What Is The Root Cause Of Suffering
Life is suffering, this is the teaching of the Buddha. Why is it suffering? It must be that something makes this suffering. Yes, it is true; it is something rooted within, and when it is activated, it bursts out and gives rise to the fruit of suffering. Then we ask “What is the root of suffering?” The answer which the Buddha himself gave, in Itivuttaka, is that the root of suffering is desire, which consists of three roots; greed, hatred and delusion. If the roots of suffering are eliminated, life can be extremely happy.
What is next when the roots are already known? The answer is, to learn the method which can get rid of them and apply this method in life. What is the method mentioned? It is the purification of the mind. Why purify the mind? Because it is a producer which can create everything from small to big, so greed, hatred and delusion try to conquer some parts of the mind, or the whole of it. If the mind is pure, nothing can take root in it; as the Buddha said in Dhammapada, “Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts, happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow”. Take good care of your mind, then your life will be safe.
