Hello Leo,
No, quite definitely the first noble truth cannot be interpreted
simply as "life has suffering". This would clearly be just a
watering-down of what the Buddha is actually saying.
From the Buddha's first discourse (Dhammacakkhappavattana Sutta) we have:
"Ida.m kho pana bhikkhave, dukkha.m ariyasacca.m: Jaatiâpi dukkhaa,
jaraaâpi dukkhaa, vyaadhiâpi dukkho, mara.nampi dukkha.m. Appiyehi
sampayogo dukkho, piyehi vippayogo dukkho. Yampiccha.m na labhati
tampi dukkha.m. Sa"nkhittena pa~ncupaadaanakkhandhaa dukkhaa."
"Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is
suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is
suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation
from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is
suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are
suffering."
The Buddha is not at all denying that there is happiness in life -
there is plenty - but it is essentially the fact that we cling to
whatever is pleasant that brings us suffering, because all is
impermanent. The Buddha exhorts us to develop equanimity with whatever
is pleasant or unpleasant. Then a byproduct is that our happinesses
will be greater, since we will just be in the present with them, and
not consciously or subconsciously creating suffering for ourselves by
clinging to that happiness and wanting it to last. Similarly our
pains in life will be lessened, because with equanimity again we
simply stay in the present with them and we eliminate all the mental
proliferation of thinking about our pain that intensifies our
suffering. Of course, this is all much easier said than done - because
of the roots of greed, aversion, and delusion that are within us. But
that's what the Buddhist practice is all about.
I hope this is a little helpful.
With metta,
John
--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "Leo" <leoaive@...> wrote:
>
> Hi
>
> I am not sure about correct translation of th First Noble Truth.
> In some cases it looks to me it is translated as: Life is suffereing.
> In other cases, there are Suttas, that tells about different happiness
> in life. So from that I can come to conclusion, that First Noble Truth
> shouls be: Lafe has suffering. (not life is suffering, or all suffering)
> I would really appreciate, if you would tell me if it can be translated
> like that: Life has suffering, from Pali language.
>
> With Metta
>
> Leo
>