffering. It also means if we abandon unvirtuous actions, we remove the possibility of experiencing suffering in the future. What we experience is entirely in our hands. Therefore the Buddha has said that we should give up the causes of karma and the defilements. Virtuous actions result in the external state of happiness and unvirtuous actions result in suffering. This idea is not particularly easy to grasp because one cannot see the whole process take place from beginning to end.
There are three kinds of actions: mental, verbal, and physical. These are subdivided into virtuous and unvirtuous physical actions, virtuous and unvirtuous verbal actions, and virtuous and unvirtuous mental actions. If one abandons these three types of unvirtuous actions, then ones actions become automatically virtuous.
There are three unvirtuous physical actions: the harming of life, sexual misconduct, and stealing. The results of these three unvirtuous actions can be observed immediately. For example, when there is a virtuous relationship between a man and woman who care about each other, protect each other, and have a great deal of love and affection for each other. They will be happy because they look after each other. Their wealth will usually increase and if they have children, their love and care will bring mutual love in the family. In the ordinary sense, happiness develops out of this deep commitment and bond they have promised to keep. Whereas, when there is an absence of commitment, there is also little care or love and sexual misconduct arises. This is not the ground out of which love arises, or upon which a nice home can be built in which children can develop happiness. One can readily see that from the lack of commitment to sexual fidelity, many kinds of difficulties will arise.
One can also see the immediate consequences of other unvirtuous physical actions. One can see that those who steal have difficulties and suffer; those who don't steal experience happiness and have a good state of mind. Likewise, those who kill create many problems and unhappiness for themselves while those who support life are happy.
The same applies to ones speech, although it is not so obvious. But on closer examination, one can also see how happiness develops out of virtuous speech and unhappiness from unvirtuous kinds of speech. At first lying may seem to be useful because one might think that one can deceive others through lies and gain some advantage. But Sakya Pandita said that this is not true. If one lies to ones enemies or persons one doesn't get along with, very well, because they are ones enemies they are not going to take notice of what one is saying anyway. It will be quite hard to deceive them. If they are ones friends, one might be able to deceive them at first by telling a lie. But after the first time, they wont trust you any more and may think that you have been a hypocrite. Lying doesn't really work. Then if one looks at the opposite, a person who takes pains to speak the truth will develop a reputation of being a truthful person who can be relied on and out of this trust, many good things will emerge.
Once we have considered the example of the consequences of lying, we can think of similar consequences relating to other kinds of damaging speech: slander, and coarse, aggressive, and useless speech. Except for the immediate and the short-termed consequences virtuous speech produces happiness and unvirtuous speech produces suffering.
When we say useless speech, we mean speech that is really useless, not just conversational. So, if we have a good mind and want someone to relax and be happy, even though the words may not be of great meaning, then its useful speech based on the idea of benefit and goodness. When we say "useless speech," we mean chatter for no reason at all. Worse than that is "chatter rooted in the defilements" when one is saying bad things about other people because of dislike or is jealous of them or one sets people against each other. One just gossips about the character of people. That is really useless speech. Besides being useless, this very often causes trouble because it sets people against each other and causes bad feelings.
The same applies with "harmful speech." If there is really a loving and beneficial reason for talking, for example, scolding a child when the child is doing something dangerous or scolding a child for not studying in school, that is not harmful speech because it is devoid of the defilements, being a skillful way of helping someone. If there is that really genuine, beneficial attitude and love behind what one says, it is not harmful speech. But if speech were related to the defilements such as aggression or jealousy, then it is harmful speech and is something to give up.
We can go on to examine the various states of mind and see that a virtuous mind produces happiness and unvirtuous states of mind create unhappiness. For instance, strong aggression will cause us to lose our friends. Because of our aggressiveness, our enemies will become even worse enemies and the situation will become inflamed. If we are aggressive and hurt others and they have friends, then eventually friends will also become enemies. On the other hand, if we wish to benefit others, goodness will come out of it through the power of caring for our loved ones and then through wishing to help them develop goodness. Through this they will become close and helpful friends. Through the power of our love and care, our enemies and the people one doesn't get along with will improve their behavior and maybe those enemies will eventually become friends. If we have companions and wish to benefit others, we can end up with very good friends and all the benefits which that brings. In this way we can see how cause and effect operate, how a virtuous mind brings about happiness and how a non-virtuous mind brings about suffering and problems.
There are two main aspects of karma: one related to experience and one related to conditioning. The experience of karma has already been discussed in relation. Through unvirtuous physical actions one will experience problems and unhappiness. Likewise, through unvirtuous speech, such as lying, one experiences unhappiness and sorrow. Through an unvirtuous state of mind, one experiences unhappiness. This was demonstrated by the example of an aggressive attitude. All of this is related to the understanding that any unvirtuous activity produces unpleasantness or unhappiness.
The second aspect of karma relates to conditioning. By acting unvirtuously with ones body, speech, or mind one habituates oneself to a certain style of behavior. Unvirtuous physical or verbal behaviors add to the habit of doing things. For example, each time we kill, we are conditioned to kill again. If we lie, that increases the habit of lying. An aggressive mind conditions our state of mind so we become more aggressive. In later lives, then, that conditioning will emerge so that we will be reborn with a great tendency to kill, to lie, to engage in sexual misconduct, and so on. These are two aspects to karma. One is the direct consequence of an act and the other is the conditioning that creates a tendency to engage in behavior of that kind. Through these two aspects karma produces all happiness and suffering in life.
Even though we may recognize that unvirtuous karma gives rise to suffering and virtuous karma gives rise to happiness, it is hard for us to give up unvirtuous actions and practice virtuous actions because the defilements exercise a powerful influence on us. We realize that suffering is caused by unvirtuous karma but we cannot give up the karma itself. We need to give up the defilements because they are the root of unvirtuous actions. To give up the defilements means to give up non-virtuous actions of body (such as killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct), the unvirtuous actions of speech (such as lying, slander and harmful and useless speech), and the unvirtuous aspects of mind (such as aggressive, covetous, or ignorant mind). Just wanting to give up the defilements does not remove them. However, the Buddha in his great kindness and wisdom has given us a very skillful way to eliminate the very root of all the defilements through the examination of the belief in the existence of ego or self.
We cannot just understand this belief in a self easily because it is very deep-rooted. First of all, we have to search for this self that we believe in and through this search we can discover that the self does not exist. Then we will be able to gradually to eliminate the belief in a self. When this is done, the defilements are also eliminated because with the elimination of a belief in self unvirtuous karma is also eliminated.
This belief in a self is a mistaken perception, its an illusion. For example, if one has a flower and were to interrogate one hundred people about it, they would all come to the same conclusion that it is indeed a flower. So one could be pretty sure that it is a flower. But, if one asked a person "Is this me?," he would say, "No, its you." A second person would say, "Its you." One would end up with one hundred persons who say this is "you" and only oneself would consider it as "me." So statistically ones self is on very wobbly ground.
We also tend to think of "me" as one thing, as a unity. When we examine what we think of as ourselves, we find it is made up of many different components: the various parts of the body, the different organs, and the different elements. There are so many of them, yet we have this feeling of a one thing which is "me." When we examine any of those components and try to find something that is the essence of self, the self cannot be found in any of these bits and pieces. By contemplating this and working through it very thoroughly, we begin to see how this "I" is really an incorrect perception.
Once we have eliminated this wrong way of thinking, the idea of an "I" becomes easy to get rid of. So, all of the desire rooted in thinking, "I must be made happy" can be eliminated as well as all the aversion rooted in the idea of "this difficulty must be eliminated." Through the elimination of the idea of "I" we can annihilate the defilements. Once the defilements are gone, then unvirtuous karma, which is rooted in the defilements, can go. Once the unvirtuous karma is gone, suffering will no longer take place. This is why Buddha says that the root of suffering needs to be abandoned.
The first two noble truths may be summed up with two statements:
One should be aware of and know what suffering is. One should give up the universal origination of suffering.
To summarize, once one recognizes what suffering really is, then one begins by removing its causes. One stops doing unvirtuous actions which create suffering. To stop these unvirtuous activities, one digs out their root which is the defilements and the various unhealthy attitudes. To eradicate the defilements one needs to remove their heart, which is this belief in a self. If one does that, then one will eventually come to realize the wisdom of non-self. Through understanding the absence of a self, one no longer creates the defilements and bad actions and brings an end to that whole process. This is highly possible to reach; therefore there is the third noble truth of cessation.
The very essence and nature of cessation is peace. Sometimes people think of Buddhahood in terms of brilliant insights or something very fantastic. In fact, the peace one obtains from the cessation of everything unhealthy is the deepest happiness, bliss, and well-being. Its very nature is lasting in contrast to worldly happiness which is exciting for a time, but then changes. In contrast, this ultimate liberation and omniscience is a definitive release from the defilements which are the cause of suffering. Their cessation is the most deeply moving peace. Within that peace all the powers of liberation and wisdom are developed. It is a very definitive release from both suffering and its result and four main qualities of this truth of cessation. First, it is the cessation of suffering. Second, it is peace. Third, it is the deepest liberation and wisdom. Fourth, it is a very definitive release. Cessation is a product of practicing the path shown to us by the Most Perfect One, the Lord Buddha. The actual nature of that path is the topic of the fourth noble truth, which is called the truth of the path because it describes the path that leads to liberation.
