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task which is so great that you give 
up hope of 
ever completing it. 
6. Exposure to hateful things 
[apiyehi sampayoga]: 
The Buddha characterized this 
form of suffering 
as the sort of cloudedness of mind, 
grief and melancholy 
which result from coming into 
contact 
with those things to which we are 
averse. The 
things which make us feel averse 
may come via 
our five senses — we feel aversion 
and would 
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like to remove those hateful things 
or escape 
from their grasp — but when we 
can't it only 
adds to the suffering in our mind. 
7. Separation from loved ones and 
treasured things 
[piyehi vipayoga]: If we are the 
sort of person 
who wishes for fulfilment by the 
sense-pleasures 
and habitually indulges the senses, 
when we are 
eventually separated from such 
sources of pleasure, 
the heartbreak of parting is the 
characteristic 
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of this sort of suffering. Separation 
from loved 
ones (like close relations who pass 
away) or from 
treasured things (possessions, 
home or honours) 
will bring us misery for as long as 
we still harbour 
these attachments in our hearts. 
8. Disappointment [alAbha]: The 
Buddha divided 
this category of suffering into two 
parts —physical 
disappointment and spiritual 
disappointment. 
Supposing in spite of working hard 
and having 
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all the necessary patience in the 
face of hardship, 
a person still doesn't manage to 
earn their living 
successfully - physical 
disappointment is what they 
feel as the result. If a person 
hankers after more 
abstract things like honours, but is 
unable to procure 
all that they are looking for, 
spiritual disappointment 
is what they feel as the r esult. For 
as 
long as we still harbour such 
disappointment in 
our hearts, they will continue to 
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bring us misery. 
For people in general who never 
studied the 
Blessing Thirty-Three: Seeing the 
Four Noble Truths 375 
Dhamma or listened to sermons 
concerning suffering, 
when they are overtaken by 
old-age, sickness 
or death, it comes as a major 
shock. As for those 
who have achieved some level of 
enlightenment or 
have heard the teaching of the 
Lord Buddha, the 
inevitability of such suffering 
presents no surprise. 
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Faced by suffering, the wise reflect 
that all beings 
are subject to suffering, 
irrespective of whether they 
are possessed of supra-normal 
powers — no matter 
how rich or influential a person 
might be, one 
doesn't feel one is being singled 
out for particular 
bad luck — all are equal in the 
face of suffering. 
Thus, to realize the reality of 
suffering for what it 
really is, to know the Noble Truth 
of Suffering, is 
indeed one strength of the 
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Enlightened Ones. 
The realization of the Noble Truth 
of Suffering 
has been achieved independently 
by all the Buddhas 
and paccekabuddhas. As for the 
arahants and 
various enlightened disciples of the 
Buddha — it 
has only been as the result of the 
teaching of the 
Buddha that such an insight has 
been attained. 
B.2 The Noble Truth of the 
Origin of Suffering 
The Pali word used for this Truth 
is samudaya' 
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which means the `origin' of 
Suffering. When people 
are ignorant of the real reason 
behind their suffering, 
they tend to clutch at straws —
blaming anything 
they can think of (but themselves). 
Some 
blame the gods and deities, some 
say `that it is God's 
way of testing one's patience' or 
'that it is God's 
punishment'. Some say the victim 
has `fallen prey 
to the local spirits or to the Devil'. 
It is like people 
who don't know the reason for an 
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economic crisis 
will blame anything they can think 
of— e.g. the 
government or foreign countries —
but they never 
think of blaming themselves or the 
laziness of their 
fellow countrymen. Some people 
will always find 
someone to blame whether it is 
their husband or 
wife or the government. If they fail 
their examinations 
they blame their teachers. They 
will do anything 
to make sure that they pass the 
buck. 
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It is only the Buddha who taught 
us to blame ourselves 
— to blame ourselves for not 
having completely 
dealt with the craving that remains 
in the 
mind. The Buddha taught that we 
suffer because 
we still have defilements in the 
mind. The defilements 
in the mind create craving [taAhA] 
which expresses 
itself in different ways. The Lord 
Buddha 
taught the existence of three sorts 
of craving 
(A.iii.445): craving for 
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sense-pleasure [kAmataAhA], 
craving for the form realms 
[bhavataAhA] and craving 
for the formless realms 
[vibhavataAhA]. 
1. Craving for Sense-Pleasure: 
Craving for sensepleasure 
is the grasping of the mind when it 
iS 
under the influence of greed or 
desire for the 
objects of the senses i.e. images, 
sounds, perfumes, 
tastes and touching. It is the 
craving of 
those who think that true happiness 
can be obtained 
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via sense pleasures. Thus such 
people 
wish to be reborn in the human 
realm or one of 
the heavens, all of which are in the 
Sphere of 
Sense Pleasure [kAmabhava]. 
Skilful-minded 
people with such an attitude to life, 
try to do as 
many meritorious actions as 
possible (e.g. keeping 
the Precepts or being generous) in 
order to 
be reborn in heaven. Such an 
attitude is one 
driven by craving for 
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sense-pleasure and the 
Lord Buddha enumerated it as one 
of the Noble 
Truths of the Origin of Suffering. 
2. Craving for the Form Realms: 
Craving for the 
Form Realms is the attitude of 
those who wish 
to be reborn in the BrahmA-world 
or the Realms 
of Form [rEpabhava]. Such people 
believe that 
being able to attain the 
BrahmA-world (to be reunited 
with God etc.) will allow them to 
escape 
from the suffering of birth, old age, 
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sickness and 
death. Such people devote all their 
efforts to the 
attainment of the form-absorptions 
[jhAna] in 
order to pass away into the 
BrahmA-world at 
death. Spiritual practitioners who 
subscribe to 
this attitude, having developed a 
certain degree 
of meditation, will acquire the 
ability to recollect 
their previous lives and will know 
what form 
they had taken in previous lives. 
When passing 
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away, the highest realm in which 
they can be reborn 
will be the Form-BrahmA world. 
Such an 
attitude is one driven by craving 
for the BrahmAworld 
and the Lord Buddha enumerated 
it as 
one of the Noble Truths of the 
Origin of Suffering. 
3. Craving for the Formless 
Realms: Craving for 
the Formless Realms is the attitude 
of those who 
376 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
wish to be reborn in the formless 
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BrahmA-world 
or the formless Realms 
[arEpabhava]. Such people 
believe that being able to attain the 
formless 
BrahmA-world will allow them to 
escape eternally 
from rebirth in lower realms and 
that it will 
allow them to attain Nirvana. 
Spiritual practitioners 
who subscribe to this attitude, who 
have 
developed a certain degree of 
meditation, will 
acquire the ability to know what 
awaits them 
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after death. The limit of the 
knowledge of such 
practitioners are the 
Formless-BrahmA Realms 
— knowledge gained as the result 
of developing 
the formless absorptions 
[arEpa-jhAna]. Such ascetics 
misunderstand that being reborn in 
the Formless 
BrahmA-world will release them 
from suffering 
— thus all their time in the human 
world is 
spent trying to develop the 
formless absorptions 
in order to try to be born in the 
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Formless-BrahmA 
Realms. Such an attitude is one 
driven by craving 
for the Formless-BrahmA world 
and the Lord Buddha 
enumerated it as one of the Noble 
Truths of 
the Origin of Suffering. 
The wise recognize these three 
forms of craving as 
the Noble Truth of the Origin of 
Suffering because 
they are the prime-mover for all 
subsequent forms 
of suffering. Craving for sense 
pleasure is the origin 
of all the suffering connected with 
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rebirth in the 
Sphere of Sensual Pleasure. 
Craving for the Brahma 
world or the Formless Brahma 
World are the origins 
of all the suffering connected with 
rebirth in the 
Spheres of the Form-BrahmAs and 
the Formless-
BrahmAs respectively. It is for this 
reason that craving 
is explained as being the sole cause 
of all forms 
of suffering — suffering cannot be 
blamed on any 
other thing. If craving can be 
avoided, the suffering 
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of birth, old age and death will be 
escaped. 
Craving has been responsible for 
keeping beings 
in the endless cycle of birth and 
rebirth in the cycle of 
existence without offering any 
possible refuge. It is 
for this reason that craving has 
been called 'samudaya' 
the Noble Truth of the Origin of 
Suffering. 
B.3 Noble Truth of the Cessation 
of Suffering 
The Pali word used for this Truth 
is `nirodha' which 
means the `extinction' or 
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