Now let us have a look at a saying of the Buddha which I believe may help us to answer the question of why we were born.
Sankahara parama dukkha,
Nibbanam paramam sukham.
Etam natva yathabhutam,
Santimaggam va bruhayeti.
Compounding is utter misery,
Nirvana is highest bliss.
Really knowing this truth
One is on the Path to Peace.
To understand the first line of this quotation, we have first of all to understand properly the word "sankhara." This word has several meanings. It can refer either to the physical, the body, or as in the present case to the mental, the mind. Literally " sankhara" means simply "compound" (both noun and verb), that is, the function we refer to as "compounding" (and the compound that result therefrom).
Following this definition, then compounding is utter misery, thoroughly unsatisfactory (dukkha). But it is not being stated that compounding is in itself misery, a cause of human distress and suffering. The word "compounding" implies no rest, just continual combining leading to continual "rebirth" And the things responsible for this compounding are the mental defilements (kilesa). these are the compounders. With the arising of ignorance, stupidity, infatuation, the root cause of the other defilements greed and hatred, compounding takes place. They are responsible for the compounding function of the mind, causing it to grasp at and cling to one thing after another, endlessly, without let-up. The word "compounding" as used here refers to grasping and clinging with attachment (updana). If there is no attachment, if contamination by attachment does not take place the term "compounding" is not applicable.
Sankahara parama dukkha,
Nibbanam paramam sukham.
Etam natva yathabhutam,
Santimaggam va bruhayeti.
Compounding is utter misery,
Nirvana is highest bliss.
Really knowing this truth
One is on the Path to Peace.
To understand the first line of this quotation, we have first of all to understand properly the word "sankhara." This word has several meanings. It can refer either to the physical, the body, or as in the present case to the mental, the mind. Literally " sankhara" means simply "compound" (both noun and verb), that is, the function we refer to as "compounding" (and the compound that result therefrom).
Following this definition, then compounding is utter misery, thoroughly unsatisfactory (dukkha). But it is not being stated that compounding is in itself misery, a cause of human distress and suffering. The word "compounding" implies no rest, just continual combining leading to continual "rebirth" And the things responsible for this compounding are the mental defilements (kilesa). these are the compounders. With the arising of ignorance, stupidity, infatuation, the root cause of the other defilements greed and hatred, compounding takes place. They are responsible for the compounding function of the mind, causing it to grasp at and cling to one thing after another, endlessly, without let-up. The word "compounding" as used here refers to grasping and clinging with attachment (updana). If there is no attachment, if contamination by attachment does not take place the term "compounding" is not applicable.
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