After his enlightenment, the Buddha gave his first discourse to the five friends. The following are someparagraphs of it, taken from Vipasana Meditation sites:
“…He describes three types of craving, or tanha. The first is the craving for sensual pleasures, kamatanha. This can be easily understood, but eradicating it alone is not enough. The second is the craving for any kind of existence, bhavatanha. Even if someone is free of sensual pleasures, there is the craving for survival: “The ‘I’ must survive. No matter what happens to the world or to other beings, I must be there in whatever plane of existence, to witness it and see it continue. Even liberation is something that ‘I’ must experience, ‘I’ must enjoy.” This craving gives rise to further rebirths, and so the round of suffering continues. The third and final craving is the desire for annihilation, vibhavatanha. Even craving for the end of existence is still craving…
“…The Noble Truth of the Path leading to the eradication of suffering is this Eightfold Path, namely right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration…”
“…In essence, the four Noble Truths are very simple: accept the fact of suffering, understand how it arises, totally eradicate it, and so realize the path to its eradication. But the Buddha’s enlightenment was actually to experience it. He elaborated, saying that each Noble Truth has to be realized in three different ways. Each truth is not a reality unless it is witnessed, or experienced…”
“…The Buddha describes this path asdukkhanirodhagamini patipada, the path to the cessation of all misery. Elsewhere he describes the same path as vedananirodhagamini patipada, the path to the cessation of all sensations. This is because the path has to be experienced. The word used for experience in those days was vedana, which also means sensation. So pariññatam means that the entire field of vedana, sensation, has to be experienced. Elsewhere, he says, Yam kiñci vedayitam, tam dukkhasmin—every sensation is connected with dukkha, with misery. Even the most pleasant sensation has to be understood as dukkhabecause it is anicca. There is the danger of clinging to this impermanent experience and of generatingtanha, craving, toward it. Unless all sensation is understood as misery, there might remain a delusion that some sensation really does give happiness…”
“…Kondañña was the first of many who became liberated at that time. The path is the same for all, and we are fortunate that the technique is still available today. It is therefore incumbent on all meditators to make best use of this path, for their own liberation. It is a rare opportunity…”
