The nature of ultimate reality

DHAMMACAKKAPPAUATTANA -> The four accounts of the first turning of the wheel of Dhamma

• Dukkha:
  • Birth of suffering, aging is suffering sickness is suffering, sorrow, pain and grief are also all parts of suffering. If you dont get what you want in life then you suffer.
  • Dukkha is a fundemental part of life we all suffer in some way.

'The suffering that is waiting in the future we fail to see, we think it will never happen. when it happens, then we know. That kind of suffering inherent in our bodies, is hard to foresee.' (Ajahn Chah)

• Anicca means impermanence
  • This term if not use Dhammacakkappavattanasutta, the idea of change, becoming, decay and rebecoming are key element of existence.
  • The idea that no one thing stays the same
  • Even an individual person is not the same as they were 5 years ago.
  • Anicca is the law of the universe and nothing can escape that.
  • The reason for Dukkha is because of Anicca as people suffer because things in life are impermanent.

Anatta meaning no soul, there can be no soul as a person is always changing

• 5 skandhas:
  • 1. Rupa (form)
    • Human body, the physical body, includes energy, action and all activites of an individual.
  • 2. Vedana (feeling)
    • Immediate environment, the senses.
  • 3. Sanna (perception)
    • Perspiece things and concert the senses to a feeling, e.g how humans can misinterpret things.
  • 4. Sankhara (mental formations)
    • Will to do something determines how a person reacts to the experience that they encounter.
  • 5. Vinnana (consciousness)
    • Base of all our experiences the idea that you exist your self awareness.

The process of Anatta is about appreciating our being for what it is, it is a process of 'self-discovery' this reveals what a human being really is. 

ILLUSTRATION:

• King Milinda is a Greek king who constantly harasses the monks with questions and counter questions, he is an antagonist but is very wise.
• Nagasena who is a great repute amongst Buddhists is described to be like a comic book super hero, who has come to destroy Milinda in a battle to vindicate the Buddhist way. 

MEANING:

• The conclusion is that Nagasena does not exist and that a falsehood has been spoken, this is a response to the Buddhist concept of Anatta.
• The meaning of the Chariot-
  • Factors which cause this designation to arise, that is, factors upon which the chariot is dependent for its existence, it is a composite of many other things.