Sunday, March 2, 2008

Carrying the "burden"


"A burden indeed are the five aggregates,
and the carrier of the burden is the person.
Taking up the burden in the world is stressful.
Casting off the burden is bliss."- Buddha -Bhara Sutta -The Burden
Note: Five aggregates are essentially the suffering (stress). Buddha said this in his very first disclosure, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion).
He said: "Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful."
If this is the cause for suffering or stress, why cant we let go this "burden"(five aggregates) and have no more suffering in our lives. This is the because we cling to these five aggregates as we have not eradicated what is called the the personality view or self-identity view (Pali: sakkāya-diṭṭhi). This is the the belief in an "individual self". This is laso one of the "fetters" or a strong bond that attaches us to the samsara. (Please see labels for previous posts on these subjects)

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