The Five Niyama Dhamma (The Laws of The Universe)

How do some things happen in this universe? Is anyone control those? Are there any reasons for them? Some times these questions come to our minds. Lets see what Buddha said about them.

There are five rules which exist in this universe. We called them as Five Niyama Dharma There are no reasons for them and no one is controlling them. It is the nature of this universe. Following are the description of the five Niyama Dharma.

1. Uthu Niyama

Uthu NIyama is about the climate changing, Seasons changing, earthquakes, floods, droughts, Tsunami etc. everything includes in here. Reactions of the heat, gas, liquidity and solidity makes these things happen and no one is doing those things and no reasons need to them to happen.

2. Beeja Niyama

This is simply about the genetics. In Pali Beeja means the seeds. So this describes that children get their parents genetics and it is a rule of this universe too. Every human, animal and trees inherit their parents genetics. Also they can inherit their actions, way of speaking and lot of things.

3. Dhamma Niyama

Dhamma has lot of meanings in the Buddhism. In here it is about the changing. Everything in this universe are subject to the changing. There is nothing can escape from it. Everything change in every nano second. We are getting old every moment, Trees, mountains, rivers, earth, sun, solar system, galaxies and whole the universe is changing in every nano seconds. No one controls it and it is a law of the universe. This rule makes form of the new solar systems and also destruction too.

4. Kamma Niyama

This is about the famous Karma . You get the relevant results of your good or bad actions and it is called as Krama and it is one of the rules of this universe. Karma provide us fuel to go in this endless Sansara. Lets see about Karma deeply in an another post.

5. Chiththa Niyama

The nature of the mind is described in here. A thought can arise and die in a nano second. Also a thought can go far away of the universe within a nano second. In a moment we can only have single thought and two thoughts can not arise at the same time. Thoughts arise and die as a flow according to the environment and it keeps going without ending. We called this stream of thoughts as the mind. So arising and destruction of the thoughts is not controlled by anyone and it is a law of the universe.

Above Niyama Dharma can be combined. As an example, lets say a new born child gets his parents genetics according to the Beeja Niyama. But sometimes he can be blind due to his bad Karma in this Sansara. So Kamma Niyama also combined with the  Beeja Niyama in there.

Lets say a flood or a drought brings us the death or the sufferings and it is not the Karma. It is the Uthu NIyama. But sometimes, if we have most powerful Karma then we can overcome those. So there are variations. 

Measurements In The Buddhism

When we discuss about the teachings of the Buddhism, There are some distance and time measurements related with those teachings. It is important to identify them to understand some Dhamma explanations. In here I'm going to Introduce those measurement in briefly.

Yodun

When we are talking about the distance in the Buddhism we use Yodun measurement. There are many explanations about this. Some say it is the distance of a strong archer can shoot an arrow. Some say it is a 1 mile or less.Some say it is 16 miles.There is no exact explanation for this. But most people believe it as 16 miles (25.75 Km)

Asankhya

Asankhya is used in many ways. Some times it is used to describe the infinity. Some times it has been used to implement huge numbers. Some are

Asankhya = 10¹⁴⁰
Asankhya = 10¹³³
Asankhya = 10⁹²
Asankhya = 10¹⁶¹

Kalpa

Kalpa is used to measure very long time periods in the Buddhism. There are 4 types of Kalpa.

• Maha Kalpa
• Asankhya Kalpa
• Anthak Kalpa
• Ayu Kalpa

Maha Kalpa

Maha Kalpa is the most largest and unimaginable time period. Buddha has explained it with two examples.

• Lets say there is a stone with 1x1x1 Yodun (25x25x25 km³), and someone is going to rub it with a soft cloth once in every 100 years. The depreciation time of that stone is even less than a Kalpa.
• Lets say there is a city surrounded by a iron cube with 1x1x1 Yodun , and someone is going insert a tiny mustard into it once in every 100 years. The filling time of that cube is even less than a Kalpa.

The creation and the destruction of the world (Chakkawala)  is a circle. It happens again and again.The time duration of a single round (creation & destruction) is a Maha Kalpa

Asankhya Kalpa

 Asankhya Kalpa = 1/4 x Maha Kalpa

There are 4  Asankhya Kalpa for a single creation and destruction round.

• Sanwatta -  time taken for this world to be destroyed(There are 3 ways which the world can be destroyed.It can be destroyed from the fire (Thejo Sanwatta),water (Apo Sanwatta),gas (Wayo Sanwatta))
• Sanwattattai - time after the destruction (empty space)
• Wiwatta - time taken for the world to form
• Wiwattattai - stable time period of the world and living beings arise in this period

Anthak Kalpa

Anthak Kalpa = 1/64 x Asankhya Kalpa (Some says 1/20 x Asankhya Kalpa)

Before come to a Sanwatta Kalpa, living beings can  extinct and arise several times. So without the destruction of the world, livings beings can extinct (few of them will survive) and arise. The time duration between one extinction to an another extinction is called as a Anthak Kalpa.

This extinctions can be happened in 3 ways, 

• Famine extinctions (famine Anthak Kalpa)
• Plague extinctions (plague Anthak Kalpa)
• Weapons/wars extinctions (weapons/wars Anthak Kalpa)

During these extinctions, humans life span increases and decreases time to time (it depends on their good (increase) or bad (decrease) behaviors). It can goes between 10 years to a Asankhya. So we can describe Anthak Kalpa with the time duration between 10 years life span to an another 10 years life span.

10 years life span -> a Asankhya - >10 years life span

The births of the Buddhas can be happen only during the decreasing time periods. But it should not be less than the 100 years life span.

Ayu Kalpa

The maximum life span of a human in his living era. In the Gauthama Buddha's time, life span is 120 and at that time the Ayu Kalpa = 120 years. When in the next Buddha's (Mithree Buddha) time, the life span of a human is 10,000 years. So in that time,  Ayu Kalpa = 10,000 years.

Patichcha Samuppadaya (Dhamma Of The Cause And Effects)

Buddha has rejected the creationism and the existence of the soul.No one create or control this universe and there is nothing called as the soul. Even in reincarnation a soul doesn't exist. So then you have a question. What is it? Who we are? How this all things happen? The answer is the Patichcha Samuppadaya. All the living beings exist due to the Patichcha Samuppadaya. It is an endless cause and effects circle. Patichcha Samuppadaya  is a very rare thing to hear in this Sansara. Only a Buddha can discover this and tell to the world.

Patichcha Samuppadaya is a very deep teaching. Only the wise people can understand this.Once Ananda Thero (Who is the chief of the keeping the Buddhism teachings in the mind among the Bikkhu ) before become Arhath, he had  a discussion with the Buddha. He told the Buddha that "My lord, even thought  Patichcha Samuppadaya is very deep, it seems that it is easy to understand this to me.". Then Buddha replied "Ananda! don't tell like this. Patichcha Samuppadaya is very deep.The living beings in the Sansara can not understand this and therefore they have stuck into this Sansara and can not get away with it. ". So it is very hard to understand this to us even. If we really understand this then we become Arhath.

Since it is a circle there is no a start point or an end point to Patichcha Samuppadaya. There are lot of ways to explain this. But either way it is hard to explain and also hard to understand. It depends on the wisdom which each individual person have. In this post I'm not going to give a deep explanation. I'll just try to summarize the Patichcha Samuppadaya.

There are 12 features in this circle (See the above image). I'm going to start it with Ignorance. Every feature is a result (effect) of the previous reasons(causes) of it. But to reduce the complexity it is described with the previous closest cause.So lets see it like this.

Because of the reason Ignorance then the Volitional Formations arises.
Because of the reason Volitional Formations then the Consciousness arises.

Because of the reason Consciousness then the Body-Mind arises.

Because of the reason Body-Mind then the Sixfold Base arises.

Because of the reason Sixfold Base then the Contact arises.

Because of the reason Contact then the Feeling arises.

Because of the reason Feeling then the Craving arises.

Because of the reason Craving then the Clinging arises.
Because of the reason Clinging then the Becoming arises.
Because of the reason Becoming then the Birth arises.
Because of the reason Birth then the aging,death arises.

Because of the reason Ignorance (Avijja) then the Volitional Formations (Sankara) arises

Ignorance means not knowing about the reality of the universe as it is. Simply not knowing about the noble truths. There is no such a thing called a 'Person'. It is a combination of the five Skandha (eyes,ears,nose,tongue,body). So we are going to keep telling I'm AAA, this is my mother, this is my father, this is my son, this is my wife etc. So we do love to keep continuing these Skandha  as a person in the Sansara without knowing that it is a Dukkha (see here)  and the reason for that is our desires. So keep this continuing we have to do actions (Volitional Formations). Those can be good or bad. It makes us to gather the Karma.So We gather Karma due to the Ignorance.

Because of the reason Volitional Formations (Sankara) then the Consciousness (Wigngnana) arises

There is nothing called the soul. We have a mind. But it is a pack of thoughts. This thoughts arise and die rapidly. It happens in a nano second.May be less than it. This continues and we tell it as the mind. It is like this. We see the river. But it is a continuing flow of water drops in every second. But if we take a single water drop out. then it is not the river. But as a flow of vast amount of them is called as the river. So our mind is same as this and mind+body we call as a 'person'.

When we dying then our last thoughts (consciousness) bind with our Karma or Karma Nimiththa or Gathi Nimithta. Karma is the things what we have done in the previous (good or bad). So if our mind is fill with them then it binds with the Karma. Karma Nimiththa means the things or the living beings related with our Karma. As an example if you are a butcher then you will have the thoughts about the knifes or the chickens you killed. Then that mind binds with the Karma Nimiththa. Sometimes some person can see the next birth place related things when he is dying.That is called  Gathi Nimiththa. If we are going to birth in the human womb, we can see it like a red cloth, If we are going to birth in the hell we can see the fire etc.

The last thought (consciousness) of a person in this life is called as the Chuth Chiththa and the help of the Karma and craving we get our next birth place's first consciousness(Prathisandhi Chiththa) just after the Chuthi Chiththa. After the Chuthi Chiththa then there is nothing as a  person for this world. It is just a dead body to us. But that person's consciousness has continuing in another place as a new birth.

Because of the reason Consciousness (Wigngnana) then the Body-Mind (Namaroopa) arises

As mentioned above, our consciousness continuing to the next birth and get a Prathisandhi Chiththa. Then we get again the bunch of thoughts and we call it as the 'mind'. Also we get the body according to our birth. Note that when we get a birth in the Aroopa Brahma worlds then we don't get a body. we get only the mind.

There are 4 ways which the body can occurs.

• Andaja - birth in the eggs (ex: bird,fish)
• Jalabuja - birth in the womb (ex:human,dog)
• Sansedaja - birth in the things (ex: bacteria)
• Opapathika - birth in a just a moment with a perfect full completed body (ex: gods, Brahma, Pretha, Asura, Living beings in the hell)

Getting a body is related with his birth place(human gets human body, dog gets dog body). It also binds with the Karma too (as an example some can be blind in a human birth due to the effects of his bad Krama). Also it binds with the Niyama Dharma (As an example you get your mother's and fathers's genetics. It is not the Karma)

Because of the reason Body-Mind (Namaroopa) then the Sixfold Base (Salayathana) arises

Because of the body and the mind a person get 6 places to contact with the world.

• Chakkhayathana -  place (for the human, it is a place in the eye) to grab the external images into the image seeing mind 
• Sothayathana - place (for the human, it is a place in the ears) to grab the external sounds into the sound hearing mind 
• Ghanayathana - place (for the human it is a place in the nose) to grab the external smells into the smelling mind 
• Jiwhayathana - place (for the human it is a place in the tongue) to grab  the external taste into the tasting mind 
• Kayathana - place (for the human it is a place in the body) to grab the external touch into the touch feeling mind 
• Manayathana - The consciousness which knowing above five

Because of the reason Sixfold Base (Salayathana) then the Contact (Phassa)arises

With the above 6 places a person is contacting with the world. According to each Salayathana you get the thoughts related with them in every moment. This is the Contact.

Because of the reason Contact (Phassa) then the Feeling (Wedana) arises

When we are contacting with the external world, we can feel it in 3 ways.

• Sukha - good feelings
• Dukkha - bad feelings
• Upekkha - moderate feelings

The feeling is also a relative thing. As an example seeing a lion is good feeling for a lioness. But for a deer it is a bad feeling.

Because of the reason Feeling (Wedana) then the Craving (Thanha) arises

With the feelings we are going to have the desires for everything. All living beings are doing everything to get the luxury. When we are having the bad or moderate feelings then we have desires to get good feelings. if we have good feelings we want more. So this craving not ends. We always want more and more. We can get 6 desires from the 6 fold base.

• Roopa Thanha - desires for the feelings which contact with Chakkhayathana+Manayathana 
• Saddha Thanha - desires for the feelings which contact with Sothayathana+Manayathana 
• Gandha Thanha - desires for the feelings which contact with Ghanayathana+Manayathana 
• Rasa Thanha - desires for the feelings which contact with Jiwhayathana+Manayathana 
• Pottabbha Thanha - desires for the feelings which contact with Kayathana+Manayathana 
• Dhamma Thanha - desires for the feelings which contact with Manayathana 

Because of the reason Craving (Thanha) then the Clinging (Upadhana) arises

Our desires make us to grab the things tightly. In the first, we have weak desire towards any contact or feeling. It can be removed easily. But if the desires arise again and again towards that same contact or feeling then that desires become tight and become the clinging. Then it is very hard to destroy that desires. As an example it is easy to destroy a plant. But when it becomes a huge tree, it is very hard to destroy it.

So with the tight desires we grab the 'ego'. This ego is very hard to remove from ourselves. We do not see the world as it is. So we do not see this ego as the combination of the bunch of thoughts (mind) and the body.

Because of the reason Clinging (Upadhana) then the Becoming (Bhawa) arises

With the clinging a person makes Karma (actions) and this makes him to go with the Sansara circle. This is called as the Bhawa. Among these Karma some Karma does not have enough energy to give a Prathisandhi Chiththa. But others have that energy.

Because of the reason Becoming (Bhawa) then the Birth (Jathi) arises

Bhawa brings us the births again and again in this Sansara. So with the help of the Karma which has enough energy for Prathisandhi Chiththa we get a birth in one of  these worlds.

Because of the reason Birth (Jathi) then the aging,death (Jara) arises

As we all know that after get a birth we definitely getting old and finally the death. It is described in here.

This is the simple summarized explanation of the Patichcha Samuppadaya. But There are more very deep explanations about this and it is hard to explain it in a single post. Patichcha Samuppadaya can be explained with even 3 births and we can divide these 12 into them. Also we can explain this as the past present and future cause and effect vise even. Lets see them in another post in future.

Dukkha Nirodha Gamini Patipada Arya Sachcha (Four Noble Truths - Part 5)

Previous posts related with Noble truths.

Four Noble Truths (Part 1)

Dukkha Arya Sachcha (Four Noble Truths - Part 2 )

Dukkha Samudaya Arya Sachcha (Four Noble Truths - Part 3)

Dukkha Nirodha Arya Sachcha (Four Noble Truths - Part 4)

The fourth one of the noble truths is Dukkha Nirodha Gamini Patipada Arya Sachcha. It is about the path for destruction of Dukkha (Suffering). To attain the Nibbana, a person must destruct the desires completely. For achieve that there is a path with eight steps and it is the only way to attain Nibbana. This path is called as "Arya Attangika Magga (noble eight-fold path)". Lets see what are those steps.

1. Samma Ditti (Right View)

This means the right vision about the world. We must see the reality of the world and its behavior as it is. For that we must have a correct understanding about four noble truths. Because  it is the reality of this world. Also we should know that,

Doing bad things (killing person/animal, lying, stealing..etc) will make us to pay in this and next births, doing good things will bring us good results  in this and next births(existence of the Karma), existence of  the worlds called heavens, hell,Brahma..etc,There will be endless rebirths after we dying (existence of the Sansara), existence of the Buddhas and Arhath Theros .

Note that the Buddha has never told people to believe things with blind eyes. He has told us to find, argue with own mind and then believe if you feel it is right. It depends on your logical abilities. Buddhism is for wise people. If you are not wise enough to understand the things then you won't attain Nibbana ever. If you really understand the Sansara then you will believe in Buddha, Dhamma(his teachings), Sangha(his followers-monks) always ).

Once you get the right vision, then you believe about the danger of this Sansara. So you are trying to attain Nibbana. For that you should control yourself by mind,words and behaviors. Because you are going for a long and uneasy battle with your desires. So you have to practice and gather your strength for this battle first. Following steps are to control yourself and prepare you for this battle.

2. Samma Sankappa(Right Intention)

Samma Sankappa is to control your thoughts. There are lot of thoughts which arise in the mind in every seconds. They can be good or bad. Most of them are related with the desires, anger and hatred. We should try to overcome those thoughts with the thoughts without desires(Nekkhamma) and kind thoughts.

3. Samma Wacha(Right Speech)

This is to control what you are talking. We should stop telling lies, bad words, meaningless speeches, gossips and snitch. Instead those, we have to practice truth, kind words and meaningful speeches always.

4. Samma Kammantha(Right Action)

Doing right things describes in here. We have to avoid all the sinful and bad things and should do the good things always. We must avoid killing, stealing, sexual misconducting, taking drugs and alcohols..etc 

5. Samma Ajiwa(Right Livehood)

This is to spend a good and right life. spend the life away with the desires,anger and hatred. We should not choose any wrong method of living to keep us alive(such as weapon dealing, salve trade, meat trade, alcohol trade, toxic trade..etc).

6. Samma Wayama(Right Effort)

This is about the efforts to purify our self. So we must have right efforts for,

• Prevent arising of the evil and unwholesome states of mind and such actions.
• Get rid of the evil and unwholesome states of mind and such actions which already arisen within ourselves.
• Produce the good and wholesome states of mind and such actions.
• Improve the good and wholesome states of mind and such actions which already arisen within ourselves.

So stepping on above path, you can control yourself eventually and then you can battle with your mind which is full with desires, anger and delusion. It won't be an easy war to defeat the desires, since It has all the advantages and power over you.

7. Samma Sathi(Right Mindfulness)

When we are aiming for Nibbana, then we should keep our mind to that purpose always.We should keep our mind steadily in the right vision we already have. This mind is an amazing thing. It is very hard to keep it in one place.It keeps running everywhere in every seconds. With this untamed mind we can not attain Nibbana. We have to practice to tame it. To do so There are four "Sathipattana" which should be keep doing in mind always .

• Kayanupassana - See the true nature of every feelings coming from five Upadanaskandha and remove desires related to them by knowing them as it is by our mind.
• Wedananupassana - When the anger and hatred thoughts arising, see them as  it is and see the bad consequences of them in mind and try to destroy that feelings when they are arising.
• Chithtanupassana - See inside the own mind and its thoughts with the eyes of wisdom. Give eyes to your blind mind and see the arising of the thoughts and destruction of them as it is with their true nature.See the types of that thoughts (such as desires,hatred, kindness etc.) and it will help you to easily identify them and deal with them properly.
• Dhammanupassana - Keep the mind about five Neewarana (five things which blocks your path to Nibbana. Hatred, sleepy mind, scattered mind, Suspicion etc), five Upadanskandha, Seven Bojjanga, four noble truths.

8. Samma Samadhi(Right Concentration)

The eighth step is the right concentration.It is about the make mind in Samadhi(also called Dyana). 

Samadhi (Dyana) is a very steady state of the mind. There are four Dyana called first Dyana.Second Dyana, third Dyana and fourth Dyana. Without having these states in mind we can not turn our mind into Nibbana. So these Dyana are the door of the Nibbana. Once you have these Dyana then your mind becomes steady and very clear. It won't get corrupted by any external things (desires,anger..etc) and it won't run everywhere in every seconds. It will become tamed for your self in any moment.So we can go for Nibbana with these steady mind with the efforts and then we can destroy desires forever. To attain these Dyana we have to practice meditations and the way of achieve these are depend on the person and his wisdom (There are many meditations for achieve Dyana and choosing them is relative for person to person).

These article series describes the four noble truths in summarized way. But it is not that much simple and there are lot of deep descriptions and practices exist about these four noble truths. It is hard to explain those things in a blog and reading related books are the best way to explore those things. 

These are the most noble and pure truths exist in this universe forever and only the Buddhas can discover and teach them to the world time to time. Wish you all to realize these noble truth and attain Nibbana to end this dangerous Sansara circle..!!!

Dukkha Nirodha Arya Sachcha (Four Noble Truths - Part 4)

Previous posts related with Noble truths.

Four Noble Truths (Part 1)
Dukkha Arya Sachcha (Four Noble Truths - Part 2 )
Dukkha Samudaya Arya Sachcha (Four Noble Truths - Part 3)

The third noble truth is Dukkha Nirodha Arya Sachcha. It is about getting away from the suffering and pain forever and end this birth and rebirth Sansara circle.

"The destruction of the Thanha (desires) completely and make them arise never again is the Dukkha Nirodha Arya Sachcha."

 The desire is also subject to the destruction and make that destruction  forever means the Nirodha. If a person can not feel any desires towards Upadanaskandha forever, then he has destructed the desires completely. Then he won't care about himself, his loved ones, his physical belongs, any lust,happy,anger or sadness feelings anymore. Because he has no any desire mixed consciousness towards anything.

"So This Dukkha Nirodha Arya Sachcha is the Nibbana (Nirvana)"

Read about the Nibbana (Nirvana) basic explanation in here.

Nibbana is the end of this desires. There is no more Upadanaskandha when a person attain Nibbana. Then there is no rebirth and there is no more a person or ego to go in this Sansara circle. So it is the end of the suffering and the pain.

Normally we call the Upadanaskandha as 'a person' when it takes as a bunch. Once that bunch got separated then there is no more a person. As an example, lets see about the concept called a 'day'. It is the combination of the sun, the earth rotation and sun light.The sun is not the 'day' when it takes alone, same applies with the earth and sun light. Same as that example when the Upadanaskandha get separated then there is no a person. The consciousness is not a person, the Roopa is not a person.

Where does this Nibbana exist?

Nibbana is not a place to exist. So there is no place or thing called Nibbana. It is kind of emptiness. There is nothing there. It is about unlinking of the Sansara circle for Upadanaskandha. once it gets un-linked then there is nothing to exist.

"How large the Sansara ? then the Nibbana is large same as it is. Because Nibbana is the cure for the Sansara."

A person must attain Nibbana in five times.He first time attains the Nibbana with the Sovan and reduces his Upadanskandha for only seven rebirths. Then he becomes Sakrudagami and removes six of that remaining Upadanskandha and only gets two rebirths.One rebirth in Kama worlds (in human world or 6 heavens) and another birth in Brahma world. It's his second time of attain the Nibbana. When he becomes Anagami, then removes existing Upadanskandha  for Kama world birth. He only gets one birth in the Brahma worlds.It's is the third time of attain the Nibbana. When he becomes  Arhath, then he removes all the Upadanskandha for any rebirth and there won't be anymore rebirths to him. It is fourth time of attain the Nibbana.Once a person become Arhath then he has only the existing Upadanaskandha because of his current birth already brought them for him. Once they get destroyed with his death then it is the fifth time of attain the Nibbana. After that there won't be that person in this universe forever.

Note that, a person can attain above steps in his current birth without going to an another birth. If a Soavn person can tried to achieve Sakrudagami, Anagami, Arhath in this life and then there is no more rebirths for him. Above rebirths are to explain if some one dies with one of that steps, then what will be his maximum rebirths. A person can finishes his all rebirths at any time. If a person has achieved at least Soavn state then he will definitely attain Nibbana within maximum seven rebirths.

Next post: Dukkha Nirodha Gamini Patipada Arya Sachcha (Four Noble Truths - Part 5)

Dukkha Samudaya Arya Sachcha (Four Noble Truths - Part 3)

Let's see the second truth of the four noble truths.It is Dukkha Samudaya Arya Sachcha. Before going to this, if you haven't read older posts of these four noble truths posts, find them in following.

Four Noble Truths (Part 1)
Dukkha Arya Sachcha (Four Noble Truths - Part 2 )

Dukkha Samudaya means the reason for the suffering and pain. As we discussed about the Dukkha, What do you think about the reason for the suffering and pain? Can you guess? The reason is the desires (called Thanha in Pali).

Everything in this universe is subject to the changing. Everything is changing in every second. We are trying to own them always.That is called desire.But we can not own them forever. Because of the changing, one day they will go away from us. That makes the pain in our mind.

Every living being in this Sansara  want to exist themselves in this universe. So that desire is binded with five Upadanaskandha. It makes the ego for a person. So desires grab the five Upadanaskandha. So five Upadanaskandha occurs and die every moment and the desires make it keep going without ending. That makes the consciousness to grab an another birth in a death with the help of the Karma.

A person has a desire about himself. It is the very tight and comes first always. Then his loved ones and then his properties. If they are lost then pain and suffering occurs.As an example, It is hard to bear the loose of the home and job, But if a death of the wife or a son is greater than that pain. But damage to own body is most painful among all of them. But if there are no desires then there won't be pain or suffering towards any of them.

Why we are not affaraid of the Sansara? If it is that much painful then why still we are love to five Upadanaskandha? Why we are not going to give up it? Because this five Upadanaskandha can be enjoyed. And also it gives effects too. But what we see is enjoyable status only. That's why we still love it. But Buddha and Bikkhu and other people who were/are in the Nibbana path had/have realized the effects of it.That's why they didn't/don't enjoy it. five Upadanaskandha is like a poisoned cake. we enjoy it without caring its painful effects in this Sansara.

There are three categories in the desires (Thanha)

• Kama Thanha - The desire to enjoy  the five Upadanaskandha          

• Bhawa Thanha  - The desire to make rebirths again and again in the Sansara and enjoy the five Upadanaskandha in that rebirths.

• Wibhawa Thanha  - Thinking that there is no Sansara and no rebirths, this is the only birth and only life and then enjoy  the five Upadanaskandha maximum.

So with these Thanha (desires) we keep continuing our birth and rebirths and it brings us endless pain and suffering. But unfortunately we are blind to see it yet!

Next post: Dukkha Nirodha Arya Sachcha (Four Noble Truths - Part 4)

Dukkha Arya Sachcha (Four Noble Truths - Part 2 )

(Read previous post Four Noble Truths (Part 1))

Dukkha Arya Sachcha describes what is Dukkha. The English meaning of the Dukka is 'suffering' or 'pain'. But what is actually meant by Dukka?

"Where the five Upadanaskandha exist, then the suffering is there too, Where the world exists the suffering is there too"

          - Buddha - 

What is this five Upadanaskandha? 

five Upadanaskandha = Roopa + Wedana + Sagngna + Sanskara + Vigngnana 

five Upadanaskandha  = forms + feelings + perception + volition + consciousness

Everything in the universe are the combinations of Patawi (solidity), Apo (liquidity), Thejo (Heat) Wayo (gaseous), Vigngnana (consciousness), Akasa (Emptyness)

Roopa (forms ) = Something arises from Patawi (solidity), Apo (liquidity), Thejo (Heat), Wayo (gaseous)

Person = Roopa + Vigngnana (consciousness)

Wedana (feelings) = The feelings which is in the Roopa.

Sagngna (perception ) = The identification which  is in the Roopa

Sanskara (volition ) = The purpose which  is in the Roopa

Vigngnana (consciousness) = The knowing which  is in the Roopa

now lets see how the Roopa combine with other Upadanaskandha

Internal  Roopa	External Roopa	Feelings	Perception	Volition	Consciousness
eyes	images	Sukha(good/luxury), Dukkha(bad/pain), Upekkha (moderate)	Identify the images	Seeing	Consciousness about the images(Chakkhu Wigngnana)
ears	sound	Sukha, Dukkha, Upekkha	Identify the sound	listening	Consciousness about the sound(Sotha Wigngnana)
nose	smell	Sukha, Dukkha, Upekkha	Identify the smell	smelling	Consciousness about  the smell(Ghana Wigngnana)
tongue	taste	Sukha, Dukkha, Upekkha	Identify the taste	tasting	Consciousness about the taste(Jiwha Wigngnana)
body	touch(heat,pain.. etc all include here)	Sukha, Dukkha, Upekkha	Identify the touch	getting the touch	Consciousness about the touch(Kaya Wigngnana)
mind	Dhamma Roopa	Sukha, Dukkha, Upekkha	Identify the Dhamma Roopa	thinking, walking, eating etc.	Consciousness about the mind(Mano Wigngnana)

So this five Upadanaskandha bring the suffering to us. Buddha has told that "where the world exists ,then the  suffering is there too". In here the world means not the earth. It means the body which has the consciousness.

There are main twelve sufferings which occur from the five Upadanaskandha and we have to realize them by our own mind.

1. Birth (Jathi)

The birth and rebirth is a pain. We can get a birth in any place in this Sansara. There is no ending for this. There is no place to birth without suffering. There is no guarantee to get a birth in good places only. A god can get birth as a dog in another birth. So it is a pain.

2. Getting Old (Jara)

There is no need to explain this. Because all know that the getting old is very painful. That's why many people trying to stop it or hide it with lot of chemicals. But no way you can get away from it.When we are getting old, we loose our body and it will become an another peace of dried wood.No matter you are a king or a beggar. you all are getting old in every second.

3. Sickness (Wyadhi)

Getting sick is painful. If you get a lethal sickness how will you feel it. You will become a hopeless one. We do not want to go that far. Let's think about getting flu badly. how is that feeling? If you get injured, how is the pain? So sickness is a pain.

4. Death (Marana)

If we get a birth, then we definitely get a death too. Everything we earned  have to be gave up inside our tomb.We just have to give up the own body,all our loved ones, every assets, everything. How painful it is?

5.  Sadness (Soka)

No need to tell about the sadness. It is a pain. If something not happened as you wished then it brings sadness to you.

6. Crying (Paridewa)

If you could not bear above sadness the next step is crying and it is a pain.

7. Pain in the body (Dukkha)

The pain of the body. Think about how long we can stand up or sit? In whatever the positions, we feel the pain after a while. So it is a suffering.

8. Pain in mind (Domanassa)

If there are unbearable things in the mind, then it brings the pain to you. As an example, if you have done something wrong you will feel guilty later. Such pains are called Domanassa.

9.  Trying to live (Upayasa)

How hard we are trying to live? We do lot of things to keep us alive. Let's think about doing a job? how is it? How does a deer trying to keep it alive from the tigers? Loosers will fail in the life competition always. So efforts to live is a big pain.

10. Lost the things/people which we loved (Piyehi Wippayogo)

If we lost our home, job, family member, friend, how we feel it? That pain is unbearable.

11. Meet the things/people which we do not like (Appiyehi Sampayogo)

The opposite of the above. It is a pain to meet or live with the people/ things which we hate.

12. Not getting what we wished (Yam Pichjan na Labhathi Thampi Dukkhan)

We always wish for good things. But will it become true always? No! So it is a pain.

So these things are the main sufferings which we face every moment in this endless Sansara. So identifying these things mean you realize the Dukka Arya Sachcha. But do we really realize these? You and me have failed to realize this Dukkha yet. We all are deceived with an illution which hides real Dukkha of the world.

Next post:  Dukkha Samudaya Arya Sachcha (Four Noble Truths - Part 3)

Four Noble Truths (Part 1)

Four noble truths are the core of the Buddhism teachings. These four is called as Arya Sachcha in Pali. These are the only truths which exist in this universe forever.

All Samma Sambuddhas and Pachcheka Buddhas in this universe realize these noble truths by their own. No others can understand these things by their own, except them. Only the Samma Sambuddhas can teach them to the world in time to time in this endless Sansara.  There are times without the Buddhas births and in that times we can not hear the words called "Arya Sachcha"  even. So it is very rare to hear these truths in this Sansara.

Noble truths are the only path to the Nirvana. Without realize them no one attains Nirvana. These truths are very deep and have lot of details in each steps (In here I'm just giving brief introduction to them only). After you read these articles sometimes you may think as "what is this? how simple it is? ". But believe me it is not like that. If we can understand these truths in deep we just  give up everything, every desires in that moment instantly. What we know is nothing about these. If any one can really understand these truths, then he becomes a Arya (noble) person and he removes links between the Sansara and himself.

Noble truths describe the Sansara, reason to this Sansara, how to get away with it and the path for it. Gauthama Buddha's first Dhamma sermon is Dhammachakkappawaththana Suthra and it is about the nobles truths. Buddha had preached about noble truths to the humans, the gods and the Brahmas in so many times and many of them attained Nibbana with those Dhamma sermons. So these are very great and glorious teachings of the Buddha. Following are four noble truths and lets see the detailed description about each one in future posts.

1. Dukkha Arya Sachcha
2. Dukkha Samudaya Arya Sachcha
3. Dukkha Nirodha Arya Sachcha
4. Dukkha Nirodha Gamini Patipada Arya Sachcha

Nirvana (Nibbana).. End of The Sansara Circle

As we discussed about the endless Sansara circle there is a way to get out of it. Break this circle to stop rebirth means attain Nirvana (Also called Nibbana). It is the ultimate goal of a person as a Buddhist. Breaking the Sansara circle is not an easy thing. It requires lot of efforts, dedication and real understand-ability of the Sansara. You have to practice the ten Paramitha (Kind of practices. Let's have a look into this later) through this Sansara to stop your desires. Because, path to Nibbana means you try to stop desires, anger and delusion on your own. Lord Buddha has showed us the path and practices to reach to Nirvana. All core teachings and deep Buddhism is about to attain Nibbana.

There are four steps in this Nirvana path.

1. Sovan 

If a person improve his mind to this state in the Nirvana path and if he couldn't go ahead with other three steps and died, then that person will definitely attain Nibbana within his next 7 rebirths. There is even a guarantee that he won't birth in four hell s ( see here) ever. For attain Sovan state you have to realize deeply and should have a right vision about your desires, anger and delusion.You have to remove your suspicion about the Buddha and his teachings completely and should have clear understanding about the four noble truth (Core teachings of the Buddha). That's mean you have to remove your delusion completely.

2. Sakrudagami

This is the second state of the Nirvana path. For attain Sakrudagami you have to remove half of your desires and anger. Sakrudagami person has only one birth in human world or in six heavens, if he couldn't go ahead with other two steps before his death. After that birth then he will birth in Brahma world and will attain Nibbana.

3. Anagami

This is the third step. You have to remove other half of  your desires and anger. Anagami person has only one birth if he died before step into the last step and he will birth only in Awiha, Athappaya, Sudassaya, Sudassiya, Akanittaya Brahma worlds and then will attain Nibbana.

4. Arahath 

This is the last step. You have to break every links to this Sansara to attain Arahath. You have to remove your desires, anger and delusion completely and which breaks your every links  with the Sansara circle. And that person has no more rebirth and it is called the Nibbana.

Places To Birth In The Sansara

In this Sansara there are unlimited places which we can get a birth. There are vast spaces called Chakkawala.  Chakkawala  is an area which gets lightened by a same sun and a same moon. There are unlimited Chakkawala in this endless universe. In a one Chakkawala there are 31 separate worlds which living beings can get their births. We can see some of them with human eyes and others, we can not. Because some of them exists in other dimensions which human eyes are not sensitive.

If a Chakkawala  has births of  the Buddhas, such Chakkawala is called as Magul Chakkawala (Meaning good/lucky Chakkwala). There can be unlimited Chakkawala which never got or won't get the births of the Buddhas ever (not even a single birth of any Buddha).

Lets see what are these 31 places in a one Chakkawala.(Below places are ordered from the worst place to the best place)

• The hell 
• Animal world
• Pretha world
• Asura world
• Human world
• 6 Heavens
• 20 Brahma worlds

All the births are related with our Karma. Simply, what you are doing in the present will decide your next birth in one of these worlds.

Note that I have mentioned some lifespans for each worlds. But these numbers can be vary according to the Karma of a person or  the time we live. As an example, in the Gauthama Buddhas time, the lifespan of the human is 120 years and before him it was more than that.now it has reduced. According to the Buddha, human lifespan is going to decrease from 120 to 10 years in the future and it will again increase to 10,000 years and at that time there will be an another Buddha called Mithree.

Below are some measurement I have used in here.

Yodun = Measure of  the distance. There are many explanation for this measurement which existed in Buddhas time.Some say it is the distance of a strong archer can shoot an arrow. Some say it is a 1 mile or less.Some say it is 16 miles.There is no exact explanation for this.

Kalpa = Very Long time period (Lets say there is a stone with 1 square Yodun , and someone is going to rub it with a soft cloth once in every 100 years. The depreciation time of that stone is even less than a Kalpa.So it is very huge time period which we can not imagine).

Anthak Kalpa = The time duration between one Buddha to an another Buddha.(Very long time period)
Asankya Kalpa = 64 x Anthak Kalpa
Maha Kalpa = 4 x Asankya Kalpa

The Hell (Niraya)

There are lot of descriptions about the hell in every religions. According to  the Buddhism the hell is the painful and most dangerous place which we can get birth. This world is filled with the pain and the sorrow only. The living beings in there do not die from the pain and when they die then they birth again and again to feel that unlimited pain. The bad Karma of the living beings will bring them  into the hell. The life span is very long for the living beings in the hell. There are main 8 hell s. Following are the 8 hell s and their lifespan with human years.

• Sanjiwaya (162,000,000,000)
• Kala Suthraya (1,296,000,000,000)
• Sanghathaya (10,368,000,000,000)
• Rourawaya (82,944,000,000,000)
• Maha Rourawaya (663,552,000,000,000)
• Thapaya (5,308,416,000,000,000)
• Maha Thapaya (1/2 Anthak Kalpa )
• Awichiya (The worst hell or the worst place to birth in a Chakkawala) (1 Anthak Kalpa )

Each  hell has 16 sub hell s(Called Osupath Nira) around them(4 for one side). Therefore all together (16 x 8 + 8 = ) 136 hell s we can get birth.

There are another hell s except above 136 hells. Few of them are

• Lokantharika Niraya - The place which meet 3 Chakkawala together. This is a very cold hell which can not bear to anyone.
• Wetharani - A hell like a river
• Lokumbu Niraya - A Small hell
• Koat Imbli - A hell like a thorns tree 

Animal World

This is the world of animals and anyone can get birth as an animal. They are around us and always have to live with the fear for the death or hungry or both of them. There is no exact land or dimension for the animal world. Animals exist even in the lower heaves, Asura worlds or Pretha worlds.

Pretha World

It is kind of ghosts or spirits which suffer from the lot of pain (like endless hungry, endless vast pain in the body, burn in fire always..eating mucus or stools. .etc). They have long life span(like a Kalpa) or short life spans according to their Karma. There are 4 types of them.

• Paradathdupajiwi
• Buppipasaka
• Nijagngnamakanhitha
• Kalakgnjika

Asura World

Asura world living beings can be vary. Some are like devils and some are like semi gods. They live with the ocean but in a separate dimension. Some are powerful. Some are not.They had a war with the heavens even in the past.There are 5 types of them,

• Dewa Asura
• Winipathika Asura
• Wemanika Asura
• Lokantharika Aura
• Pretha Asura

Human World

It is us. One Chakkawala has only one human world. In this Chakkawala it is us.

Heaven (Dewa)

Buddha has told about the existence of the gods clearly. There are 6 heavens we can get birth. This places are filled with luxury and prosperity. Each heaven has unique luxury different from others. The gods have long life spans.Your good Karma brings you into these heavens. The closest heaven to the human world is Chathurmaharajikaya and it exists 42,000 yodun away and above us.

Below are the 6 heavens and their life spans with human years and they exist 42,000 yodun away and above from each others in following order.

• Chathurmaharajikaya (9,000,000)
• Thawathinsaya  (36,000,000)
• Yamaya (144,000,000)
• Thusithaya (576,000,000)
• Nirmanarathiya (2,304,000,000)
• Paranirmitha Wasawarthiya (9,216,000,000)

Mighty gods with mighty Karma live in these heavens. But there are minor Karma gods who live around us. Like on a tree. in a mountain etc..

Brahma World

If we get Dyana (kind of steady states of  the mind) from the meditation or mind concentration and we die with them, then we will birth in the Brahma worlds. The life spans of a person in there are the longest among the all the worlds in a Chakkawala. There are 20 Brahma worlds and closest one to the human world is Brahma Parisajja and it exist 5,508,000 yodun away and above to the Paranirmitha Wasawarthiya(The last heaven).

Below are the all Brahma worlds.

• Brahma Parisajja ( 1/3 Asankya Kalpa )
• Brahma Purohitha ( 1/2 Asankya Kalpa)
• Maha Brahma ( 1 Asankya Kalpa )
• Pariththaha ( 2 Maha Kalpa)
• Appamanaha ( 4 Maha Kalpa )
• Abhassara ( 8 Maha Kalpa)
• Pariththa Subha ( 16 Maha Kalpa )
• Appamana Subha ( 32 Maha Kalpa )
• Subhakinna ( 64 Maha Kalpa )
• Wehappalaya ( 500 Maha Kalpa )
• Asangnasaththaya ( 500 Maha Kalpa )
• Awiha ( 1000 Maha Kalpa )
• Athappaya ( 2000 Maha Kalpa )
• Sudassaya ( 4000 Maha Kalpa )
• Sudassiya ( 8000 Maha Kalpa )
• Akanitthaya ( 16000 Maha Kalpa )

Living beings in following Brahma worlds have only the mind(consciousness). There is no physical body for a person who lives in them.

• Akasanagnchayathana ( 20000 Maha Kalpa )
• Wigngnanagnchayathana (  40000 Maha Kalpa)
• Akignchagngnayathana ( 60000 Maha Kalpa )
• Newasagngna Nasagngnayathana ( 84000 Maha Kalpa )

Those are the 31 main places and other sub places we can get birth in a Chakkawala bunch. There are endless bunches like these through this universe. So we don't know what will be our next birth in this universe. That's why this Sansara is dangerous more than we think.

Among above worlds Niraya, Animal, Pretha, Asura are treated as the bad places to birth. if we gathered bad Karma we will be there. Normally above 4 are treated as four hell s in the Buddhism.

Human World is in the middle of this order and it is treated as a good place along with Dewa (gods) and Brahma.

Also human world and 6 heavens are called as Kama worlds.

As you can see that the Brahma world living beings have unimaginable lifespan. Therefore some can think that they are immortal gods. But they are not. After that time period they will again birth in an another place. It could be even in the hell.. That depends on their Karma.

Following is the sketch picture of a Chakkawala(Note that this shows the dimension related existence of the worlds and their gaps with each other)

Sansara..The Endless Circle.

Sansara... the main reason to the teachings of the Buddhism. What is it? It is an endless circle of birth,existence,getting old and destruction. Every living being go through this same circle again and again no matter human, animal even god, all should go with this circle. This is where the Buddhism focus on, instead of the god/s. Buddhism is to break this circle and stop rebirth. All the teachings of the Buddhas explain reason for this circle and how to break that circle.

In this Sansara circle you can be a human in one birth, you can be an animal in an another birth or you can be a god in one birth. There is no guarantee that your circle will be a human circle.It depends on your Karma(The things you are doing present will decide your next birth). No one controls it and it is the nature of this universe. This universe is endless and there are unlimited living being in there.All are subject to this circle. Even the universe is also subject to this circle. Creation, existence destruction and recreation is relevant to the universe.

How deep is this Sansara?

According to the Buddha, this Sansara is very deep and very dangerous and there are no start point or end point for it unless you attain Nibbana(Lets talk about it later). It is like a circle.There is no start point or end point for a circle.So we don't know how much lives we spent and how much lives we have to spend in this circle. 

Once the Buddha said that the amount of the tears of a single person which came from his eyes due to the deaths of only for his mothers in every lives in this Sansara is huge more than whole the oceans in the earth.So can you believe how deep is this circle? And also lets have a look into your dog. Can you believe that, before this life,your dog had become your mother, father, brother, sister, friend for unlimited times in this Sansara.Now it is just a puppy for you. But he had become a king for unlimited times in this Sansara for unlimited kingdoms.And you will going to be a puppy of your dog in countless time for next births.So how furious this Sansara?You can't get rid of it, if you don't try to break this circle.

This earth,Solar system will die in future. But again there will be a new earth new solar system. we have no place to hide from this. At the current moment our solar system is not the only system which has the life. There are unlimited solar systems in this universe with life and all are subject to this Sansara.So no escape or no super powers to avoid that. Only you can break that circle on your own.

Come and See The Buddhism...

Buddhism..!!! What is it? Why it is different from other religions? Lets talk about it. Let's have a look into the actual nature of this universe. As a Buddhist i wanted to share the knowledge which we have about the Buddhism.So this blog is for the people who actually want to explore the wisdom and the real universe nature.This is not an another religious promoting campaign. What I want is to share what we know as the Buddhists.You can talk about what I'm saying in this blog and you can even criticize if you are not agree with what i'm saying. I'm also exploring about this precious knowledge and I have my own questions about some areas. lets share what we know with each other.So I welcome all of your ideas.

I named after this blog with a saying of the Lord Buddha.It is,

Ehi Passiko (Come and see)

Lord Buddha invited to the whole world to come and see the Buddhism.  Because Buddhism is very deep knowledge base.Buddha asked world to question it before accept his teachings.because he didn't need blind followers.he wanted to people understand what he realized and make their salvation on their own. It can be realized by only the intelligent people. If you can understand it, you can break the link between the life and death. Lets talk about all these later.

As the Buddhists we believe that whole universe has endless life and death circle.and we suffer from it without even knowing the deep of it. Birth of a Buddha is a rare incident and being a human in a such a time is a luck.So its our responsibility to share the knowledge which we have, to the people who are looking for the real truth of this life.

There are two Buddhism teachings in this world called Theravada and Mahayan. We believe that the real teachings of the Buddha is with the Theravada Buddhism. I'm going to share the Theravada Buddhism in here.Buddha's language was "Pali" which is a dead language in the future.But Pali was a common ancestor for the lot of languages in the present.My mother tongue is Sinhala and which is a one of  a grand child of Pali. I'm not a master in English. But i'll try to convert Pali and Sinhala teachings to the English as I can. Please forgive me for my bad grammar mistakes in this blog.

"The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism."

-Albert Einstein-

"Among the founders of all religions in this world, I respect only one man — the Buddha. The main reason was that the Buddha did not make statements regarding the origin of the world. The Buddha was the only teacher who realized the true nature of the world." 

-Bertrand Russell-