Learning the Buddha’s Teachings
Life in this very birth is a most precious opportunity. We now have the Tipiṭaka which preserves the Buddha’s teachings in full — teachings that once were passed on orally are now at our fingertips: readable instantly on a computer or phone.
Yet even with the Dhamma right before us, if we do not understand the sequence of cause and effect in the Dhamma, we will still revolve in doubt — like someone holding a treasure chest but not knowing how to open it.
The Buddha taught those who already had a foundation in Dhamma — people with some prior understanding — and for such listeners a single talk would penetrate to the heart. But most of us today remain at the beginning stage. Opening the Tipiṭaka and reading without knowing the causal order of phenomena is like a first-grader trying to study a fourth-grade textbook: though the words can be read, the true meaning of the lessons is missed.
Thus the Tipiṭaka is like a treasure with a map. Having the scriptures alone is not enough; we must know how to read the map — that is, understand the interlinking causes of phenomena. One who cannot read the map may read all his life and never find the treasure.
In the past Dhamma was learned by oral transmission; a teacher was needed to guide the student — because the Buddha’s teaching is not merely words but a way of seeing reality. Today we can read by ourselves without a teacher, but if we read without wise reflection (yoniso) we will understand only the letter, not the truth.
Therefore studying the Tipiṭaka is not a matter of belief or disbelief but of testing and seeing for oneself — like a scientist testing a hypothesis. Suppose provisionally that “the Buddha’s Dhamma is true,” then test it by practice. When the results are seen personally, doubt disappears without needing anyone else to confirm it.
Nowadays many argue about whether someone “understands Dhamma correctly or incorrectly.” In truth Dhamma is not for debate; it is something to be seen directly. Once seen, doubt naturally vanishes — like tasting salt and knowing it is salty; no further confirmation is necessary.
The Buddha taught that phenomena follow causes and conditions: “When this is, that is; when this is not, that is not.” This is the heart of all the Dhamma. One who understands this sentence with true insight — sees it in the heart — comprehends the Dhamma as a whole, because the same mechanism operates everywhere phenomena arise.
In an age when we possess abundant tools — books, websites, technology — what is still lacking is not information but the intention to understand rightly. Dhamma will not reveal itself to mere memorisers; it opens to those who investigate the reasons.
So before beginning study, set this intention clearly:
“I study to understand the truth, not to believe or to refute.” “I study to remove doubt, not merely to accumulate information.”
With that clarity, learning the Dhamma becomes not a burden but a return to the truth already present in our own heart.
Tipiṭaka: Treasure and Map
The Tipiṭaka is a treasury of wisdom the Buddha has left us, but its value depends on understanding the map. That map is itappaṭicca-samuppāda — the principle that things arise because of dependent causes.
One who understands even a portion of the Dhamma but not the principle of dependent arising is like someone who has treasure yet cannot open it. By contrast, one who understands the single rule of causality — “When this is, that is; when this ceases, that ceases” — can read the whole map, for all teachings rest on that rule.
Don’t Rely Only on Teachers — See for Yourself
Most people study Dhamma by following leaders they trust and assume those leaders understand correctly. But if the leader does not truly see the treasure, they will simply lead followers around in circles.
The Buddha said: “Attā hi attano nātho” — ‘One’s self is the refuge of one’s self.’ Following a teacher may be a helpful start, but to be freed from doubt one must see it with one’s own heart, not merely rely on faith in a person. One must understand the reasons behind the Dhamma.
Limits of Translation and Literal Understanding
The Tipiṭaka we study today has been translated from Pāli by many hands in many eras; each translator has different background and intent. Thus words we read may be linguistically correct yet miss the Dhamma’s intended sense.
Like relying on a machine translation of an English text: words may be literal but the meaning lost. Therefore study must employ yoniso-manasikāra — wise, analytical reflection — seeing cause and effect, not accepting or rejecting rashly.
Dhamma as the Science of Cause and Effect
The Buddha’s teaching is universal; it does not depend on time or society. Greed, hatred, and delusion produce suffering in every age. Thus the Dhamma is applicable always because it is founded on natural laws, not on social opinion.
Those who study with an open mind will see that Dhamma is the “science of mind.” The Buddha tested and verified his realization personally; Dhamma is not something to be believed blindly but to be seen and verified by experience.
Study to Understand, Not Simply to Believe
When you begin study, ask not “Do I believe?” but “Why is this so?” Every teaching of the Buddha has reasons behind it. When you trace the chain of reasons and see how they connect, belief becomes unnecessary — understanding stands firm.
Guidelines Before Deep Study
Set these attitudes before starting:
- Faith in the Buddha — that he realized the truth by himself.
- Faith in the Dhamma — that the teachings are a path to truth.
- Faith in the Noble Sangha — those who practised and realized and transmitted the path.
This faith is not blind trust; it is the faith that opens the way for wisdom — like a scientist who tentatively accepts a hypothesis in order to test it.
End of Doubt: the Beginning of Wisdom
Doubt is not an enemy but a tester of wisdom. Use reason to investigate until doubt dissolves, like mist vanishing in sunlight. The Buddha did not demand belief; he asked people to know by wisdom — when one sees, doubt has no foothold.
Provisional Hypotheses for Investigation
Before deep study, hold some provisional assumptions as instruments for investigation (not as dogma):
- Life does not end at death — there is continued process of rebirth.
- States described as hell and heaven are states of mind, results of kamma.
- Devas and pretas are realms of mind, not necessarily remote physical places.
- Countless worlds arise and pass according to causes and conditions.
If you are not convinced, allow these propositions to pass through your mind for examination; do not shut the door with disbelief. The Buddha advised: do not accept merely on hearing or authority — verify by careful examination and see for yourself.
What Not to Probe Intensely
While cultivating insight, there are topics the Buddha said are unhelpful to probe obsessively, because they scatter the mind and do not lead to liberation:
- The exact nature of the Buddha’s supramundane knowledge.
- The deep states of jhāna in technical detail.
- Complex details of karmic results (exactly when or how each deed yields fruit).
- Ultimate cosmological origins — “Who created the world?”
These are not forbidden, but they are off the path to liberation. A mind busy with remote speculation forgets to examine the direct field of practice — oneself.
So begin with understanding the nature of present life, for this is the experimental ground of real Dhamma.
Key Terms: Language of Seeing
To learn Dhamma we must align words with the states they point to. In the Buddha’s time Pāli terms referred to states directly verifiable in the mind; today we often take only literal meanings and miss the referent.
Study the key words not to memorize but to recognize their referents in your own experience:
- Saddhā (Faith) — trust in the Buddha and his teaching because reason shows them credible, not blind devotion.
- Citta (Mind) — the continuous process of cognition-arising-and-passing; the operation that perceives, feels, remembers, and intends.
- Viññāṇa (Consciousness) — the knowing that arises at the six sense doors (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind).
- Dhamma (Object) — that which the mind cognizes (forms, sounds, smells, etc.).
- Kamma (Karma) — volition; intentional mental acts.
- Kilesa (Defilement) — what clouds the mind: lobha, dosa, moha, māna, diṭṭhi.
- Sati (Mindfulness) and Sampajañña (Clear comprehension) — the pair that prevents the mind from being carried away by states.
- Yoniso-manasikāra (Wise attention) — skillful reflection that traces cause and effect.
One who understands these in direct experience will know not only definitions but the actual states these words point to.
Dhamma Does Not Demand Excessive Faith but Demands Truthfulness
The Buddha did not ask for blind faith. True faith (saddhā) arises after wisdom sees. When the mind understands Dhamma, faith steadies naturally; doubt dissolves on its own.
Align Words to Experience
In the Buddha’s time listeners grasped quickly because the language matched the direct experience. Over time meanings drift. To see Dhamma now, start by matching terms to what appears in your own mind. Don’t just memorize translations — recognize the states pointed to. When the match is clear, doubts fall away because Dhamma is for seeing, not for believing.
Short Explanations of Crucial Concepts
Below are concise experiential descriptions to use as practical reference:
Saddhā (Faith) — confidence in the Buddha and his teaching because their reasonableness is evident. This faith helps one begin the path but is not blind.
Citta (Mind) — a process that arises and passes: perception (phassa), feeling (vedanā), attention/memory (saññā), formation/intention (saṅkhāra). Each contact event is an arising-and-passing of mind.
Viññāṇa (Consciousness) — the knowing function at the six faculties; not an enduring knower but the momentary knowing that links sense base and object.
Kamma (Karma) — volitional acts of mind, speech, and body. Kamma with greed, hatred, delusion yields further entanglement; kamma done with wisdom and compassion lightens the rollick of suffering.
Kilesa (Defilements) — what darkens mind: lobha (greed), dosa (hatred), moha (delusion), māna (conceit), diṭṭhi (wrong view).
Sati & Sampajañña — mindfulness and clear comprehension. Together they allow the mind to note events as they arise and not be swept away. They are the root of insight and meditation.
Saṅkhāra (Formations) — things compounded together; everything conditioned is a saṅkhāra. Because they are conditioned, they follow the rule itappaṭicca-samuppāda: “When this is, that is; when this ceases, that ceases.” Seeing saṅkhāra as conditioned undermines clinging.
Tilakkhaṇa (Three Characteristics) — once one sees phenomena as conditioned, three marks follow:
- Anicca — impermanence
- Dukkha — unsatisfactoriness
- Anattā — not-self
Seeing these by wisdom in one’s own experience loosens clinging and ends doubt.
Nibbāna — not a place but the cessation of defilements. When greed, hatred, and delusion are extinguished, the mind is free from fabrications. Even a momentary glimpse of this cessation is a tasting of Nibbāna.
Summary: Words Are Footprints of Wisdom
Terms are not mere vocabulary; they are footprints of the Buddha’s wisdom. Following them without getting lost leads to the Enlightenment the Buddha realized: the end of being tossed by doubt.
How Life Arises — See Dependent Origination
Life does not start from “someone who created it.” It arises from continuous causal links. The Buddha’s insight: “Because this is, that is” — dependent origination is the heart of Dhamma.
Rūpa and Nāma — Two Aspects of Life
At conception life can be described as twofold:
- Rūpa — the material aspects (earth, water, wind, fire), the body and sense bases.
- Nāma — mental processes: feeling, perception, volition, consciousness.
Rūpa is “that which is perceived”; nāma is “that which perceives.” Viññāṇa links the two. When the physical decays, consciousness joined to defilements continues into new conditions of becoming — this is birth explained in terms of causation, not mystery.
Momentary Arisings of Mind
Every time the mind contacts an object — sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, thought — a momentary process arises and passes:
- Phassa (Contact) — sense base meets object.
- Viññāṇa (Consciousness) — the knowing arises.
- Vedanā (Feeling) — pleasant, painful, or neutral quality.
- Saññā (Perception / Recognition) — labels the object.
- Saṅkhāra (Mental Formation) — inclinations, intentions, reactions.
- Kamma (Action) — volitional responses follow.
This rapid sequence repeats so quickly we often miss it; with mindfulness we can observe that life is constant arising-and-passing of mind. Recognizing this loosens belief in a permanent self.
Taṇhā — the Fuel of Re-becoming
In this process, taṇhā (craving) binds us to continued becoming. Craving is the desire to possess pleasant feelings or to reject unpleasant ones. Craving sustains a stream of mental events and so the cycle continues.
The Buddha taught the causal web:
Because vedanā is, taṇhā arises; because taṇhā is, upādāna arises; because upādāna is, bhava arises; because bhava is, jāti arises; because jāti is, ageing-and-death and the whole mass of suffering arise.
This is paṭicca-samuppāda — the cycle of suffering arising and continuing moment by moment, not only in womb births.
When one sees that taṇhā is the root of suffering, and that taṇhā arises from clinging to vedanā, one can see the path to cessation: prevent the conditions that give rise to craving.
See with Wisdom, Not with Mere Faith
This teaching is not mystical: it can be tested in direct experience. When you see that craving follows feeling and that when the feeling fades craving fades, you understand the truth by your own consciousness: “When this is, that is; when this ceases, that ceases.” That is genuine insight — not rote memorization but seeing cause and effect inside your own mind.
The Birth of a Sense of Self
The Buddha identified sakkāya-diṭṭhi — the view that one of the five aggregates is-self — as the root of the sense of “I.” When we perceive form we think “this body is me”; when we feel we think “I am feeling”; when we remember, intend, cognize, we assume an enduring agent. This view gives rise to clinging to pleasures, pains, likes, dislikes, good and bad.
If one sees the five aggregates as merely conditions arising together, one does not claim “this is me,” and thus there is no fixed “one who is born or dies” — only phenomena arising and ceasing by cause.
Ending Doubt about the Process of Arising
Once you understand life as the arising and ceasing of conditioned processes, questions like “Who created the world?” lose importance. You see that phenomena beget phenomena; causes produce effects. This direct seeing dissolves doubt and is the start of being freed from hesitation about the Dhamma.
The Four Noble Truths — The Buddha’s Realization
The Buddha’s awakening was not a discovery of a new religion but the seeing of how nature already is. All beings — humans, animals, devas — are subject to the same law: the Four Noble Truths.
- Dukkha (Suffering) — not merely physical pain but the unsatisfactory nature of all conditioned phenomena, arising from our tendency to treat impermanent things as if they were our refuge. The Buddha said, “That which is a conditioned formation (saṅkhāra) is dukkha.”
- Samudaya (Origin of Suffering) — craving (taṇhā). Wanting pleasure or wanting pain removed are both forms of craving that give rise to clinging and further becoming.
- Nirodha (Cessation) — the cessation of craving is the cessation of suffering. It is not forced suppression but wisdom’s clear seeing such that desire no longer arises.
- Magga (Path) — the way leading to cessation is the Noble Eightfold Path — a practical process of training the mind to see true causes.
The Noble Eightfold Path — Practical Work of Wisdom
The Path is the functioning of a single wisdom in many aspects; it is not mere theory but the mind’s correct functioning in relation to truth. The eight factors are interrelated and support one another:
- Sammā-diṭṭhi — Right View: seeing that suffering has causes and can cease.
- Sammā-saṅkappa — Right Intention: intentions freed from sensual desire, ill-will, and cruelty.
- Sammā-vācā — Right Speech: speaking truthfully and kindly.
- Sammā-kammanta — Right Action: abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct.
- Sammā-ājīva — Right Livelihood: honest, non-harmful means of life.
- Sammā-vāyāma — Right Effort: preventing unarisen unwholesome states, abandoning arisen unwholesome, arousing unarisen wholesome, and sustaining arisen wholesome states.
- Sammā-sati — Right Mindfulness: seeing body as body, feeling as feeling, mind as mind, dhamma as dhamma.
- Sammā-samādhi — Right Concentration: collected mind free from sensuality and unwholesome states, steady and balanced.
The Path is the mind’s coherent activity: with right view as root, the other factors arise and function together, and the mind moves toward cessation.
End of Doubt by Seeing
When one understands the Four Noble Truths with wisdom, there is no further need to ask “Who created the world?” — one sees events as conditioned. That clarity is the end of doubt in the Dhamma. Understanding arises from seeing, not from being told.
Turning Understanding into Seeing — Practice
Understanding is only the beginning. The Buddha said, “Whoever sees the Dhamma sees me.” To see Dhamma means to see the truth of body and mind now. Having understood the Four Noble Truths, practice with mindfulness and concentration to verify them directly.
Sati — the door to wisdom. Note feelings and trace their causes without identifying as “I.” That knowing without clinging undermines craving.
Ānāpānasati — mindfulness of breathing is a primary method. By observing the breath’s in-and-out phases we learn to see arising and passing in subtle detail. Thoughts and sensations appear and pass; if we note them with equanimity they cease to enslave the mind. This is the concentration the Buddha described as “pure mindfulness grounded in equanimity.”
Samādhi — not forced suppression but steady, undisturbed presence. From such a mind insight naturally arises.
Paññā (Wisdom) — when mindfulness and concentration work together, the mind sees cause and effect directly: suffering arises from causes and ceases when causes cease. When that is seen, craving loses its fuel.
The Buddha said: “When one knows what is the cause and what is the effect, the mind is freed from ignorance and doubt about the Dhamma.” Doubt ends not because someone told you so, but because you yourself see.
A Life of Dhamma
When understanding ripens into seeing, daily life becomes practice. Every gesture, every feeling, becomes a lesson in wisdom. One remains in the world with awareness, not fleeing or hating it, for the world is simply manifestations of Dhamma.
This is the state of one freed from doubt: living lightly, letting go, perfectly calm — because Dhamma is not only in books but manifest in the present heart-mind.
✨ Closing summary
Learning the Buddha’s Dhamma is not to collect new facts but to dispel old delusions.
One who sees that suffering has causes and that when causes cease, suffering ceases — understands life fully without needing further belief.
That is the end of doubt in the Dhamma: wisdom’s direct seeing that things occur by causes, and cease when those causes cease. No one else must verify it — Dhamma is realized by the heart that sees.