Thinking and reflecting over forms, over sounds, over odours, over tastes, over bodily contacts and over ideas, is delightful, is pleasureable to men; there this craving takes its rise, there it springs up, there finds a foothold,

The six-fold Thinking and Reflecting.

there strikes its roots.

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Thus, Brothers, one beholds a form, with the eye, hears a sound with the ear, smells an odour with the nose, experiences a taste with the tongue, feels a contact with the body, cognises an idea with the mind. If now the form, sound, odour, taste, bodily contact or idea, is pleasureable, one is seized with longing therefore, and if unpleasant, with aversion.

The Origin of Becoming.

Now whatever sort of sensation (Vedanā) he experiences, a pleasant sensation or an unpleasant sensation or a neutral sensation, he approves of and cherishes the sensation and clings to it, and whilst he approves of and cherishes the sensation and clings to it, desire springs up in him; but desire after sensations means Clinging to Existence (upādāna); Clinging to Existence causes the Process of Becoming (Bhava); theprocess of Becoming (self-affirming action or Kamma) produces future Birth (jāti); Birth gives rise to decay and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair. Thus arises the whole mass of suffering.

This, Brothers, is called the Holy Truth of the Cause of Suffering.

The visible Cause of Suffering.

Impelled verily by sensuous Craving attracted by sensuous Craving, moved by sensuous Craving, only out of vain Craving, kings war with kings, princes with princes, priests with priests, citizens with citizens; the mother quarrels with the son, the son with the mother, the father with the son, the son with the father; brother quarrels with brother, brother with sister, sister with brother, friend with friend. Thus given to dissension, quarrelling and fighting, they fall upon one another with stones, sticks, and swords. And so they hasten towards death, or deathly hurt. But this, Brothers, is the misery of sensuous craving, is the visible Cause of Suffering, arisen through sensuous Craving, brought about through sensuous Craving, upheld by sensuous Craving, absolutely dependent upon sensuous Craving.

12. Strictly speaking, it is the eye-consciousness that perceives forms by means of the sensitivity of the eye; hence the eye of itself cannot see but is merely a means of seeing. The like holds good of ear, nose, tongue, and body.

And further, Brothers, attracted by sensuous Craving, moved by sensuous Craving, only out of vain Craving, people break contracts, rob others of their possessions, steal, betray, seduce married women. Then kings have such criminals caught and condemn them to be beaten with whips, sticks, or rods; to have their hands, or their feet, or both hands and feet cut off; to be torn in pieces by dogs, to be impaled alive, to be beheaded. And so they hasten towards death or deathly hurt. But this, Brothers, is the misery of sensuous Craving, is the visible Cause of Suffering arisen through sensuous Craving, brought about through sensuous Craving, upheld by sensuous Craving, absolutely dependent upon sensuous Craviug.

The concealed Cause of Suffering.

And further, Brothers, impelled by sensuous Craving attracted by sensuous Craving, only out of vain Craving, they walk the evil way in deeds, the evil way in words, the evil way in thoughts; and walking the evil way in deeds, the evil way in words, the evil way in thoughts, at the dissolution of the body, after death they go downwards to a state of suffering, they come to ruin and disaster, for it is said: "Nor in the air, nor in the ocean's depths, nor in the mountain caves nor anywhere in all the worlds, find'st thou a place where thou art freed from evil deeds." (Cf. Note 10.) But this, Brothers, is the misery of sensuous Craving, is the concealed Cause of suffering arisen through sensuous Craving, brought about through sensuous Craving, upheld by sensuous Craving, absolutely dependent upon sensuous craving.

There will come a time, Brothers, when the great worldocean will dry up, vanish and be no more. But verily, Brothers, there is no end to the Suffering of beings buried in blindness, who, seized by craving are ever brought again and again to renewed birth and hasten through the endless round of rebirths.

There will come a time, Brothers, when the mighty earth will be devoured by fire, perish and be no more. But, Brothers, verily there is no end to the Suffering of beings buried in blindness, who, seized by Craving are ever brought again and again to renewed birth and hasten through the endless rouud of re-births.

THIRD TRUTH.

THE HOLY TRUTH OF THE CESSATION OF SUFFERING.

What now, Brothers, is the Holy Truth of the Cessation of Suffering?

It is the complete extinction of this Craving, the rejection, dispelling, freeing, getting rid of it.

But how, Brothers, does this Craving come to disappear? Where is it dissolved? Wherever in the world there is the delightful and the pleasureable, there this Craving comes to disappear; there it is dissolved.

The Cessation of the process of Becoming.

Thus, Brothers, released from Sensual Craving, (Kāmataṇhā), released from the Craving for Existence (Bhava-taṇhā), one does not return, one does not enter again into the Process of Becoming for, it is even through the total extinction of this Craving, that the Clinging to Existence (Upādānam) ceases; with the cessation of the Clinging to Existence, the Process of Becoming ceases; with the cessation of the Process of Becoming,) self-affirming Action or Kamma ceases; with the cessation of self-affirming Action, Rebirth is done away; through not being reborn, decay, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, grief and despair cease. Thus comes about the cessation of the whole mass of suffering.

This, Brothers, is called the holy truth of the Cessation of Suffering.

But this is the Peace, this is the Highest, namely the cessation of all existence, the freeing one's Nibbana, self from every form of Becoming, the annihilation of Craving, the turning away from desire, cessation and Nibbana; for, excited by Greed (Lobha), Brothers, furious with Anger (Dosa), blinded by Delusion, (Moha), with mind over whelmed, with mind enslaved, men reflect upon their own misfortune, men reflect upon the misfortune of others, men reflect upon the misfortune of both themselves and others, men experience mental suffering and anguish. If however Greed and Anger and Delusion are done away, men reflect neither upon their own misfortune, nor upon the misfortune of others, nor upon the misfortune of both themselves and others, men experience no mental suffering and anguish. Thus, Brothers, is Nibbāna visible in this life and not merely in the future; inviting, attractive, accessible to the wise disciple.

And the Saint (Araham) whose peace is no more disturbed by anything whatsoever in all the world, the pure one, the sorrowless, the freed from

The Araham.

Craving (Taṇhā), he has swum across the Ocean of Birth and Decay.

He truly penetrates to the cause of sensations, enlightened is his mind. And for a disciple so delivered, in whose heart dwells peace, there is no longer any pondering over what has been done, and naught more remains for him to do. Just as a rock of one solid mass remains unshaken by the wind, even so, neither forms, nor sounds, nor odours, nor tastes, nor contacts of any kind; neither the desired nor the undesired can cause such an one to waver. Steadfast is his mind, gained is Deliverance.

Verily, Brothers, there is a condition, where there is neither the Solid (Pathavi), nor the Fluid (Apo) neither Heat (Tejo), nor Motion. (Vayo), neither this world nor any other

The Unchangeable.

world, neither sun nor moon.

This, Brothers, I call neither arising nor passing away, neither standing still nor being born nor dying. There, is neither substance nor development nor any basis. This is the End of Suffering.

There is, Brothers, an unborn, an unoriginated, that has not become, that has not been formed. If, Brothers, there were not this unborn, this unoriginated, that has not become, that has not been formed, escape from the world of the born the originated, the become, the formed, would not be possible.

But since, Brothers, there is an unborn, an unoriginated, that has not become, that has not been formed, therefore is escape possible from the world of the born, the originated, the become, the formed.13

13. Just as the effects produced by the wind, in its manifestations as the rising and falling of the water, give rise to the illusion of a wave apparently hastening over the surface of a pond, and these effects, together with the illusion dependent upon them, come to an end soon after the wind has ceased, --in exactly the same way, the effects (Kamma) produced by Tanha (giving rise to the illusion of an I-being apparently hastening from birth to birth, through its manifestations, the arising and decaying of the Khandhas) must, when once Tanha is extinguished, themselves also shortly thereafter, become wholly extinguished, together with the illusion dependent upon them, namely, the so-called I. No annihilation of a personal being has taken place, no cessation of an absolute existence, for that which we call existence is, as we saw, only a continuous arising and passing away, hence, a pure unreality, an illusion; and the reality, that which knows neither arising nor passing away, neither birth nor death,—which is eternally unchangeable ;--this is precisely the cessation, the extinction (Nibbāna) of this illusion.

There is thus an extinction (Nibbāna) of Tanha (Kilesaparinibbāna, literally, extinction of passion), which takes place even during the lifetime of the Araham, namely at the moment of his attaining Arahatship, and an extinction of Kamma and of the Khandhas (Khandhaparinibbāna), which takes place at his death.

THE FOURTH TRUTH.

THE HOLY TRUTH OF THE PATH THAT LEADS TO THE CESSATION OF

The Two Ex

tremes, (Sensuality, Self-mortification)

and

SUFFERING.

To abandon one's self to Sensuality, to the base, the common, the vulgar, the unholy, the harmful, and also to abandon one's self to Selfmortification, to the painful, the unholy, the harmful:-both these two extremes the Perfect One has rejected, and found out the Middle Path which makes one both to see and to know, which leads to peace, to discernment, to enlightenment and to extinction (Nibbäna).

the Middle Path.

It is the "Eight-fold Path," the way The Eight-fold that leads to the cessation of suffering,

Path.

namely:

a

14. All unselfish and higher endeavour is of necessity based upon certain degree of Right Understanding, whether this endeavour is met with among Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, Muhamedans, or even amongst socalled Materialists; this, in fact, is the very reason why Right Understanding takes rank as the First Link of the Eight. fold Path. The order, however, in which the different links of the Path are brought to perfection is, Sila, Samadhi, and Paññā, or, in English: Morality, Concentration, and Enligh tenment. Right Understanding or Enlightenment is thus the Alpha and the Omega of the entire teaching of the Buddha.

15. In every good thought (Kusala-citta) there are always present at least four Links of the Path, namely, Right Mindedness, Right Effort, Right Attentiveness, Right Concentration. In the same way, every evil thought (Akusala citta) is accompanied by Wrong Mindedness, Wrong Effort, Wrong Attentiveness, and Wrong Concentration.

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