THE ANNIHILATION OF SUFFERING

  THE Buddha said: "What, my friends, is evil? Killing is evil;

stealing is evil; yielding to sexual passion is evil; lying is evil;

slandering is evil; abuse is evil; gossip is evil; envy is evil;

hatred is evil; to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these

things, my friends, are evil.

  "And what, my friends, is the root of evil? Desire is the root of

evil; hatred is the root of evil; illusion is the root of evil;

these things are the root of evil.

  "What, however, is good? Abstaining from killing is good; abstaining

from theft is good; abstaining from sensuality is good; abstaining

from falsehood is good; abstaining from slander is good; suppression

of unkindness is good; abandoning gossip is good; letting go all

envy is good; dismissing hatred is good; obedience to the truth is

good; all these things are good.

  "And what, my friend, is the root of the good? Freedom from desire

is the root of the good; freedom from hatred and freedom from

illusion; these things, my friends, are the root of the good.

  "What, however, O brethren, is suffering? What is the origin of

suffering? What is the annihilation of suffering? Birth is

suffering; old age is suffering; disease is suffering; death is

suffering; sorrow and misery are suffering; affliction and despair are

suffering; to be united with loathsome things is suffering; the loss

of that which we love and the failure in attaining that which is

longed for are suffering; all these things, O brethren, are suffering.

  "And what, O brethren, is the origin of suffering? It is lust,

passion, and the thirst for existence that yearns for pleasure

everywhere, leading to a continual rebirth I It is sensuality, desire,

selfishness; all these things, O brethren, are the origin of

suffering.

  "And what is the annihilation of suffering? The radical and total

annihilation of this thirst and the abandonment, the liberation, the

deliverance from passion, that, O brethren, is the annihilation of

suffering.

  "And what, O brethren, is the path that leads to the annihilation of

suffering? It is the holy eightfold path that leads to the

annihilation of suffering, which consists of right views, right

decision, right speech, right action, right living, right

struggling, right thoughts, and right meditation.

  "In so far, O friends, as a noble youth thus recognizes suffering

and the origin of suffering, as he recognizes the annihilation of

suffering, and walks on the path that leads to the annihilation of

suffering, radically forsaking passion, subduing wrath, annihilating

the vain conceit of the "I-am, leaving ignorance, and attaining to

enlightenment, he will make an end of all suffering even in this

life."