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2nd Noble Truth

2nd Noble Truth “ ‘I have sons, I have wealth’: thinking thus the fool is troubled. Indeed, he himself is not his own. How can sons or wealth be his?” The Second of the Four Noble Truths is Samudaya, translated as craving and greed. This is a practice that is completely inescapable of all people. There is no one who does not want, no one who could not think of just one more thing to make him self “happy”. It is the given nature of all people to desire what the do not have, no matter who they are, what they say, or how Imagine a man attempting to find inner peace by meditating atop a mountain. He sits there at peace with the beauty of the world around him, feeling harmonious with nature. He thinks he desires nothing else but to sit there and be one with the world, but in actuality he craves this time alone and desires this peace that he has found to make him feel blissful. Now think of the man who sits behind a corporate desk all day earning more money than he is capable of ever spending. He has every new gadget and technological advance ever known to man, and seems happy with his personal belongings. But every time a new computer software package comes out, he is the first one in line at the store. Every time a newer, more expensive BMW hits the market, he is driving it. He is happy with what he has until something better than his belongings comes along. He constantly desires to have the best in order to be happy, and he I, too, am guilty of all four of the Nutriments stated: kabalinkarahara, phassahara, vinnanahara, and manosancetanahara. These are explained as being necessary for existence but all are traps of cravings and desire. The first, kabalinkarahara, is translated as ordinary material food, which is one of the easiest ruts to fall into when considering greed and craving. If I have a rice cake or a funnel cake sitting in front of me, chances are I’m going to be grabbing the funnel cake. Either one will sustain life, but of course I will be wanting the one which I feel tastes The second, phassahara, is contact with the outside world. This is inescapable and influential at the same time. There is never really a time when the outside world does not have an effect on you, whether in a positive or negative way. I personally can turn off my television, radio and computer, kick my roommate out of our room, put away all books and magazines and sit in complete silence to think. However, almost everything that I think about is something that has to do with other people or their reactions to me. “What should I wear Friday night on my date?”, “I wonder if the guy in my Interior Design class thinks I’m cute”, “Should I start my Religion paper soon?” Every bit of my stream of consciousness is taken over by society and the reaction they have to me, which is easily recognized as selfish and greedy behavior. Vinnanahara, the third Nutriment, is simple consciousness of what is around us. From my understanding, what is around us is temptation, evil, and around every turn is the chance to be pleasured by something of a bad nature. We all have faced this, whether it is passing a drug dealer on the corner or passing a donut shop on the street; temptation comes with being aware of Finally, manosancetanahara, the mental violation, the thoughts that creep into your mind about anything and everything. These are the most private thoughts, the deepest of all things ever imagined in one’s head. For me personally, this is when I question myself, my surroundings, the way I handle things, my God, my family, and my life in general. I question the actions I make and the thoughts I think. I wonder about the afterlife and reincarnation. I ponder war and peace, nuclear weapons and political situations. These are the thoughts that are never My understanding of the Second Noble Truth has greatly increased, and I feel that this is an experience all go through. The entire concept of desire is inescapable in our day and time, and that is something that we as spiritual beings have to deal with. Bibliography:

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