Episode Six - the Pali Canon, dukkha and non-violence

In this talk, I briefly discuss the Pali Canon, the early texts of Buddhism, and also say a little more about how suffering arises from our struggle to deal with the impermanent and interdependent nature of existence. I also introduce and describe three important Buddhist terms: metta – ‘loving kindness,’ karuna – ‘compassion’ and ahimsa – ‘non-violence.’

Transcript

The collection of texts that make up the early literature of Buddhism, are known as the Pali Canon. Pali is the language in which they are written. The other language used in early Buddhism is Sanskrit. The use of these two languages of the Indian sub-continent is the reason why Buddhist terms often appear in two different spellings. The individual texts in the Pali Canon are known as sutras (in Sanskrit) and sutta (in Pali). Sutra literally means a ‘thread’ or ‘string’ – a collection of accounts of the Buddha’s teachings and numerous commentaries on those teachings – what might be called ‘scriptures’ in the Christian tradition. The sutras, compiled and written in Sri Lanka, probably around the middle of the first century BCE, include over 10,000 discourses. The discourses contain a body of knowledge – stories, poems, parables and legends – that had previously been passed by word of mouth from generation to generation. The Pali Canon marks the transition from an oral tradition to a tradition of writing.

In the sutras, we read how the Buddha urges his students to accept that the primary conditions of existence - that is, impermanence and interdependence - cannot be changed. We all have to face up to our own mortality, and to the eventual death of those we love. We, and those we love, are also likely to become ill or suffer injury at some point in our lives. These are matters over which we have little control and inevitably give rise to pain and grief. However, by changing the way in which we think about, relate to and deal with these events, we can lessen their effects and thus reduce our suffering. In the light of this insight, the teachings contained in the sutras are centred on how we should face up to the primary conditions of existence and how to alleviate unnecessary dissatisfaction and anxiety. The Buddha’s methods for doing this, particularly meditation, have been tried and tested over centuries and form the basis of Buddhist practice throughout the world.

The following extract from the Samyutta Nikaya, one of the sutras in the Pali Canon, is often quoted to describe the Buddha’s view of suffering or dukkha as it is known in the Pali language:

‘Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, & despair are dukkha; association with what or whom we dislike is dukkha; separation from what or whom we love is dukkha; not getting what we want is dukkha. In short, the process of living, and being who we are, is dukkha.’

If this seems excessively morbid and negative, it is important to place these words in the context of the rest of the Buddha’s teachings – which are aimed at the relief of suffering. Dukkha is an inevitable consequence of impermanence, change and interdependence. All the various forms of dukkha arise as a result of our misunderstanding of the everchanging interdependent nature of reality, or of our tendency to desire permanence and stability, even when we know all phenomena come and go, and lack any permanent identity.

While in early Buddhist texts reference is made to ‘release from dukkha’ and ‘cessation of suffering’ – in my view the Buddha is really offering us a path through suffering in all its forms – enabling us to minimise unnecessary suffering, and to live with suffering that arises inevitably in the course of a normal human life. Many aspects of life, such as death, illness and injury, naturally give rise to pain, grief and discomfort – and these are usually impossible to avoid – though we can avoid their undue prolongation. However, what we can do is minimise or avoid unnecessary suffering by transforming our understanding and experience of dukkha. Meditation, empathy and understanding can enable us to change our relationship with, or reaction to, painful experiences and insatiable desires – helping us to develop equanimity, composure and compassion - for ourselves and for all beings. 

So, what are the causes of unnecessary suffering and how can we alleviate it? From a Buddhist perspective unnecessary suffering is caused by three factors: one, anger, hatred and ‘negative’ emotions; two, greed, craving and attachment; and, three, delusion – having a misguided view or understanding of how things are – having a misguided view of the true nature of reality. As I’ve mentioned, some kinds of suffering are an inevitable aspect of life. Aging, illness, injury and death affect us all, and seeing how these processes affect those we love is also hard to bear. Although we can’t avoid these aspects of life, we can learn how to negotiate them and how to lessen the impact they have on us. By changing our relationship with these experiences, we can be less affected by them.

So, how do we reduce suffering? The Buddha proposes three actions that will help:

First, to come to a clear and balanced view of how things are – dharma – the realisation that existence has two primary characteristics: one, impermanence and change, and, two, interdependence and causality. All things are in process – they come and go – whether slow or fast all things are subject to change – things are actually events. Also, everything in the universe is related to, and dependent upon, everything else – there is no entity that exists in isolation, separate from the rest of existence. This includes us and all beings. We are interconnected and interdependent, and any action we take has consequences. The principal of cause and effect is always at work, everywhere in the universe.

The second way we can reduce suffering is by learning how to let go of our attachments and cravings. To some extent this is also helped by understanding that attachments and greed are self-propelling and insatiable – one craving leads to another, gaining one reward or possession only leads us to want more – a cycle that repeats itself endlessly. We may want a new car, a delicious meal, more money, more entertainment, more knowledge, more power, more friends, new ideas, a more satisfying way of life, peace of mind or even enlightenment – whatever it may be, it will almost certainly prove to be insufficient, replaceable by yet another craving or attachment. To understand this cyclical insatiable process is, according to the Buddha, vital, if we are to learn to accept what is, and to learn to let go and reduce the power of our attachments to things that are always changing and slipping through our fingers.

The third way to reduce suffering is to be aware of, to accept and to understand the negative emotions that arise when we feel ourselves to be separate from the rest of existence. Anger, fear, conflict, hatred, envy and other ‘negative’ emotions are, in some way, the product of feelings of isolation, separateness, division, disconnection and alienation. Again, this arises from a misconception about the nature of existence – emotions and attitudes that arise when we can no longer see and feel the interconnectedness of everything and everyone, when we lose sight of the unity of everything and everyone, and can see only enemies, strangers, foreigners and competitors – to be vanquished or feared, beaten or despised – rather than relatives, friends and fellow beings.

Mindful meditation / zazen is a simple and effective method of understanding and alleviating suffering by learning how to achieve a clear, balanced, wise view of how things are – and by lessening the impact of hatred, greed and delusion in our lives. By sitting quietly and calmly, observing the embodied mind without commentary and judgment - letting go of passing thoughts, feelings and sensations - we learn to develop understanding, composure and wellbeing. We can reorientate our minds to a more holistic, less egocentric, perspective from which to see ourselves and the world. A kind of benign compassionate disinterest can be practiced – a holistic awareness of all that comes and goes. In this way we can lessen the many forms of suffering that can affect us and, hopefully, enable us to experience more fully the wonder and joy of just being alive, conscious and connected to all of existence.

This brings me to three terms that are connected to the ways in which we relate to, and deal with, suffering: these are mettā, karunā and ahimsa. These three concepts can be seen as denoting the principles that underpin a healthy, well-balanced and peaceful society. 

Seen from a Buddhist perspective the qualities of karunā, mettā and ahimsa arise naturally from a clear understanding and realisation that all phenomena are impermanent, interconnected and without a fixed separate essence. In this view of the world all boundaries between things are artificial conventions, rather than intrinsic qualities of the world. All phenomena, including human beings, are interdependent and subject to causality. What is done to one affects all the others. In this way we are all related. There is kinship between all beings and at a very fundamental level we all depend upon each other - from a coral reef in a southern-ocean to bacteria in our gut, from a fly on the wall to a Queen in her palace. This is a deeply ecological view of the universe.

‘Mettā,’ is a Pali word, derived from, mitta, ‘friend’ – it is most often translated as ‘loving-kindness’, but a more accurate rendition might be ‘true friendliness’. In the Itivuttaka, a text in the Pali Canon, the Buddha is reported as saying that friendliness (metta) ‘is the emancipation of mind … friendliness radiates, shines and illuminates.’ In other words, with friendliness we are warmed, and we give warmth; when we are friendly we are lit from within and we light others. In this way, in the light of friendship, we see others as relatives, treating them with respect, tolerance and warmth. This idea of friendship radiating out from person to person is taken as a model for how a just, equitable and peaceful society might function.

The Sanskrit word, ‘Karunā,’ is usually translated as compassion, and our word, ‘compassion’ comes from a Latin root, compati, made up of com, meaning ‘together,’ and pati, meaning ‘to suffer.’  In other words, the term ‘compassion’ combines a sense of ‘fellow-feeling’, of shared suffering and of empathy, and a feeling of care and kindness towards those who suffer as we do. Karuna, grows out of a deep feeling of connectedness and a shared condition of being. Karuna, ‘compassion,’ like friendliness, or metta, is grounded in non-attachment, which arises from an understanding of the basic conditions of existence. Jack Kornfield (2000), a well-known Buddhist teacher and social activist, makes a distinction between a feeling grounded in attachment – ‘I love this person or this thing. I want to hold it…to keep it’ – wanting to grasp, hold and possess for oneself - and feelings grounded in non-attachment which are open, appreciative and selfless.

The last of these three terms, ‘ahimsa,’ is a Sanskrit word defined as, ‘not to cause injury through actions, words or thoughts,’ and, ‘non-violence.’ If all beings (indeed all things) are interdependent and in constant interaction, any action, however small, affects all others. If all things are interconnected, and therefore inseparable, in any absolute sense, there can be no clear and fixed boundary between oneself and the universe. We are porous beings in a permeable world. We are inseparable from what we are not; we and the universe are one integrated entity. Thus, to injure or harm any part of the universe is to harm ourselves. 

The purpose of Buddhist meditation, in its many forms, is to enable us to develop non-possessive awareness, empathy and kinship, through a clear-sighted contemplation of how things are. Feelings of kinship, compassion and non-violence tend to give rise to tolerance, mutual respect, open-mindedness and non-dogmatic enquiry. Seen from a Buddhist perspective these are qualities that are necessary for the development and maintenance of a just, balanced and peaceful society.

References

Kornfield, Jack. 2000. After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart grows Wise on the Spiritual Path. London: Rider.