Buddhas' Second Nobel Truth

Buddha's Second Noble truth is that the root of all suffering is attachment, which means that from the day we are born we are suffering. There is not one person on this planet that can say that they are not attached to something. First it is our mother who gives us food and warmth, then as we grow we become accustom to different things, not only physical but emotional and spiritual as well, in other words we become attached to all of the objects that our mind perceives.

As humans we have genetic dispositions that allow us to desire anything that brings pleasure, things as simple as a song that we liked, a gift someone gave to us for our birthday or a religious belief we were taught as a child, or it can be as complicated as believing we have our whole lives ahead of us. Our suffering is inevitable the only way to not suffer is to over come it, but pleasure is deceiving because we allow ourselves to believe that in order to be happy we need a home, family, nice car, a good job and so on. The need for these things means that we have become attached to transient things and with that comes ignorance.

Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, pursuit of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or as modern Buddhist will say humans suffer because of craving and clinging. The objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable when we die we will lose our family, or home, and our thoughts, and then suffering will necessarily follow. It is inescapable.

Another common object of attachment is the idea of a "self" which is a major delusion, because there is no such thing as an abiding self. The thing we call "self" is just an imagined entity a mass of cells and electrical currents. We are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe. It is naive of us to say that we are more than just a collection of matter that will continue to erode the same way the earth does.

Throughout our short life on this earth we become attached to all of the objects that our mind perceives, which is everything. Think of it as if we are born into a video game that we cannot turn off until we die. We must free our minds of attachment and let go of everything. Live with compassion, patience, tolerance and trust that there is and end to this life.