The Buddhist Doctrine of Two Truths: Origins

In this video we'll look at the origins of the Buddhist doctrine of "two truths" in the Upaniṣads and certain of the suttas of early Buddhism. While the Buddha never actually discussed a concept of "two truths" per se, he did elaborate a number of related ideas that in time would mature into this doctrine.
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✅ Videos mentioned:
Who Are You? The Five Aggregates of Buddhism -- • Who Are You? The Five ...
Buddhism's Three Marks of Existence: Deepest Part of the Dharma -- • Buddhism's Three Marks...
✅ Suttas mentioned:
suttacentral.net/an2.21-31/en...
suttacentral.net/sn1.25/en/su...
suttacentral.net/dn9/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/mn74/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/an4.49/en/su...
suttacentral.net/sn22.94/en/s...
✅ Books used:
Patrick Olivelle, The Early Upaniṣads - amzn.to/2O00fhD
K.N. Jayatilleke, Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge. - amzn.to/30enpDi
✅ Other material:
Piya Tan on Dīghanakha Sutta (MN 74) www.themindingcentre.org/dharm...
plato.stanford.edu/entries/tw...
Sanghamitra Dasgupta and Dilip Kumar Mohanta, “Some Reflections on the Relation Between Śaṅkara and Buddhism”. In Indian Philosophical Quarterly XXV No. 3, July 1998.
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[@DougsDharma]

🧡 If you find benefit in my videos, consider supporting the channel by joining us on Patreon and get fun extras like exclusive videos, ad-free audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: www.patreon.com/dougsseculardharma 🙂

[@c-mandawg]

Why not just add youtube membership? Then people can contribute and get extra stuff like badges, bonus content and whatever, you should consider that

[@asia9188]

Love from Malaysia ❤️

[@xiaomaozen]

The Buddha's splendid distinction between common language (that we all have to use) and things as they really are reminds me a lot of something Friedrich Nietzsche said (emphasis added): _[...] in fact it is nothing but this driving, willing and acting, and _*_only the seduction of language_*_ (and the fundamental errors of reason petrified within it), which construes and misconstrues all actions as conditional upon an agency, a ‘subject’, can make it appear otherwise. [...] But there is no such substratum; there is no ‘being’ behind the deed, its effect and what becomes of it; ‘the doer’ is invented as an afterthought, - the doing is everything._ And (please substitute "the Self" for "God"): _I am afraid we are not rid of God because we still have faith in grammar._ Great video, Doug! Love from Germany! ❤🙏🏻

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks xiao mao! 🙏🙂

[@decipheringthematrix56]

Much love from Mexico!

[@DougsDharma]

¡Muchas gracias!

[@mf1823]

I like that little house on the shelves behind you. It is true. We need an enclosure with a window to gaze out in our attempt to make sense of the world.

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@readingnarcissism]

Really enjoyed this one. It's a complicated topic as you said but so much good to be gained from understanding. Thank you for articulating this for others to understand.

[@DougsDharma]

Glad it was helpful Mark! 🙏🙂

[@lukedmoss]

I looked into the Two Truths a couple years ago and look forward to watching this video today

[@DougsDharma]

Great, hope you like it Luke.

[@codybarton6332]

Great and informative video as always Doug! Thank you🙏

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure Cody!

[@paulinanunez8166]

Very informative and great video. Thanks, Doug 🙏💛

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Paulina! 🙏

[@nancypoopongpaibul5642]

Right understanding. Thank you.

[@DougsDharma]

You are welcome Nancy! 🙏

[@keithtrickey3482]

Fantastic video 👍🙏

[@DougsDharma]

Many thanks Keith!

[@CultureScreen]

Great content.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Culture!

[@shiranthibandara2029]

I am so glad sir that western world getting our great Buddha's teachings through you I am very very happy and blissful with The passing of this knowledge to westerners who I believe are very smart and lost will find happiness in life though this I also would like to emphasis that abidhanma was preached by our own Lord Buddha not anyone else unless by another Buddha that would be bone after this era. Please do not doubt it

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Shiranthi! 🙏

[@sskpsp]

Interestingly, there seem to be extensions to 3 or even 4 truths, or perhaps subcategorizations of Two Truths, mostly in Vajrayana I think: inner, outer, secret, ultimate. I think it's mostly to match the other enumerations like the 3 Gems or 3 Marks, or the 4 Noble Truths. I'm not sure how much more it reveals by extending or subcategorizing the model though.

[@DougsDharma]

Interesting Pranav, thanks for the info!

[@user-Void-Star]

4 truth are 1 outer 2 inner 3 secret 4 ultimate

[@jean-michellaurora1854]

Thank you!

[@DougsDharma]

You're welcome Jean-Michel!

[@lillpoetboy]

Talk about perfect timing, I just started reading about this in Buddhist Philosophy Essentials Readings

[@DougsDharma]

Cool! Yes it's a pretty central topic in later Buddhism. More soon!

[@dominikrusiecki3928]

Thank you for these videos, Doug. The Buddha did speak of ultimate truth on at least one occasion - in MN 140, the Dhatuvibhangasutta: "For that is false, bhikkhu, which has a deceptive nature, and that is true which has an undeceptive nature-Nibbāna. Therefore a bhikkhu possessing [this truth] possesses the supreme foundation of truth. For this, bhikkhu, is the supreme noble truth, namely, Nibbāna, which has an undeceptive nature." (transl. Bhikkhu Bodhi) Also, I think if you consider annica, dukkha, anatta to be the deeper truth, you should definitely also talk about the Four Noble Truths. They are often said to be the most important and all-encompassing Buddhist teachings, and, similarly to the three characteristics, in the suttas they are described as the deeper insight into the workings of reality, e.g. "it is just suffering that arises, just suffering that ceases". Meaning that by penetrating the conventional world of self and things, one sees the deeper truth of there being just the arising and passing away of suffering. I hope you don't take these as nitpicking. My intention was to point your attention towards something you might have missed. I'm grateful for what a great job you're doing in making Early Buddhism more accessible with these videos.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, these can certainly be understood as "ultimate truths", though the Buddha never called them such, nor did he make an explicit distinction between "ultimate" and "conventional" truths.

[@andrewtom8407]

I had a discussion with a friend a while ago. He stated that although everything changes, even for a split second, there is a reality for everything. In other words, even though everything changes, it is the reality that everything progresses, i.e. things don't have to be permanent to be "real". In a way, he did have a point, however, i think this is what traps most people from seeing the truth. This leads us back to the non-self that Doug mentioned in the video. Whatever idea that one may come up with, the reference point is always the "self". What one deems as "real" is from the perspective of "self". The reality to one living being may not be "real" to someone else. Although reality is rather different from truth, it is nonetheless what truth is base on. Going back to what my friend claimed that "things don't have to be permanent to be real". my argument was, if you leave an apple untouched for days, it will eventually rot and turned into mold and dust. Can we still call it an apple throughout the change process? One may say the apple was still an apple until it becomes unrecognizable as an apple, then one may start calling it something else. however, if we analyze the apple in parts, the rotting procedure progresses at different pace in different parts of the apple. Every moment and every second, the so-called apple is becoming something different. According to my friend's idea, the apple was real for the duration when it still looked like an apple. However, the changing components of the apple may not support that idea fully. Part of the apple had changed to something else., and that something else may change to yet something else, and so on. The fact is, the apple is called an apple because we want to until we don't think we should call it an apple anymore. This is the making of our "self" or "ego". Reality is a very subjective phenomenon. Each living being has different "realities". Buddhism tells us that emptiness is the truth, and the truth is "empty". I've found this very helpful in my everyday life.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes well I agree with your friend: it doesn't have to be permanent to be real. But its impermanence means we can't cling to it and be satisfied.

[@AnattaAnattata]

Sādhu! Sādhu! Sādhu! 🙏🙏🙏

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@billyoertel5666]

Love your videos! Question: Do you understand Pali and if so, how did you learn it? Having trouble finding resources for learning the language

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Billy! I understand a little Pāli but am not an expert. There are various Pāli resources around the web including those from the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies and Bhikkhu Bodhi.

[@billyoertel5666]

@@DougsDharma thank you!

[@jaylenoschin8189]

3:11 - Heraclitus vs Parmenides…

[@user-qr1cp3rc1g]

Hey doug thanks for the video, gotta check it out soon, but I have an unrelated question to you if its okay. You mentioned in a much earlier video that arrogance is something you are struggling with, I was wondering as to how it comes up in your buddhist practise. Do you find yourself judging any article/book about buddhism before even reading it or dissmissing them due to your instinct to think they cannot be better than you know or that they are not good? I am a video game designer and sometimes I feel that way to information and articles about my proffession too. But we can never know everything, I think its best to push ourselves to be open and stay in the beginner mindsets sometimes.

[@lillpoetboy]

Good advise. As a video game player, I agree, always be open

[@DougsDharma]

Oh sure, but there is a fine line between arrogance (clinging to views and a comparing self) and simply seeing that something is right and another thing is wrong. The practice is seeing the differences there and working with them.

[@user-qr1cp3rc1g]

@@DougsDharma Thank you doug keep up the great work

[@peaceful_warrior3479]

Good Morning Doug, I'm looking for Dharma about toxic environment in the work place.

[@DougsDharma]

That's a good one Robert, I'm not sure what to suggest except to look for teachings about dealing with difficult people. Right Speech in particular can be helpful, as can deciding when enough is enough and it's time to leave.

[@highwaytothesun]

In discussions with friends I often liken conventional vs ultimate reality to the experience of watching a film together, for instance, James Bond. Perhaps we just saw James bond escape in a speedboat. We can agree on that truth at a conventional level, but at a deeper level we have just witnessed an actor performing choreography in the role of the fictional character, and at a deeper level of truth we are merely seeing a pattern of coloured lights projected in sequence so as give the appearance of a cohesive narrative.

[@DougsDharma]

That's right, the rabbit-hole goes deeper and deeper ... !

[@raresmircea]

Good analogy! But there’s an important aspect here that needs taken into account. Because of particular context i grew up seeing a lot of films and many if not most times it was a magical experience. But somewhere after my 20’s my brain (not "me"; rather my unconscious) shifted perspective from the story level to the "deeper" level. Without exaggeration losing the magic was very uncomfortable psychologically. If this can happen with movie watching, i can only imagine what can happen when someone loses the magic of actual human life. The name "dark night of the soul" is poetic but the reality is Hell. I’m finding myself on the path, following it out of inertia, but i see absolutely no reason for most people to adhere to it. Life is pure magic. There are those who suffer greatly and would benefit immensely from enlightenment, but practicing is taking too long and it has the risk of making things worse. Legalizing suicide would be orders of magnitude more efficient then enlightenment, while working somewhat similarly.

[@highwaytothesun]

@@raresmircea I am not absolutely certain what you are trying to say. I will say that the practice and fruits of practice of seeing things more deeply and seeing things as they 'truly are' can bring up some unflattering realities perhaps self-delusions we have been holding, or the consequences of our actions for better or worse, but ultimately, practice affords the clarity to rectify behaviour patterns that cause harm to oneself and harm to others. While there are competing understandings of enlightenment, or the path to liberation (awakening etc.) i am in the camp that it is a gradual path with punctuated steps along the way. It is not an all or nothing game. So far as we have chipped away at the conceit I am, relinquished skeptical doubt (in the dhamma), ceased clinging to rituals and rites, we will become that more free to experience life without suffering. So far as we have removed anger, hatred and ill-will from our minds we will experience peace in measure. Suicide is not analogous to enlightenment, despite metaphors of extinguishing of the flame. The Buddha of the pali canon was greatly opposed to suicide, and if you consider the chain of causation, and rebirth, every mind is born of the previous mind. A mind brought to suicide is a mind in agony full of defilements, and the next mind will follow suit, full of misery. If rebirth is something that you have not accepted, then you can consider the consequences of such actions as they ripple out to see how this is not the end of misery, as 'our lives' are not merely our own, and suicide can cause much misery for loved ones, communities, society in general. I recommend if anyone reading this struggles with depression or suicide they seek out some professional assistance, while a meditation practice can be a great asset for mental well being, it is no replacement for professional mental health treatment. Additionally I would personally recommend those seeking to practice meditation seriously, to consult with a qualified instructor, no matter what the tradition. I believe Doug may have some material about the traditional 'checklist' the Buddha gave to those seeking a teacher, if not you can find many resources online about what to look for when selecting a meditation teacher, or community/sangha.

[@andrewtom8407]

Very interesting look at a Bond movie. Ordinary audiences see the movie as an episode of the James Bond stories. film critics see the movie with more depth such as how the movie was made including the direction, acting, cinematography, etc. Very young children and babies see only different colored lights, objects moving, etc.

[@highwaytothesun]

@@andrewtom8407 yeah each one is true in a sense, but there is superficial truth, and deeper truths to be uncovered with applie focus, concentration, and understanding. In a sense you are Andrew Tom who replied to my message on youtube, but (perhaps) in a deeper reading you are a process of becoming perpetuated by desires, aversions, patterns of reaction; that is to say, a karmic event taking the transient conditional formation of a human body and mind...

[@user-ic4ce8xb5v]

🙏

[@DougsDharma]

🙏🙂

[@CuongNguyen-do6qs]

The video is every enlightening. If I understand the video correctly, this means Buddhism does not aim to offer a kind of Kantian transcendence upon which ultimate truth is grounded?

[@DougsDharma]

Well I don't think the Buddha intended such a thing, anyway.

[@fa18superhornt46]

Sir please vidio on dikshbumi World biggest stup in Nagpur 🙏Jai bhim 🙏 🙏Namo buddhay 🙏

[@echo2014]

Is Gautama Buddha Avatar of Lord Vishnu.

[@DougsDharma]

That's what is claimed in Hinduism, it isn't a Buddhist teaching however.

[@echo2014]

@@DougsDharma so basically u can say Hinduism is a Mother Religion of Buddhism ,Jainism and Sikhism.

[@middlewayers]

@@echo2014 all 3 are independent... Jainism is older than Hinduism

[@prashant1760]

Brother you look like Robert Downey Jr. To me😁

[@DougsDharma]

😄