The Second of Four Noble Truths “ ‘I have sons, I have wealth’: thinking thus the fool is troubled. Indeed, he himself is not his own. How can sons or wealth be his?” The Second of the Four Noble Truths is Samudaya, translated as craving and greed. This is a practice that is completely inescapable of all people. There is no one who does not want, no one who could not think of just one more thing to make him self “happy”. It is the given nature of all people to desire what the do not have, no matter who they are, what they say, or how satisfied they seem. Imagine a man attempting to find inner peace by meditating atop a mountain. He sits there at peace with the beauty of the world around him, feeling harmonious with nature. He thinks he desires nothing else but to sit there and be one with the world, but in actuality he craves this time alone and desires this peace that he has found to make him feel blissful. Now think of the man who sits behind a corporate desk all day earning more money than he is capable of ever spending. He has every new gadget...
is him being lonely. This trait is shown when Carlson says “It ain’t no go to himself” describing
Ira Byock wrote the novel The Four Things That Matter Most, in 2004. Mr. Byock is a renowned medical doctor who specializes and practices in palliative care and his main interest is offering care to alleviate mental, emotional, and physical symptoms for those that are in their last moments of life. His enriching novel discusses these concepts; it is a helpful tool for those that are dying, or for their loved ones facing the reality of the impending death, and for those that have lost a loved one. The cover of the book states that it is “A book about living.” Before I started reading it, I kept thinking, “How could this be a book about living?” when clearly the author had his interests for caring for the ill and dying. Would he not be writing a novel about how to come to terms about dying? I was definitely wrong in my assumption.
Carnegie’s essay contains explanations of three common methods by which wealth is distributed and his own opinions on the effects of each. After reading the entire essay, readers can see his overall appeals to logos; having wealth does not make anyone rich, but using that wealth for the greater good does. He does not force his opinions onto the reader, but is effectively convincing of why his beliefs make sense. Andrew Carnegie’s simple explanations intertwined with small, but powerful appeals to ethos and pathos become incorporated into his overall appeal to logos in his definition of what it means for one to truly be rich.
feels people aren’t listening to him. He is also very lonely. He states that when one of
Through the eyes of the prosperous, a lack of wealth indicates a fault in character, while their own success is the product of self-control. Paul Buchheit, who analyzed seven different psychological studies in his article titled “Ways the Poor Are More Ethical Than the Rich,” found that “ample evidence exists to show a correlation between wealth and unethical behavior, ...wealth and a lack of empathy for others, and…wealth and unproductiveness” (Buchheit). The relationship between wealth and poor character implies that when people become rich, they start caring more about maintaining their money supply and less about the well-being of others. As wealth increases, generosity, integrity, modesty, and other positive characteristics diminish. Paul Buchheit also noted that “low-income Americans spend a much higher percentage of their income on genuine charitable giving, [with] about two-thirds of ‘charitable’ donations from the rich go[ing] to their foundations and alma maters” (Buchheit). This proves that the wealthy are generally self-absorbed because a large proportion of them, despite having an abundance of money, refrain from devoting it to those in need. When donations are made, it’s only for their own personal benefit. Because the wealthy are programmed to be self-centered, they fail to serve others with their money and instead serve
Money— sweeter than honey but oh so destructive. It facilitates a man’s life, while a lack of it imprisons him in the streets of penury. It raises his social status, while an absence of it leaves him unnoticed. It gives him an aura of superiority and importance among others, while a deficiency of it makes him worthless in society’s eyes. Considering these two roads, most do not take more than a second to decide to chase riches.
The Three Jewels, the Five Precepts, the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path greatly influence individuals and the Buddhist community through their everyday lives, whether it be guiding the adherent’s actions, ethical decision making, or practice. Adherents who follow the teachings become more aware that having an ignorant mindset distracts one from living a good life and happy life; “The purpose of life is to be happy” (Dalai Lama). This was explained in Buddha’s first Sermon, “There is addiction to indulgence of sense-pleasures, which is low… the way of ordinary people, unworthy, and unprofitable; and there is addiction to self-mortification, which is painful, unworthy and unprofitable.” (Buddha), thus avoiding both these extremes,
There is something that I’ve always found very interesting and that is the fact that everyone wants something they don’t have, it can be recognition, material things or even a human being. This is something people take for granted but I think it’s a true game changer, because we (humans) don’t have a limit, we always want more and that’s what leads us to do the things we do, to take the decisions we take, to live the way we live.
The second Noble Truth is, the cause of suffering is the desire for things that are really illusions, such as riches, power, and long life. Siddhartha had all of these things, however, no matter how rich, how powerful, how old, one can not reach nirvana by materialistic matters. In Siddhartha’s life, while a merchant, he played dice. However, when he lost he did not get mad, due to the fact that riches were not greatly important to him.
does not realize it until he is driven mad by it. His aspirations at first look may
to share in his wealth, is undoubtedly in search of a wife. In Pride and
written in Pali in the Theravada tradition. There is no distinction in the nirvana attained by the
The four sights that Siddhartha was hidden from all his life are what compelled him to find the Four Noble Truths. When Siddhartha set out to see the outside world he saw the sights of old age, sickness, death, and the wandering monk. Siddhartha’s ultimate goal was to end all the suffering he had experienced as well as what he had seen others experience. His discovery of the solution began with the recognition that life is suffering.
The Second Noble Truth points to the origin of suffering, namely craving or tanha (literally thirst'). At its most simple, this relates to our constant craving for what is pleasurable in what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch and think. (Hanh 44)
a need for a good not yet acquired or possessed.” In other words we want what