Dukkha as Burden

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
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sunnat
Posts: 1431
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 5:08 am

Dukkha as Burden

Post by sunnat »

"Thought is of all things first,
thought is of all things foremost,
of thought are all things made.
If with thought corrupt a man speak or act,
Suffering follows him, even as a wheel follows the hoof of the beast of burden
" .

This is a good translation, IMO, because it brings together suffering and burden. Like this sutta : (bhara)

"At Savatthi. "Monks, I will teach you the burden, the carrier of the burden, the taking up of the burden, and the casting off of the burden. Listen & pay close attention. I will speak."
"As you say, lord," the monks responded.
The Blessed One said, "And which is the burden? 'The five clinging-aggregates,' it should be said. Which five? Form as a clinging-aggregate, feeling as a clinging-aggregate, perception as a clinging-aggregate, fabrications as a clinging-aggregate, consciousness as a clinging-aggregate. This, monks, is called the burden.... "


And there is this:

"Seeing in what way is a monk unbound, clinging to nothing in the world?"
"He should put an entire stop to the root of objectification classification : 'I am the thinker.' "

it is my thought...
And in not identifying with the thought there is and end to clinging to the thought (and a need to defend a thought ends)

This clinging is manifest as burden. The carrier of the burden is the person.

Liberation is the laying down of the burden.

In short, the burden is dukkha. Dukkha is burden.
The heavy weight that descends on the mind body phenomenon, the world, is felt and that feeling is (the) dukkha.

As a feeling it is understood to be not-self and it is constantly changing due to conditions.
When the burden is recognised not mine, not I and not my self, it is calmly, mindfully observed to change and in time pass away.
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