cause of suffering. When Gotama Buddha’s teachings are linked to our sufferings, for
the first time, they have real personal significance.
Gotama Buddha himself became aware of his suffering; this realization made the
elimination of suffering his pursuit. In the course of his quest he came to realize that
the basic cause of suffering derives from ourselves. We bring about suffering by
constructing a fictitious image of ourselves as fixed, stable, and separate. And, from
this image, clinging radically to fabrication in a way that makes us perceive all things
in a self-centered manner, we act according to this perception.
Even though by acquiring knowledge of the causes of suffering one is presumably
capable of getting rid of them, reality shows that the way to this accomplishment is
far from easy. Gotama Buddha set forth a clear method for eliminating the basic
causes of suffering, and it must be noted that the most direct means to achieve this
goal is meditation. Through the practice of meditation we can ease the extreme,
unconscious attachment to self.
From a psychological point of viewYet, if we pay close attention to it, what Gotama Buddha is pointing out as the basic
cause of suffering is something that we take as a matter of course. As part of the process
of growing up, we find ourselves needing to develop a stable identity in order to
function interpersonally and socially with others. Thus, the process toward the
formation of a self is taken as a positive aspect of life while its lack, on the other hand,
is seen as problematic. And yet Gotama Buddha insists that the fundamental cause
of all our distress concerning life and death has its origin in the formation of such a
self. To realize that something that is necessary for ordinary life is also deeply
problematic requires painstaking efforts. And perhaps this is the reason why many
find it so difficult to understand the core of Buddhism.
Another reason why Gotama Buddha’s doctrine is usually considered difficult to
understand is because it gives us the impression of denying our ordinary,
commonplace way of looking at things. But, as a matter of fact, his doctrine should
be regarded as overcoming the ordinary, by transcending it. Even the enlightened
Gotama Buddha himself did not lose a great part of what we call the commonplace
view...for, if one called his name he was sure to respond. He continued to have a
separate identity after his supreme enlightenment.
The simple existence of the self does not constitute the cause of suffering, because
the self is transcended. What is being criticized is not the formation of the self
(understood as a basic step in the genesis of a fully developed person)—for this is
not something that should be criticized; what is being said is that this process alone
is not the final aim or goal of living a human life. ‘The establishment of oneself,’ or
‘the realization of oneself,’ is ordinarily considered the mature stage of adulthood,
but according to Buddhism this is still unfulfillment. By not perceiving the
incompleteness and non-fulfillment of what we suppose to be our mature state,
suffering finds its origin. Gotama Buddha shows, however, that there is more beyond
THE PROBLEMATIC OF MIND IN GOTAMA BUDDHA 233