The Root of the Problem

The Root of the Problem

One day, a disciple of The Buddha went to see Him and complained,

"Teacher! I have a stomachache."

The Buddha looked gently at the disciple and said,

"What do you expect? When you have a stomach, of course you get a stomachache. But that's not the root of the problem. The root of the problem is the body. Because of the body, you have a stomach, so you get stomachache.

But that's still not the actual root of the problem.

The actual root of problem is because you ARE born,

That's why you have a stomachache."



"From birth as a requisite condition,

Then ageing and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress and despair come into play.

Such is the ORIGINATION of this entire mass of suffering."

- The Buddha, Anguttara Nikaya X.92




"There is no fire like lust/greed,

No evil like anger and hatred;

There is no ill like the burden of the 5 aggregates of existence,

AND, there is no bliss like the Perfect Peace of Nibbana."

- The Buddha, Dhammapada verse 202




"Just as when the gods pour rain in heavy drops & crash thunder on the upper mountains:

The water, flowing down along the slopes, fills the mountain clefts & rifts & gullies.

When the mountain clefts & rifts & gullies are full, they fill the little ponds.

When the little ponds are full, they fill the big lakes... the little rivers... the big rivers.

When the big rivers are full, they fill the great ocean.


In the same way:

Fabrications have ignorance as their prerequisite,

Consciousness has fabrications as its prerequisite,

Name-&-form has consciousness as their prerequisite,

The six sense media have name-&-form as their prerequisite,

Contact has the six sense media as its prerequisite,

Feeling has contact as its prerequisite,

Craving has feeling as its prerequisite,

Clinging has craving as its prerequisite,

Becoming has clinging as its prerequisite,

Birth has becoming as its prerequisite,

Stress & suffering have birth as their prerequisite,

Conviction has stress & suffering as its prerequisite,

Joy has conviction as its prerequisite,

Rapture has joy as its prerequisite,

Serenity has rapture as its prerequisite,

Pleasure has serenity as its prerequisite,

Concentration has pleasure as its prerequisite,

Knowledge & vision of things as they actually are present has concentration as its prerequisite,

Disenchantment has knowledge & vision of things as they actually are present as its prerequisite,

Dispassion has disenchantment as its prerequisite,

Release has dispassion as its prerequisite,

Knowledge of ending has release as its prerequisite. — SN 12.23

- The Buddha, Samyutta Nikaya 12.23