Episode 12 Buddha as Doctor: Symptoms, Diagnosis #buddha #nirvana #suffering #buddhism #sacredtexts

If humanity were a patient and you were called upon to treat it, where would you begin? Like a doctor, the Buddha has examined our symptoms, formed a diagnosis, given a prognosis, and he prescribed a cure… This Episode continues to explore the "Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta" (dhumma-chak-ka-pawat-tana soot-a), or, the “Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma” Sutta. I am using the translation of the sutta by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, ie., monk Thanissaro (birth name, Geoffrey DeGraff). The sutta explored in this episode can be found here: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN56_11.html. There is a site where all of his works can be accessed: www.dhammatalks.org. For anyone wishing to compare translations of this Sutta, or others, Access to Insight is a helpful resource: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.than.html. The site is technically “retired” but is a treasure trove of resources, translations, and backgrounds to the many translators, etc. Here is the portion of the sutra being discussed in this Episode: “And what, bhikkhus, is that middle way awakened to by the Tathagata, which gives rise to vision ... which leads to Nibbāna? It is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This, bhikkhus, is that middle way awakened to by the Tathagata, which gives rise to vision, which gives rise to knowledge, which leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna. Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering. Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination. Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it. Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: It is this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This, bhikkhus, is that middle way awakened to by the Tathagata, which gives rise to vision, which gives rise to knowledge, which leads to peace, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna.”