The cause & nature of existential suffering
& the five types of ignorance
By Ram Ramanuja Acharya (Rami)
All beings are striving for the maximum amount of happiness & trying to avoid suffering. But eventually the realisation dawns, that however hard one may strive for material happiness there is always something missing, a feeling of emptiness, dissatisfaction & unease – this is called the ‘progress paradox’. Everything is in a constant state of change; pleasure alternating with sorrow, hope alternating with disappointment, meetings ending in partings & permanent peace & happiness always elusive. The greatest crisis that those living in a modern world experience is the lack of meaning in life. In the affluent west, ‘consumerism’ is the great provider of meaning & pleasure. Having things, & being something, provide some temporary meaning & satisfaction to millions of bored middle class yuppies all over the world. The low level sense of anxiety & inner emptiness which is part of the unenlightened human condition is one of the main forces that the advertising industry uses to manipulate us so skillfully. So we purchase an endless series of products & services all intended to give us some sense of fullness & value & meaning to life. Modern life takes on a normative form of low-level anxiety & quiet desperation.
According to Vendanta Desikan, all forms of material pleasure & happiness & all material goals have seven defects known as Sapta-dosha.
Seven defects are:
1. Their results are trivial
2. They are transient & impermanent
3. Not easily obtained, they require much effort & are time consuming
4. Ultimately ending in grief & disappointments
5. Accompanied by disappointments & supported only by struggle
6. Incompatible with our essential being
7. They’re based upon a false sense of self & lead to further perpetuation of this delusive sense of identity
The nature of life
Why should one investigate the nature of Ultimate Reality? What is it that impels one to undertake the path of spiritual investigation & practice? All schools of Indian philosophy begin with the realization that life presents itself as the psycho-drama of universal suffering. The Gita (Hindu Sacred Text) refers to this world as ‘impermanent & the abode of suffering’. These are the two outstanding characteristics of all phenomena. All sentient beings are suffering in some way or other & all are seeking freedom from suffering & the attainment of happiness.
The nature of suffering
“Suffering” in Sanskrit is called ‘duh-kha’ which literally means ‘bad-space’. Happiness is ‘su-kha’ – good-space. A ‘bad’ space is a closed & confined space which does not permit growth, learning, expansion of being & the unfolding of one’s potential. A ‘good’ space is an open & free space, one in which there is growth, unfoldment, learning & freedom. Duhkha is also defined as the differential between our expectations & what we actually achieve. The greater the differential between expectation & outcome the greater the intensity of the suffering. Duhkha is not a qualitative assessment of one’s own life, but an ontological thesis – which means an objective statement about the human condition.
A comprehensive modern description of Duhkha is:—
Disturbance, irritation, dejection, worry, despair, fear, dread, anguish, anxiety; vulnerability, injury, inability, inferiority; sickness, aging, decay of body and faculties, senility; pain/pleasure; excitement/boredom; deprivation/excess; desire/frustration, suppression; longing/aimlessness; hope/hopelessness; effort, activity, striving/repression; loss, want, insufficiency/satiety; love/lovelessness, friendlessness; dislike, aversion/attraction; parenthood/childlessness; submission/rebellion; decision/indecisiveness, vacillation, uncertainty.
(Francis Story in Suffering, in Vol. II of The Three Basic Facts of Existence.)
Duhkha arises from three sources:-
1. Self – issues relating to one’s own body & mind complex
2. Others – people, animals, objects etc
3. Elemental – heat, cold, storms, volcanoes, earth quakes etc
The aim of the Nyaya is to enable us to attain the highest goal of life which is Liberation (moksha, nirvana) from suffering and the cycle of rebirth.
According to the Nyaya system the world presents itself to the mind as a chain of consequences which begins with ignorance and ends in suffering. In order to attain Liberation the sequence needs to be broken.
misapprehension faults activity rebirth suffering.
[ajñana] [dosha] [karma] [janma] [duhkha]
Misapprehension — the inability to see things as they really are.
The superimposition of false ideas and concepts upon reality.
Faults — ego-centrism, and the creation of a vast network of false identities and ideologies in order to bolster and maintain the ego — activated by the three dynamic forces of attraction, aversion and delusion.
Karma — activity and its reactions in accordance with this false view of ourselves and the world designed to perpetuate our transient selves and to give some meaning to our lives.
Rebirth — in order to actualise the karma that we have created for good or bad.
Suffering — unease, dissatisfaction, unhappiness which is endemic to the human condition.
The way to break this chain is to obtain a fuller understanding of the true-nature of things. When this has been accomplished the misapprehension which consist of a delusive identification with the mind-body complex and clinging to external environment is removed. The faults causing us to like and dislike a thing will no longer exist. When this disappears, there will no longer be any desire which is the stimulus for all action. Cessation from action will break the eternal bond of karma which will then free us from rebirth and its attendant suffering, and enable us to achieve the supreme end of life [moksha]. This goal can putatively be attained by thoroughly realising the four subjects established in the Nyaya sutras, namely:
(l) the thing to be avoided (ie., duhkha)
(2) its cause (ie., desire, attachment and ignorance)
(3) absolute avoidance
(4) and the means of such avoidance (ie., true knowledge of things as they really are)
The system of Nyaya enables us to discern the true from the false, and ensures the avoidance of false doctrines while knowledge matures into the dawning of wisdom.
Paradigm
The problem facing all beings is suffering or Duhkha. Duhkha in our contemporary sociological milieu where the basic concerns of life are taken care of, manifests itself more as a feeling of unease or emptiness, confusion about goals, or a frustration with our inability to achieve our goals and self-actualize.
The general ontological (science of being) suffering common to all sentient beings is codified by the doctrine of the six afflictions.
1. The act of being born causes suffering to both mother & baby.
2. Sickness is universal & when examined from a microbial point of view the body is constantly at war with invading pathogens – disease results when the body loses the battle. It would seem then that disease is inevitable & only temporarily being held at bay.
3. Hunger & thirst
4. Changes & transformation
5. Old age – the degenerative process & social isolation & the inability to fulfill one’s simple desires are a strong source of suffering.
6. Death – the fear of death as well as the actual process is the prime source of anxiety to all sentient beings.
Life in this mortal realm is in fact a mixture of pleasure & pain. There is no pleasure in which there is not an element of pain & no pain in which there is not an element of joy. Cycles of joy alternate with cycles of grief. When one investigates more closely one finds that every thing & every state is temporary & fleeting like foam on water. So even pleasure when experienced, is only momentary, & even at the moment of enjoyment the fear of cessation of that joy arises. Attachment arises with the pleasurable experience & aversion from the unpleasant. After the experience has passed, attachment gives rise to craving for repetition & repeated experience of pleasure gives rise to clinging. This cycle of the pursuit of pleasure & the avoidance of suffering, craving & clinging are the principle causes of the lack of true happiness. True happiness can only arise when one has overcome both attraction & aversion, clinging, craving & stopped the endless pursuit of happiness in that which is unstable & fleeting.
The nature of experience
Although every object of the senses is capable of giving pleasure; the same objects are also capable of causing suffering – all depending upon one’s character, conditioning & desires. At one time heat of cold is pleasurable & under other circumstances the same temperature is unbearable.
Food taken when hungry cause great enjoyment, once satiation is reached the same food causes nausea & vomiting. Interest in sex is intensified up until the point of climax & then comes the anticlimax & sometimes total disinterest in the person who previously aroused lust. &so it is with all things – it is not the object per se that gives joy or sorrow but one’s attitude towards the object. The mind is the source of the world we create for ourselves. Even one’s attitudes are unstable & changing – love frequently turns to hate, satisfaction to disgust, praise to censure, attraction to aversion etc. stability & continuity are not found either in the external physical world or the internal mental world & one is swung like a pendulum from one extreme to the other – the tick-tock effect. In every episode of joy there is the seed of suffering & in every episode of suffering there is the seed of joy.
The causes of suffering
This cycle of suffering / dissatisfaction /dis-ease / unhappiness is set in motion through attraction to the pleasurable & aversion from the unpleasurable. This swinging from one to the other is founded upon ignorance of one’s true nature, thus the basis of unhappiness in the world is spiritual ignorance.
The Hindu paradigm of life
The Hindu paradigm of life can be summarized as follows:
1. We are ignorant of our true nature, of who we really are
2. We identify with the mind / body complex
3. In order to validate our identity & give meaning to our existence, we create a vast network of false personalities & role-playing based upon the identification with the mind / body complex. We identify as humans, as members of a race, or country, as members of a family; spouse, sons, & daughters etc. we create identities as members of social groups, or we may join a number of various interest groups, we identify as professionals, as teenagers, as adults etc, etc.
4. These false identities then produce the three psychological forces of attraction for those people & objects which ratify & support our identities & roles, & repulsion from those that don’t. We create divisions based on value judgments – ‘good & bad’; & various dynamics of ‘us & them.’ We develop an intense attachment to these identities.
5. These three forces impel us to act in various ways predominantly conditioned by selfishness or self-promotion.
6. The actions lead to results which are either pleasurable, painful or neutral.
7. The experiences produce ‘indents or impressions’ in the mind.
8. Subliminal activators, Samskaras or seeds are created which sink to the bottom of the mind & await some opportunity – usually triggered by some associative factor – in order to rise to the conscious mind & activate a desire of craving.
9. Groups of these Samskaras form an individual disposition – one’s innate character.
10. Our character or disposition determines our tendencies to act in particular ways & to desire specific objects of self-gratification.
11. We then embark on a course of life through samsara (cycle of birth & death) which leads to further entrenchment in the cycle of becoming & further suffering.
12. The way to break this cycle & to achieve perfect harmony & equilibrium is to pursue the path of spiritual knowledge – jnana
The Buddhist paradigm
1. We maintain wrong views about ourselves & the world. We do not wish to recognise that our lives are impermanent, insubstantial & intrinsically unsatisfactory. We deeply believe that we will be able to achieve lasting happiness if only we could get what we want.
2. This spiritual ignorance is due to our mental conformations or impressions (samskaras) from our past lives.
3. These subtle impressions are supported by consciousness which is always embodied & has content. The content is determined by the six senses.
4. The nature of our sense organs determines the type of contact that we have with the external world. Perceptions give rise to feelings. Every sensation, thought, memory & emotion has a corresponding feeling-tone which may be pleasant, painful or indifferent.
5. Up to this point all links in the chain of causation are the inevitable outcome of our past lives. The effect of prarabdha karma which cannot be changed. The future depends upon how we use the given potential at this point in time & space.
6. Usually we respond to the feeling-tone by craving in the case of pleasure & aversion in the case of pain. Craving gives rise to grasping & attachment. Whatever it is that we cling to, determines our character in a particular way & thus a new existential situation is born. These circumstances in turn wane, decay & pass away leading to suffering.
To give true & ultimate meaning to life is the function of Dharma of the Spiritual Life. The decision to investigate the spiritual option usually comes from the realisation of the unsatisfactory nature of human existence with all its shortcomings, & the apparent meaninglessness of a life of vegetating & consumerism. When one becomes disenchanted with life as one lives it, questions begin to arise in the mind, due to previous merit & the Grace of God. Questions about who we are, what is the purpose of life & how do we achieve permanent happiness. Earnestly seeking the answer to these questions leads to introspection & the examination of one’s real nature, one’s position in society & in the universe. Eventually one attains the realisation that life is predominantly characterised by three states; suffering & confusion, both of which are based upon spiritual ignorance. One then begins the Spiritual Quest – a journey in search of enlightenment & the supreme Happiness or Beatitude.
Summary
Physical suffering manifests in six forms:
1. The process of birth
2. Transformation & change
3. Sickness & physical infirmity
4. Hunger & thirst
5. Old age
6. The process of dying
Ontological suffering arises from:
1. Ignorance of our true nature
2. The rise of identity based upon having, doing & being
3. Attraction
4. Aversion
5. Clinging
Mental suffering arising from confusion & ignorance manifests itself in five ways:
1. Identity crisis
2. Confusion about the purpose of life
3. Frustration in achieving one’s goals & the craving for permanence
4. Rejection of, or questioning the existence of the Divine Nature
5. Despairing of life & desiring it to end.
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