[soprofaxelbis]

Also, I pictured myself as a skeptic, as a newbie, reading the following billboard:

Now this, monks, is the Noble Truth of suffering: Birth is suffering,
aging is suffering, death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief,
& despair are suffering; association with the unbeloved is suffering;
separation from the loved is suffering; not getting what is wanted is
suffering. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are suffering.

SN 56.11 - Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta – translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu Instead of explaining the billboard, Mr Davy provided a completely new meaning, as follows:

...a far more practical rendering of the First Noble Truth is that ‘suffering is inherent in all existence’. How is the above quote any different from the popular misconception of: "Life is suffering"?

Immediately, as a skeptic, doubt arose in my mind as to the integrity of what the Buddha spoke and the writer himself. This stark & strong incongruity between the quote and the interpretation fuelled my skepticism greatly.

To me, as a skeptic, the impression arose that Mr Davey's interpretation is the typical doctrinal manipulation common to most religions. Such impressions put off skeptics greatly. Skeptics are skilled in identifying inconsistancies and illogicalities. Skeptics expect rigor.

In the 1st noble truth, the Buddha simply lists the inevitable difficulties & challenges each human being may face in life. That is all.

The 1st noble truth is not an ontological cosmological statement, so that the words 'all existence' must be used. It is merely a diagnosis of those things that are dukkha, just like a medical compendium lists those things that are diseases & sicknesses.

For example, in ancient times, giving birth to children was suffering. If we read this Wikipedia about Henry XIII, we can see birth was suffering, regarding the amount of failed and still-born pregnancies. In the Therigatha, the nuns describe how women cut their throats or took poison to avoid child birth; how woman died in breached births; or how women lost their sanity when their new born died.

In the Devaduta Sutta, the Buddha describes the suffering of birth as a new born infant rolling & soiled helplessly in its own excrement & urine.

If fact, the word dukkha does not exactly mean "suffering". It most generically means "difficult to bear" or simply "difficult".

As for the Pali: saṅkhittena pañcupādānakkhandhā dukkhā, I can only suggest Mr Davy offer these words some deep & prolonged reflection & consideration, so he can offer the skeptic a coherent & meaningful explanation of the Buddha's words.

Upādāna is to grasp, to cling, to hold onto tightly, to be burdened by, to feel heavy, to treat possessively, to identify with, to take up things (the five aggregates) personally.

I suppose a good rendering is: "In summary, identification with the five aggregates is suffering."

May all beings find liberation

With metta