Suffering due to non-self-related preconceived notions in Theravada
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According to this answer :
> However, there is another type of suffering that cannot be fixed with
> anatta! This type of suffering comes from attachment to forms other
> than oneself, forms that have nothing to do with "I". For example,
> consider the situation when your teenage son suddenly declares that he
> is a gay person (a homosexual). Because you are so attached to an idea
> that your son should be a proper man, there is a great mismatch in
> your mind between expectation and reality. Because of this mismatch
> you experience dukkha, suffering. This type of dukkha has nothing to
> do with your sense of "I", it is about your son. But because you have
> a fixed idea of how things are supposed to be, you suffer whenever
> there is a mismatch.
>
> So (Theravada) anatta can't help with this type of suffering.
> But (Mahayana) shunyata can.
Now this is a question directed to Theravada practitioners.
Let's say, somebody suffers from aversion when they see any person practising the gay lifestyle, because they have preconceived ideas about what is right or wrong about sexual orientation. This kind of suffering seems to be unrelated to craving or the self (because this is related to other unrelated people). Here, I use the example of a random stranger, not "my son".
Sexual orientation is just an example of a non-self-related preconceived notion. It could easily be something else like Brexit or communism or news of a natural disaster taking lives in a distant country.
1. According to Theravada and the Pali Canon, what is the cause of this suffering? Is it in any way related to the self, craving and dependent origination?
2. According to Theravada and the Pali Canon, how can this suffering be eliminated? According to the third noble truth, to end suffering, one must end craving. How does ending craving end this suffering?
3. Please provide references to the Pali Suttas, if possible.
Asked by ruben2020
(41280 rep)
Aug 18, 2018, 05:25 PM
Last activity: Aug 21, 2018, 03:22 PM
Last activity: Aug 21, 2018, 03:22 PM