by Chade-Meng Tan | Nov 3, 2023 | Buddhism for All
Imagine living in a weird world where cars come with a self-destruct button that you can order as an add-on. It’s a big red button right beside the cupholders that says, “Self-destruct, DO NOT PRESS”. If you press the button, the car blows up, with you in...
by Chade-Meng Tan | Nov 2, 2023 | Buddhism for All
It is common among Buddhists to erroneously claim that the First Noble Truth proclaims, “Life is suffering.” That mistake is understandable, I catch myself doing it frequently too. There are two problems with that claim. First, according to the...
by Chade-Meng Tan | Nov 1, 2023 | Buddhism for All
“Which one of us is going to tell him?” The Buddha taught that the five aggregates subject to grasping are suffering. What does that mean? One way to think of it is like trying to grab hold of water with your hands to drink it. No matter...
by Chade-Meng Tan | Oct 31, 2023 | Buddhism for All
“Arrr – draw a line on the water, savvy?” Regarding the five aggregates, allow me to confess a dirty little secret: with the possible exception of form, there is no consensus among Buddhist teachers on the precise definition of each aggregate. ...
by Chade-Meng Tan | Oct 30, 2023 | Buddhism for All
The Buddha ended his statement of the First Noble Truth with the sentence, “In brief, the five aggregates subject to grasping are suffering (dukkha).”[1] Simply put, the five aggregates are the five physical and mental factors that, in combination, are experienced as...
