Free from Suffering Through Knowing the Truth

Dhamma is something very precious and special. It can transform a person from being blind to seeing with clarity, understanding more of the truth of life. Some come in with darkness, but through practice, they become brighter. Some come in unclean, and they become cleaner. It’s unfortunate that many people in the world neglect to learn Dhamma.

The world is full of problems. Problems are a part of life. There is no stage of life without problems. When we were small children, we couldn’t take care of ourselves. We depended on adults, on our parents. Some children don’t have parents or adults to care for them and are abandoned, unable to help themselves. If no one helps them, they can’t survive. As we grow older, we face the problem of going to school. Especially today, children study so much that there’s hardly any time to run and play. After school, they go to extra classes, often with the same teachers. They study more, but who knows if they are getting smarter. They certainly study more and work harder. Are they happy? Some who enjoy studying are happy, while those who don’t, suffer.

Teenagers also face problems, trying to discover their own identity and searching for themselves. They try to join groups of friends to feel that they exist. If they have no friends at all, they feel invisible, like they don’t matter. They need to rely on friends. If they find good friends, that’s great, but if they fall in with the wrong crowd, things can go badly. As they grow older, they face the problem of finding a partner, and later, the problem of making a living on their own. Some succeed, while others fail. Those who succeed may become intoxicated by their success and must work hard to maintain what they’ve gained, striving for more security. Those who fail feel that their lives have withered.

In middle age, people face the problem of life’s stability. Have they secured it yet? If by middle age they haven’t found their footing, old age will surely be difficult. There’s stress – how will they make a living? The burdens are many, like paying for their children’s education. As they grow older, health problems arise. Then comes the problem of loss, as people they once knew, loved ones, begin to pass away. When older people meet, they often talk about which of their friends have already passed. It’s the same everywhere. When old people meet, they talk about who has died. In the end, everyone passes away.

Some people become bedridden, like infants again. An infant lies there and can’t survive without someone feeding them, giving them water, or bathing them. As people grow very old, they need a lot of help and care. If we observe our lives, at what point have we truly been happy? There’s no such point. From birth to death, nothing happens except suffering. Nothing arises except suffering, nothing stays except suffering, and nothing fades away except suffering. Especially for those who haven’t studied or practiced Dhamma, it’s truly sad. It’s like being blind. I don’t mean to criticize them, but it really is like that. They grope their way through life, not knowing what’s ahead or behind.

We practice Dhamma; We aim for the end of suffering, for freedom from suffering.

In old language, ‘not knowing what’s ahead or behind’ means not knowing which way to go, having no clear direction in life. But for those of us who practice Dhamma, we have a clear direction. We aim for the end of suffering, for freedom from suffering, and we don’t have to wait until after death to be free from it. Many people think that by doing good deeds and practicing, they will be reborn in a good place after death, and that is freedom from suffering. Or they assume that if they attain Nibbana, they will be free from suffering after death.

Thinking that way underestimates Buddhism a bit. Buddhism doesn’t require waiting until death to be free from suffering. We can be free from suffering while we are still alive. Just make sure to practice. Be determined to study and practice. What should we study? Study how to practice. Once we clearly understand the right way to practice, then start practicing. Practice Dhamma with the dedication it deserves, so the mind gains true insight. Nothing arises except suffering, nothing stays except suffering, and nothing fades away except suffering.

When the mind sees things this way, it becomes dispassionate and loosens its attachment to all things. A mind without craving or attachment is a mind without struggle or fabrication. When the mind has no struggle or fabrication, it is free from suffering. Our minds suffer because they have craving, attachment, and struggle, leading to suffering. If we can let go of craving, the mind stops fabricating. However, letting go of fabrication doesn’t happen through fabrication.

Some people try to let go of the mind’s fabrications by entering deep concentration or the formless jhānas (states of deep meditative absorption), becoming so still that they hardly feel any awareness, and they think they are no longer fabricating. Is there happiness there? If their wisdom isn’t fully developed, they may feel a great deal of happiness, something that doesn’t exist in the chaotic world. For example, if we make the mind calm, entering deep concentration until the body, the world, and thoughts disappear, and only a faint feeling remains, we might think that there is no more fabrication. But in reality, this is still a fabrication – fabricating the formless jhāna, fabricating the state of non-disturbance (aneñjābhisaṅkhāra). This kind of fabrication seems like non-fabrication, but once we come out of concentration, the mind goes right back to fabricating. As long as the mind is still struggling and fabricating, it cannot be free from suffering.

Struggling is sometimes called ‘saṅkhāra.’ There was once a monk who stayed in a cemetery, watching cremations, and he attained arahantship. He exclaimed a verse of Dhamma: ‘Aniccā vata saṅkhārā, uppāda-vaya-dhammīno, uppajjitvā nirujjhanti, tesaṃ vūpasamo sukho.’ The last line says that when fabrications have ceased, there is true happiness. Those who haven’t practiced might think the monk was just observing death and saying that the body’s dissolution brings true happiness. But he wasn’t exclaiming this for others; he exclaimed it to his own mind. What fabrications, when ceased, bring true happiness? The fabrications in his mind. He saw the world as it truly is. Everything arises and passes away. People are born, and then they die, no matter how beautiful they may be, they all die in the end. This is the truth of the world.

When he saw things as they truly are, he became dispassionate and loosened his attachment. Once he became dispassionate and let go of attachment, there was no more craving, no more attachment, and no more fabrication. His mind was free from fabrication. Then he said that ‘when fabrications are ceased, there is true happiness.’ A mind free from fabrications experiences true happiness. So, does an arahant’s mind still fabricate? Does it still have thoughts? Yes, but fabrications no longer stain the mind. They don’t reach the mind. They simply arise and pass away according to their function.

For example, when great venerable teachers or even the Buddha himself give teachings, their aggregates perform their function, but their minds don’t cling or attach to anything. That’s why their minds are peaceful, calm, and unaffected by any fabrication. Though surrounded by fabrications, their minds don’t grasp or hold onto them. The mind is therefore free from fabrications and reaches true happiness, which is Nibbana. Nibbana isn’t another worldly realm. If it were, it would be a false Nibbana, like a Brahma Nibbana or something of the sort, which arise, stay, and then pass away, just like other worlds.

Therefore, true Nibbana is the state where fabrications have completely ceased, called ‘visankhāra.’ To reach this state, as I mentioned, one must let go of craving, attachment, and struggle and fabrication. In order to let go of struggle and fabrication, one must first let go of craving and attachment. So how do we let go of craving? This is the key question in our practice.

How can we let go of craving and attachment?

Many people have sought ways to let go of craving. Even before the Buddha, there were those who tried to abandon craving and desire, knowing that whenever craving arises, suffering follows. Some sects understood this and recognized the cause of suffering (samudaya), but they didn’t fully grasp the Noble Truths. They tried to eliminate craving through force. When the mind desired something, they would do the opposite and not indulge it. If they were hungry and wanted to eat, they wouldn’t eat. If they wanted comfort or to lie down, they would resist it. If they felt hot and wanted to bathe, they wouldn’t bathe, choosing instead to sit in the sun. They believed this method would eliminate craving, but it was the path of self-mortification (attakilamathānuyoga).

The Buddha discovered that this approach was futile, of no benefit, and couldn’t eliminate craving. So he continued his practice, observing what the causes of craving are. The cause of craving is vedanā (feeling). When we experience pleasure, see? We want it to last. When the pleasure fades, we remember what it felt like, how good it was, and now that it’s gone, we want it to return. We crave it. When we get it, we want to preserve it. When suffering arises, we want it to end. When craving arises, the mind grasps. When the mind grasps, it struggles. And when the mind struggles, it suffers.

How can we stop craving? Can we tell ourselves not to feel happy, not to feel suffering, or not to feel neutral? We can’t stop feelings. Vedanā (feeling) is a Dhamma element that arises with every mind moment. Does an arahant’s mind have feelings? Yes, it does. Therefore, feelings arise with every mind moment, saññā (perception) arises with every mind moment, and certain fabrications (saṅkhāra) also arise with every mind moment.

Therefore, trying to prevent feelings from arising or forcefully eliminate them goes against nature. Feelings arise from contact (phassa) with sense objects. When we make contact through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, feelings arise. Can we stop this contact? No, we can’t. If we have eyes, we see forms. If we have ears, we hear sounds. If we have a nose, we smell. If we have a tongue, we taste. If we have a body, we feel sensations like coolness, heat, softness, hardness, tension, and movement. If we have a mind, we think, perceive, fabricate, and become aware of different mental objects. So, we cannot prevent contact (phassa), nor can we prevent feelings (vedanā).

How, then, can craving not arise? As the Buddha investigated further, he found that, at the deepest level, craving arises from not knowing the truth about the body and mind. This is the very root of craving. Not knowing the truth of form and mind (rūpa-nāma), or the body and mind, is called ignorance (avijjā). We don’t realize that this body and mind are suffering itself. We don’t need to find a way to eliminate suffering. Our task toward suffering is to know it. Therefore, we simply continue to observe the body and mind. What we abandon is the cause of suffering (samudaya). And how do we abandon the cause of suffering? Whenever we know suffering, its cause is abandoned right at that moment.

This is a wondrous, truly extraordinary thing. The moment we know suffering, the cause of suffering (samudaya) is abandoned. When the cause of suffering is abandoned, nibbāna is realized. The moment nibbāna is realized, the Noble Path (ariya-magga) arises. Therefore, knowing suffering, abandoning the cause of suffering, realizing nibbāna, and cultivating the Noble Path are all achieved in a single mind moment. These four tasks – knowing suffering, abandoning the cause of suffering, realizing nibbāna, and cultivating the Noble Path – are accomplished in just a moment. Just a split moment. Once suffering is known, its cause is abandoned. Once the cause of suffering is abandoned, nibbāna is realized, and the Noble Path has already arisen in that very moment.

If we truly know suffering, how can the cause of suffering (samudaya), or craving, be abandoned? If we realize, for example, that this body must age, get sick, and die, and we understand this truth, the craving for the body not to age, not to get sick, and not to die will not arise. Desiring the body not to age, get sick, or die is simply our own naivety, because we don’t truly understand life or know suffering. That’s why we desire things that are impossible. We don’t want to age, get sick, or die, but that is impossible.

A child, one hour after birth, is already one hour old. If they are unwell, they are already sick and suffering. Sometimes, a baby is born and dies shortly after. They go through birth, aging, sickness, and death without needing to wait until they’re 60 years old to be called ‘aged.’ One day after birth means one day old; two days, two days old. When the mind understands the truth that this body must age, get sick, and die, the craving for it not to age, not to get sick, and not to die will not arise, because this craving is innocent and without substance. It’s impossible. If there is birth, there must be aging, sickness, and death.

So, as we keep practicing mindfulness, being aware of the truth of the body and mind, seeing that the body is full of impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), and non-self (anatta), a deep understanding arises. We realize that this body naturally ages, falls ill, and dies. As a result, craving does not arise, and there is no cause of suffering (samudaya), meaning there is no desire to avoid aging, sickness, or death. When there is no craving, the mind’s struggle does not arise.

Is it a struggle not wanting to age? I saw huge billboards while traveling into Bangkok, advertising injections that supposedly make you look younger. It’s just a way to look younger, but in reality, you’re still aging. It’s just an illusion. Say you get injections to smooth out wrinkles, tighten your face, and so on, let me ask, are you still aging? Yes, you are. When we can’t accept that, see? It becomes a burden, worrying about where to get surgery or what injections to get. I can’t remember the exact term as I only saw it in passing, but there are many types of injections.

Once you’ve decided to go for it, where will you get the money? See how the mind keeps fabricating and becoming more restless. Where’s the best place to get it done? If you have a lot of money, maybe you’ll fly somewhere near China – but I won’t mention the name, no free advertising here. If you have less money, you’ll get it done in Thailand, but where exactly? See? It’s all mental fabrication, just endless thoughts. Sometimes, people even lose sleep over where to get beauty treatment, where the money will come from, where and when to do it, and whether it will turn out well. Some even end up worse off after the treatment.

Suffering arises from not seeing the truth

If the mind can accept reality, when we get old, we won’t suffer or be distressed, because we’ve accepted the truth. If we can accept that we must get sick, as sickness is a natural part of life, when we do get sick, we’ll see it as normal. We can also accept that death is normal, that the death of our loved ones is normal, and that even our own death is normal.

We fear death, we don’t want to die, but we still desire to be born, even though every birth leads to death. This is the mind that doesn’t see or understand the truth of the body. It cannot accept that the body must age, get sick, and die. This causes the mind to develop craving, attachment, struggle and fabrications, and a heavy burden in the heart. This is how suffering arises—because we fail to see the truth of the body

Now, we don’t just have the body. We also have the mental aspect (nāma). If we develop mindfulness and wisdom, learning about mental phenomena, we will see the truth: happiness is impermanent, suffering is impermanent, wholesome states (kusala) are impermanent, and unwholesome states (akusala) are also impermanent. Happiness is not under our control, suffering is not under our control, and neither wholesome nor unwholesome states are under our control. This is the truth of mental phenomena. If we can’t accept this truth, the mind will continue to struggle and fabricate.

For example, when we’re happy, we want that happiness to last forever. Some people have money and feel comfortable, happy, and can get whatever they want, but they also fear that if one day they no longer have money, they won’t find that happiness again. Some people find happiness from watching movies or listening to music. If they can’t watch or listen anymore, their life won’t be happy. Others find happiness in singing karaoke, and if they miss a day of singing, they get irritated. They’re attached to it. This attachment is a form of clinging to sensual pleasure (kāmupādāna), an attachment to happiness.

And because they have never practiced, they don’t see happiness as impermanent. They want it to last forever. But is there any happiness that lasts forever? No. Think about it: how much happiness have we experienced in our lives, and has any of it been permanent? Never. It never lasts. For example, if we enjoy eating omelets, eating rice with omelets brings happiness because it’s delicious. But if we eat it every day without stopping, will we still feel happy? Eventually, we get bored. These things don’t last.

If we practice, we’ll see that happiness is impermanent, subject to change, and not under our control. Suffering is the same. We’ve gone through so much suffering in life. If suffering were permanent, we’d be overwhelmed by new suffering every day and quickly drown in it. But all suffering is temporary. It arises for a while and then falls away, and new suffering arises. We endure it because we see no way out. But if we develop mindfulness and wisdom, we will recognize that when suffering arises in the mind or body, it is impermanent. The mind then becomes peaceful, free from struggle and fabrication.

When suffering arises, many people’s minds struggle and fabricate so intensely that some go as far as hanging themselves. Overwhelmed with worry, some hang themselves, thinking they can escape suffering. This happens because the mind is deluded by its fabrications. Don’t think that suicide ends suffering. There was once a man living in a townhouse who, one early morning around 4 or 5 a.m., heard a woman crying as she walked past his house.

This person often practiced meditation and had extrasensory awareness. He grew curious about what was crying. So, he sent out his mind and saw a woman walking past, crying, but her feet weren’t touching the ground. She was floating about a handspan above the ground, continuing to cry as she floated along. Later that morning, the neighbors were in an uproar, saying that the woman had hanged herself in the house. Suspicious, they checked and found that she had indeed hanged herself. When people suffer and don’t know how to practice, they believe that life is doomed to endless suffering. They think that, since living brings suffering, it’s better not to live, and they commit suicide, believing it will end their suffering.

How many years can suffering really last in a human life? Not that long, really. But when someone commits suicide, it’s a grave wrongdoing that sends them to hell. In hell, no one needs to imprison them; they suffer on their own. It’s just another dimension overlapping with ours. The lives of these hell beings are incredibly long, lasting hundreds or even thousands of years. Therefore, as a human, suffering might last 5 or 10 years at most. I’ve never seen it go on for 10 years. One or two years is already severe. But after suicide, the suffering lasts for centuries, no longer measured in years.

Therefore, no matter what happens, never commit suicide, and don’t take anyone else’s life either. That’s not the way to solve suffering. When suffering arises, observe it with mindfulness, acknowledging that the mind is suffering at the moment. We don’t observe it to make it disappear. The Buddha teaches us to know suffering, not to eliminate it. If we desire to eliminate suffering, the mind will struggle more, and the suffering will intensify. But if we suffer, simply know it. Just see how long the suffering can really last. Some people observe it and complain, “Why is this suffering lasting so long?” They don’t yet know how to observe it properly.

When suffering arises, know it, do not try to eliminate it

When suffering arises, turn inward and observe your own mind. When suffering arises and the mind dislikes it, know that it dislikes it. When the mind dislikes, know that it dislikes. The mind wants the suffering to go away, know that it desires this. See? When likes, dislikes, desires, and aversions arise, the mind starts to struggle. As soon as the struggle begins, suffering arises. But now, it’s not from the original issue; it’s self-created suffering, piling up. As long as desire remains, new suffering will keep arising; each time, it’s a new one, not the old.

For example, when we experience unpleasant emotions like heartbreak, we think of the person we love – maybe they’ve left us for someone else, or they’ve passed away. We feel sad, we suffer, and we want them to come back or not have died. This craving arises, but it’s naive, because the truth is that everything arises and falls away. Everyone we meet will eventually part from us. This is the natural order. If we don’t see this truth, craving arises, and it’s a naive craving

If we continue practicing, we will start to notice, ‘Oh, suffering has arisen.’ We want to be free from suffering, wanting the situation to improve, and many different kinds of desire arise. For example, when you’re pursuing a woman and see her walking with someone else, you wish she would walk only with you. Desire arises, but it’s an empty one – why bother with her if she’s walking with someone else? Or you may want her to love you, but can you command that? So, all desires are naive, and every time you desire, you suffer.

So, when suffering arises, your task is to know it, not to desire it to go away. If you try to force it away, more suffering will build up, layering suffering upon suffering endlessly. When suffering arises in the mind, the first step is to know that suffering arises. The second step is to acknowledge that we dislike it and want it to disappear. If we can recognize this clearly, the mind will naturally become equanimous. As soon as the mind is equanimous, it is considered in the right concentration (sammā-samādhi). The mind is stable and equanimous. Right concentration is a near cause for wisdom. Suffering and all defilements are then immediately cut off and destroyed by wisdom.

Suffering always arises with aversion. Whenever we experience suffering, aversion is there too. If we have wisdom, we’ll notice that we hate it. As long as this hatred remains, aversion stays. But once we see that our minds dislike suffering, aversion ceases, the mind becomes stable and bright, and the great, fearsome suffering is thrown off completely and vanishes instantly. This applies to mental suffering. For physical suffering, we are aware of it, but the suffering remains. They are separate matters. For example, when the body is unwell, we know it suffers, we feel the pain, but does the pain disappear? No, it doesn’t. It’s a different issue.

There was a respected venerable teacher who in meditation circles was widely believed to be an Arahant. I also believe this, but since we cannot have the Buddha’s confirmation, I said I believe so, though whether he truly was or not is another matter. He was Luang Pu Waen. I believe he was an Arahant, and skillful in meditation and concentration. Once, during the World War period, he developed a painful abscess, and there were no medicines available. The abscess became severely inflamed, and he was suffering greatly. Some military medics came across him and offered to operate on him, but they told him they didn’t have any anesthesia. All they had was a single knife. He allowed them to proceed because the pain was great, so they went ahead and cut open the abscess.

He told them, ‘Let me meditate for a moment first.’ He converged his mind into concentration, then nodded, signaling they could proceed. Throughout the operation, he remained completely silent. After they finished, he stepped back and said, ‘If you have to operate again, be a little gentler. It hurt – it’s not that it didn’t hurt – but my mind was unmoved.’ See? Physical pain doesn’t disappear just because someone has strong meditation or is an Arahant. It’s not like that. But mental suffering doesn’t arise because there’s no aversion.

If we continue to practice, we will see the truth: suffering is impermanent, subject to change, and not under our control. When mental suffering arises, first, know that there is suffering. Second, notice the dislike, the wanting for it to disappear, the wanting for it to end. Being aware of and catching this is key. This is what it means to truly observe the mind. Just knowing that you’re worried is basic; anyone can recognize that. But how do you deal with the worry? Relying on wisdom for realization, we turn back to observe the mind that has desires. As long as there is desire, the mind clings, struggles, and fabricates, and it suffers, layering suffering upon suffering.

So, we practice observing happiness and suffering as they arise. If happiness arises and the mind is pleased, recognize that it is pleased. If we don’t notice this, we start craving, becoming attached to happiness, and wanting it to last longer. Similarly, with suffering, we will want it to end quickly. Whenever craving arises, the mind begins to struggle there, and wherever the mind struggles, suffering arises there. Therefore, when happiness or suffering arises in the mind, be aware. The second step is to notice when the mind is pleased or displeased. Observe it in this way. When the mind ceases to cling to likes and dislikes, it becomes impartial – stable and equanimous. Once the mind is stable and equanimous, it has entered right concentration. When right concentration arises, wisdom will follow.

Right concentration (sammā-samādhi) is the proximate cause for the arising of wisdom. You see, wisdom doesn’t arise from thinking. The wisdom at this stage comes from the mind being in right concentration. Mindfulness becomes aware of feelings (vedanā), of happiness, and the mind cuts off attachment to that happiness, becoming free from it. When suffering arises in the mind, and the mind is firmly established, it cuts off its attachment to both liking and disliking, whether it’s happiness or suffering. When the mind doesn’t cling, doesn’t grasp, and doesn’t fabricate, it reaches peace. This is true concentration.

So, concentration isn’t just about sitting with your eyes closed, forcing the mind to be still. That’s basic concentration. The important concentration is right concentration, where the mind is stable and equanimous. This takes practice. How do we cultivate a stable and equanimous mind? If the mind isn’t stable, it flows away, becoming lost in delusion. Once we are aware of this, the mind stops flowing and becomes stable. If the mind is pleased or displeased, be aware of it, and the mind will become equanimous.

The true supreme happiness is peace

Once the mind is stable and equanimous, wisdom arises, seeing the truth of the body and the mind. When we clearly see the truth of the body and the mind, we will realize that the five aggregates (khandhas) are nothing but suffering. There’s nothing in the body and mind, in form and mental phenomena, but suffering. Once the mind accepts this truth, craving doesn’t arise. When craving doesn’t arise, there is no grasping, no mental struggle, and no fabrication, so mental suffering doesn’t arise. The mind becomes free. It is free from suffering because it is free from fabrication.

So, we will encounter true, supreme happiness, which is peace. Why is it peaceful? Because it is no longer fabricated. As long as fabrications are present, there is no peace – it wavers back and forth. Nibbāna is peace. Nibbāna has the characteristic of peace, a state free from fabrication, free from craving, free from attachment, and free from all struggles. How could we become free? Because ignorance is eradicated. The truth of the body and mind, form and mental phenomena, is thoroughly understood. This body is nothing but suffering – only more suffering or less suffering. The mind, too, is nothing but suffering – only greater or lesser suffering. Once we see this clearly, the mind lets go.

When the mind lets go, it becomes void, at ease, and peaceful. As for the body, it ages, falls ill, and dies according to its natural course. There’s nothing to regret. When ordinary people are about to die, they become restless and cannot accept it. When Arahants are about to die, their minds are bright and fearless. Why bright and fearless? Because they see that suffering is about to break apart. When suffering is about to break apart, does it bring joy or sadness? For us, we don’t see the body as a source of suffering. We see it as something valuable and ours. So, when it’s about to perish, we become restless and regretful.

As for the Arahant, when the elements and aggregates are about to break and perish, they are bright – not out of joy, but because the mind feels, ‘Ah, the burden is finally lifted. The burden is finally over.’ The aggregates must be carried and maintained, and are a burden that needs constant care. Why care for them? It’s not for oneself anymore, but for the benefits of others while there’s still strength. However much strength remains, that’s all that’s given. Their own task is already completed, so they help the world according to their strength. Once there’s no strength left to help, they let go and feel at ease.

So, on the day an Arahant enters Nibbāna, they are radiant and very bright. For example, once Venerable Ānanda asked the Buddha, ‘Why are you especially radiant today?’ The Buddha said that he is especially radiant on certain occasions. On the day of his enlightenment, he was especially radiant, having completely destroyed the defilements. He had attained Nibbāna by completely eradicating all defilements. This is known as Sa-upādisesa Nibbāna.

Then, on the day that the body and the aggregates break apart, they let go of the dissolution. The aggregates will break apart, called Anupādisesa Nibbāna. So, the Arahant will be radiant and bright. As for us, this teaching is shared in advance. If we keep practicing, one day in the future, we will encounter what has been described. If we don’t abandon the practice and keep developing the mind, as long as we don’t stray from the path, one day we will experience exactly what I am talking about here.