The Cause of Suffering (revised*)

The cause of suffering is the second noble truth:
the first noble truth is the admission that we are suffering.

Usually, we think that the cause of our suffering is someone or something other than ourselves. To some extent this is true; “They cause my suffering!” But equally, they could say the same of us, “You are the cause of my suffering.”

So, is everyone suffering? The answer is definitely yes, as we do not recognise our enlightenment (wake-fulness).The Buddha means to be awake and purified. We prefer our dreams, full of imagination and emotions; we are sleeping Buddhas.

What really is the cause of our suffering?
Who are we?
And what is enlightenment?
The answer lies in these very questions.

We are enlightened.
We don’t see it,
and so we suffer

So what’s the problem?
Enlightenment is beyond words as it is pure awareness. This is merely being – pure clarity – Buddha, awake with no contaminating odours.

Our enlightened being, at some point, became too excited, too energetic about just be-ing, and turned no-thing into some-thing, creating a feeling of being, an “I”. We are doing this right now!

At this moment, we love our creation more than our true nature – it’s more interesting! And so, enlightened being mistakes its creation for who it is, forgetting itself and making this feeling of “I” solid and seemingly real. We are maintaining this right now!

This ignorance of our true nature created desire-attraction and judgement-repulsion: from then on, everything began to spin out of control. Everything gravitated towards a ‘me’. Then, by having to constantly defend this ‘me’, we create more suffering. The cause of suffering is the maintenance of a fictional “I”. We are doing this right now!

We are so involved in a collective illusion that we cannot see the wood for the trees. And so, everyone around us is to blame, including ourselves.

It’s that simple!

Why is this so important?
While we identify so strongly with this illusory “I”, others can dangle pretty carrots in front of us and lead us wherever they like, as we are not in control – they are! Conversely, we spend all our time dangling pretty carrots in front of others, trying to impress and control them. It’s a collective mess. When pure awareness is forgotten, the dream “I” is in charge. We are maintaining this right now!

Not to worry, there is a way out –
Noble truths three and four are coming up!

It’s so simple, you won’t believe it!

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* This piece is a rewrite of this topic as there’s a constant reviewing of the Buddha’s teachings.