Birth, Aging And Death - Three Existential Sufferings In Early Buddhism

Abstract

In Early Buddhism, birth, aging and death are characterized as three main existential sufferings of the worldly person, not of the perfected saint. What the worldly person conceives as birth, aging and death of an “I,” the perfected saint perceives as (dependently) arising, change and ceasing of the five-clinging-bundles: matter, feeling, perception, determinations and consciousness. In this paper, an attempt is made to examine the early Buddhist discourses to understand the doctrinal explanation of why the worldly person conceives birth, aging and death whereas perfected saint perceives arising, change and ceasing. The examination of these discourses lead to the following conclusion: Because the worldly person conceives an “I” and holds on to it as “this is mine,” “this am I” or “this is my self” what he or she conceives as birth, aging and death is of this “I” or “self.” And because the perfected saint has removed the conceit “I am” as well as the “self-view” from the experiential structure, he or she perceives (dependently) arising, change and ceasing, without conceiving of birth, aging and death of an “I” or “self;” thus, birth, aging and death constitute the unenlightened way of looking at life or experiential world; arising, change and ceasing constitute the enlightened way of looking at life or experiential world. The former determines suffering. The latter produces peace and happiness.