No-Second-Arrow Z:
- What did he mean with 'dukkha', is 'suffering' an accurate translation?
This is one of the first words I sought to understand correctly, because it plays into just about everything that Gotama taught or endeavored to teach people about in terms of being able to turn around their perceptions of dissatifactoriness into satisfaction (or at least a neutral equanimity toward mental formations –
sankharas).
Anyone who checks into this, even superficially on the Internet, will learn that
dukkha refers to "unsatisfactoriness" or "dissatisfactions" of all kinds, ranging from the physical to the psychological. Although the word "suffering" is an acceptable translation of
dukkha, it doesn't even begin to touch the range of unsatisfactoriness that Gotama had in mind when he used the word.
I recommend to those who really want to begin digging into these things that they pick up Walpola Rahula's book
What The Buddha Taught and begin reading very carefully. All of this ground has already been sufficiently covered there and elsewhere.
If you want to learn more about the man Siddhattha Gotama, pick up Vishvapani Blomfield's book
Gautama Buddha, The Life and Teachings of the Awakened One. This along with the classic groundbreaking book by Hans Wolfgang Schumann titled
The Historical Buddha will go a long way in painting the picture of what was very likely the actual human being who was given the title of Buddha by religious communities.
And if you read the translation of the Mahaparinibbana Sutta (DN 16) from the Digha Nikaya published by Wisdom Books and tranlsated by Maurice Walshe along with several other key suttas, you may find reason to accept the idea (as I have) that Gotama had no intention of starting a new religion called "Buddhism." He never even used the word "Buddhism" during his eighty years on this planet. Or at least it is not recorded in
any of the discourses I've read. What he did do, at the inevitability of his own demise, was to encourage his followers to hold close to and take the Dhamma that he taught as their guide and refuge, and to gather together with like-minded individuals into sanghas in order to support one another in this study. He even turned down requests that he name a successor to himself saying that what he had to teach was far more important than any single personality in the sangha. This shows, to me at least, that he was a man of great integrity right up to the end.
What was important to him to communicate to his followers
even in his last days is very revealing about the man himself. When Ananda asked, close to the end of Gotama's life: "Lord, what shall we do with the Tathagata's remains?" And Gotama replied: "Do not worry yourselves about the funeral arrangements, Ananda. You should strive for the highest goal, devote yourselves to the highest goal, and dwell with your minds tirelessly, zealously devoted to the highest goal. There are wise Khattiyas, Brahmins, and householders who are devoted to the Tathagata: they will take care of the funeral."
Ultimately, it will come down to a subjective impression in each individual how he wishes to view Gotama the man and the teacher of his Dhamma or Doctrine of Truth. Not everyone will agree to view things in the same way, even if there are occasional parallels and overlaps of agreement. If you've been alive on this planet for a while (say 40 or 50 or 60 years) you will have learned much about the nature of human kind that you can apply to your reading of the discourses in an effort to see
the truth about what likely occurred and the
dynamics behind how things turned out. Using that life-knowledge of
how things actually happen in the real world is how one will benefit the most when reading, studying, and contemplating the discourses. If you think about these discourses under those terms, you will be amazed at the insights that present themselves to you. Be mindful and stive ever onward to realize the processes of the mind and what they mean, how they affect your perception of reality.