Craving and ignorance are the roots of dukkha (see my previous post on The First Noble Truth and my understanding of dukkha).

We crave and grasp onto pleasures of the senses, which eventually leads to a dissatisfaction that can only be alleviated with further or new cravings, ad nauseam.

We are also incapable of observing the universe as it truly is and we wander through life with illusions based on ignorance.

The Second Noble Truth states that the origin of dukkha is attachment to the three categories of desire:

  • the desire for sense pleasure
  • the desire to become
  • the desire to get rid of