Was the Buddha a Pessimist

　　- by S. N. Goenka

　　(The following is an extract from Was the Buddha a Pessimist

　　 published by VRI. It is the translation and adaptation of the VRI Hindi publication Kya Buddha Dukkhavadi The

　　 by S. N. Goenka.)

　　I remember that during my youth, a missionary had come from India to Mandalay. In one of his discourses, he said, The Buddha only taught four things-suffering, the cause of suffering, the eradication of suffering and the path of the eradication of suffering. All he is talking about is suffering! There is no happiness anywhere. There is not a trace of happiness in the Buddha”s teaching. He is a pessimist! The Buddha taught nothing but pessimism. To use the word Noble (arya) for this teaching is wrong. How can suffering be noble

　　 Truth, bliss and absorption are called arya. In the Buddha”s teaching none of these are present!

　　This missionary was a powerful speaker. Being only a teenager I was quite immature, and his speech impressed me. I found his point quite logical: The Buddha”s teaching is full of suffering and totally devoid of happiness.

　　Years later when I realised for myself the true meaning of the four Noble Truths, I became ashamed of my lack of wisdom in my teenage years. While these four Noble Truths of life were expounded in systematic detail by the Buddha, only Vipassana helped me to understand them.

　　Suffering is one truth of life. It arises because of craving and aversion, which in turn arise from taṇhā (trsna). If these causes are eradicated, then the root cause of suffering is eradicated. For this, there is a practical technique, a path, a way: an Eightfold Path, which teaches one, while living a moral and upright life, to master one”s mind and to develop paññā (experiential wisdom).

　　If one practises paññā (prajna), then new impurities do not arise in the mind and the old stock of impurities is automatically eradicated. After all, what is the eradication of suffering

　　 It is a direct result of purifying the mind, the experience of nibbāna (nirvana). Suffering, its cause, its eradication and the path of its eradication are called Noble Truths of suffering. The final aim of the teaching of the Buddha is to eradicate all suffering.

　　The Noble Truth of the eradication of suffering is explained in four aspects:

　　1. Nissaraṇatthā: To come out of all the accumulated impurities (defilements)

　　2. Vivekatthā: To be free from the habit of developing new impurities

　　3. Asankhatattha: To experience for oneself the unborn state where nothing arises

　　4. Amatatthā: To experience for oneself the deathless state where nothing passes away.

　　It became clear to me through the practice of Vipassana that misery arises the moment the mind is defiled with craving or aversion. And misery passes away when the defilements are removed. As many defilements are removed, that much misery is eliminated. If all the past-accumulated impurities are eradicated and the habit of making new impurities is broken, then misery is totally eradicated - dukkhā-nirodhā.

　　In today”s India, nirodhā is used to denote suppression. However, when something is suppressed, it may again raise its head at any time in the future. In contrast, the original meaning of nirodhā is complete uprooting, total eradication. That which cannot arise again is nirodhā. Therefore dukkhā-nirodhā means that dukkhā (suffering) cannot arise again.

　　This was explained using the example of a palm tree. When a palm tree”s top is cut off, the tree does not get new leaves; it dies. Similarly, the path of total eradication of misery is taught in the fourth Noble Truth. Misery cannot arise again. This was called -

　　Pahīno, ucchinnamūlo, tālāvatthukato, anabhāvaṃkato, āyatiṃ anuppādadhammo - destroyed, uprooted, l…

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