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I'm not a Buddhist but i learn a lot from this channel, got some pretty aight brainsmarts outta this one

In meditation we see that our thoughts, sensations, emotions, are fleeting and always changing - their very nature is to change and pass away. So too with desire. The more we practice the more we’ll begin to see this on and off the cushion. Thank you, Doug.

This Noble Truth is simple and brief yet packs in so much wisdom. This video really delivers. The word "remainderless" really strikes a heavy note to me. If we give up 99% of our cravings, yet 1% remains. That 1% sense of craving will eventually grow in strength and all the other 99% cravings will come right back to us. This is why the Buddha's teachings are so thorough and complete and to the point. We will just go back and forth in relinguishing our cravings and gaining them back if we don't give it up 100%. Even having a noble purpose leads to craving in accomplishing such goal. "Freedom from it" including from the purpose frees us from everything. However, that doesn't mean we abandon that purpose. We are simply "nonreliant" on it.

really enjoying the series Doug, back to the basics! thanks for the quotations in your videos, they're really helpful for me to look into more suttas for my essays :)

قدس الله سرك يابوذا ونفعنا الله باسرارك وانوارك وعلومك بالدارين امين

Thank you Mr. Doug, My knowledge of Dharma is also sharpening because of you

Thank you, Doug! I see craving as craving for something that is not there. Cessation of displeasure - not present in the moment / not possible Indefinite extension of pleasure - not present in the moment / not possible As such, for me the main way to cease craving is to give myself fully to the present moment and what it offers / being mindful.

Doug you have so many great videos, but let me say this one was particularly wonderful. Thank you for all the effort you put into these. It really comes through in your work.

Thank you for this wonderful video! 😊🙏🏻 May you all be well! Love from Germany! ❤

I'm not so sure it's possible to reach a state of nirvana without becoming a monk, but I could be wrong. I've been wrong about a lot of things in my 60 years of existence. All I'm striving for with this practice is some genuine inner peace. I chose Buddhism because it makes sense to me. Reflecting on the first two noble truths is like, yeah, that's spot on.

There's a teaching about a Buddhist Prayer that I really like. The prayer is, "May you be SAFE. May you be HEALTHY. May you be JOYFUL. May you be FREE." It's quite lovely. I say it often. Does this prayer conflict with the idea of ceasing craving? After all, this prayer seeks (craves) safety, healthy, joyful, and freedom for people and animals, society and cultures, everyone really. I guess I need to work more on my understanding of this Third Noble Truth. How can we stop craving LOVE? LOVE for our family, friends, animals, the trees, the world, the past, those who have been so great to us? What is the reason for LIFE if it's not to ACTIVELY AND PUPRPOSELY BE LOVED, LOVE GREATLY, AND LOVE WITH GENEROSITY AND INTENTION?

Thanks for the videos! I’m an atheist but your videos have made me really interested in secular Buddhism and it’s really expanded the way I think about the world.

Can’t wait until the next episode! 🙏

back to the start! this video made me realize my bad habits and a sort of reason why im here, its a real mind opener even after months. i would hug you if i could, but all i can say is thank you Doug, peace and love to you 💜

You have a very strong presence on camera. Thanks again for sharing these.

Lots of love from sri lanka.waiting for your explanation in 4th noble truth.this spreading itself is a good deed for your samsara.

Dear Doug Thank you for the great video. I hope you can answer this question or maybe make a future video about it as it seems to be a longer topic. The third noble truth in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta text seems to suggest a complete eradication of craving to attain awakening. The text says "the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving" or in other translations "it is the complete cessation of that very craving". However something doesn't really make sense here. First, eating, drinking and sleeping requires craving and is crucial to uphold life. Thus you can't ever completely eradicate craving. Even if you live as an ascetic and eat as little as possible, you will still crave to eat, drink and sleep. That is not escapable. So giving up craving completely while being alive is impossible. Second, craving is also crucial to actually wanting to be caring and concerning for others, without craving you have no desire whatsoever for the well-being of others and it wouldn't matter for you if others were suffering or feeling happy. Third, doing meditation and achieving enlightenment requires craving and thus wanting to do it, without craving you wouldn't even want to escape suffering. In the beginning of the same sutta the Buddha also advocates to follow the practice of the middle way, avoiding the two extremes of indulgence and self-mortification. This seems to imply that craving should not be fully eradicated, because you need to eat, drink and sleep and not starve yourself to near death as the Buddha opposed. Thus the middle way doesn't seem to correspond completely with the literal understanding of the third noble truth. So does buddhism seem to have different concepts of craving, maybe wholesome cravings and unwholesome cravings that can explain this? And if so, in which buddhist texts is this clarified? Or does the text maybe refer to clinging as in attachment rather than actual craving in the literal sense? Or maybe something else? I hope you can clarify it to avoid misunderstandings of the third noble truth and the cessation of suffering. Thank you.

Thank you so much for these videos! I'm currently going through a challenging time of my life with what i would be consider unhealthy/unskillful obsessions. I think unfortunately the pandemic has caused many of us to in the past year to develop bad habits/over indulgences as a coping mechanism to deal with potentially the most mentally challenging times in recent history. Though I look at Buddhism everyday as a source of strength and guidance and your videos really break down many important topics, making them more clear to understand.

Thanks

I have talked to many people who will share their problems and issues with me, not saying I'm a therapist or better than them, etc. I'm saying even when I did offer advice either solicited or unsolicited I can truly see how one can Identify with their issues in the sense that I have recognized that some do not want a solution to their problem as much as they want the attention they can garner from having one.

A soul-crushing job, and the hope that a flash car/house will make it all better. The cause of much unhappiness. Let it go and give up the search folks.

So what I understood from this is don’t get too attached to anything. Keep an open mind and be prepared to change your opinion on things. When you identify with a particular set of views, you’re going to narrow your sight and that can lead to suffering, especially when it becomes excessive

Does that mean we can't have hopes and dreams? Just basically lower your expectations

Hello Doug always so clear with your explanations. On the craving topic I think that is almost imposible to not crave for things and Situations. On regard things we cannot change like death , yes we need to not crave or resolve fears about mortality. But, for the rest of life , wealth, health , security, peace , these things need craving, personal and global. In India you see men sitting all day long all their lives , while their rivers and cities are a mess, craving makes you want to know more , live more, push your boundaries. I think that this teaching may be accurate for 3000 years ago, but today it might create a very weak society , do you agree?, greetings from Argentina!!

New viewer here. Thanks for these videos, they are enlightening. I've been drawn to buddism for a long time, but only now, pushing into my forties, do I feel ready to embrace the teachings skillfully. But is craving the cessation of cravings a craving that needs to cease...?☺

🙏

Have Buddhists interpreted 4 noble truths in the past differently the way they did it for metaphysical and ontological questions where we find diversity of views?

How do we stop craving.

Hello, Doug ! Just one request. Can you please change the background in the thumbnail of the video above ? It's yellow. That's why, the words, written in white, are not that clear. I know this is silly. I just felt like requesting 😝

hi doug your channel is amazing i have a question can you please answer me i have encountered this sutta recently Mahāsīhanāda sutta and here is a quotation from it "So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Vesālī in a woodland grove behind the town. Now at that time Sunakkhatta the Licchavi had recently left this teaching and training. He was telling a crowd in Vesālī: 'The ascetic Gotama has no superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones. He teaches what he’s worked out by logic, following a line of inquiry, expressing his own perspective. And his teaching leads those who practice it to the complete ending of suffering, the goal for which it’s taught'... When I know and see in this way, suppose someone were to say this: ‘The ascetic Gotama has no superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones. He teaches what he’s worked out by logic, following a line of inquiry, expressing his own perspective.’ Unless they give up that speech and that thought, and let go of that view, they will be cast down to hell. Just as a mendicant accomplished in ethics, immersion, and wisdom would reach enlightenment in this very life, such is the consequence, I say. Unless they give up that speech and thought, and let go of that view, they will be cast down to hell." does that mean anyone who considers the buddha an ordinary human and that He teached what he worked out by logic will burn in hell according to buddhism?

My question is, We have to practice Dharma in this samsara, for that we have to earn money and for that we have grow in buisness or job, so How can I grow in my buisness or job without cravings or by cessation of craving and simultaneously practice the Dharma

If all conditioned things are Dukkah, how can there be an end to Dukkah? My lack of desire won’t change the unsatisfying nature of conditioned phenomena

hi

Does this mean that we can not fight against oppression or want to change laws?

And one more question, daily I am reading about the Dharma but some time because of other work it get missed at that time I feel uncomfortable, so is this my craving about Dharma or enlightenment?

are you a buddhist if not an athiest who practising buddhism.