The Truth of Buddhism, as Viewed
in the Truth of
Christ
[I have
selected to overview Theravada Buddhism because it is what
Siddartha Gautama, The Buddha, taught.
Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism have incorporated many
foreign elements
(gods, tantric practices, etc) into its teaching that do not adhere to
pure
Buddhism.
I have also
used the teaching technique of repetition in this paper. I reiterate what I have
written as I go
along. It may seem
redundant; however,
the mind needs this reflashing to absorb what is taught.]
Buddhism’s
founder, Siddhartha Gautama, lived from
about 566 to about 480 B.C. The son of an Indian warrior-king, Gautama
led a
life of luxury in his early years, enjoying the privileges of his
caste. But
eventually he tired of the affluence and ease, and set out what some
might call
a "vision quest." After encountering an old man, an ill man, a corpse
and an ascetic, Gautama became convinced that suffering lay at the
heart of all
existence, stemming principally from the human ego's attachment to the
transitory things of this world. He renounced his princely title and
became a
monk, freeing himself of possessions in the hope of comprehending the
truth,
and finding a path toward enlightenment and liberation. The culmination
of his
search came while meditating beneath a tree, where he experienced a
breakthrough in understanding. Following this epiphany, Gautama came to
be
known as the Buddha, meaning the "Enlightened One." He spent the
remainder of his life journeying about
Generally, Buddhists do not believe in a personal God or a divine being, nor do they worship, pray to, or praise a divine being (although some sects do.) Buddhism offers no form of redemption, forgiveness, no heavenly hope, or a final judgment to those practicing its system. Buddhism is a moral philosophy, an ethical way to live for the here and now of this world to gain the ultimate state. It has many aspects in common with humanism But Buddhism is not atheism just because they don’t believe in a personal God. It is a form of pantheism, there is an impersonal force, the void, which is the ultimate.
There are approximately 327 million Buddhists worldwide. There are numerous offshoots but there are three major branches. For us to understand and use the gospel to penetrate this religion we need to know what they teach about the Buddha and use the stories as possibly bridges to reach them.
For centuries, Buddhism has
been the dominant
religion of the Eastern world and still remains the predominant
religion in
Buddhism has made a
tremendous impact in the
Sangha is the order or brotherhood (community) who are monks. Each member of the Sangha must wear a yellow robe, shave their head and practice meditation. They are to affirm the three refuges: take refuge in Buddha who became enlightened when he discovered the true reality. The Dharma, which are the laws to adhere to on the path to eliminate their suffering. These consist of the laws of the world and the teachings of Buddha. (From a Christian point of view the laws of this world would be subject to the present condition of things which is fallen.) And Sangha, which is the community as a whole striving for the qualities of the Buddha. They are to adhere to over 225 regulations which forbid them to do many things.
There are many noble and humanitarian teachings found in Buddhism that elicit compassion and understanding for their fellow man. But these cannot be seen as a means to the end itself. The concern many have is that some Christians seem to think there is little difference in Buddhism as compared to Christianity.
Comparing Buddha with Jesus
It is said Siddhartha became the Awakened one, so Jesus became the Anointed. There is a common misconception here. Christ did not become the Anointed, He was the anointed one from eternity while the Siddhartha became the Buddha by searching and self discovery he became illuminated. Anointing and enlightenment are two very different concepts.
Buddha came at a time when the people were tired of Hindu sects, castes and teachings. Buddha discovered a new way and he discarded some teachings and upheld others. Christ came when the people were oppressed by religious leaders also, but they did not know the truth nor were they asking for deliverance spiritually. Jesus only explained what they already had in the Scriptures giving the correct interpretations and fulfilling the prophecies.
Buddha died at the old age of 80 from eating rotten food. His life was lived without exaggerations of either luxury or asceticism. Jesus ate fish, meat and did not have people give up their possessions unless it interfered with their relationship with God. He died at 33 years old, sentenced to death like a criminal, tortured and executed for something he did not do. Not much similarity here.
Claims are made that there are similarities to relics (statues, icons) in both Buddhism and Christianity. But this is only found in the Catholic Church. The Bible specifically addresses this as wrong and calls the usage of these as idolatrous. Throughout the Scripture this is specifically addressed as an affront to God. Isa. 45:20-22: "Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. They have no knowledge, who carry the wood of their carved image, and pray to a god that cannot save. Tell and bring forth your case; yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Savior; there is none besides Me. "Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other."
Buddha was passive in his outlook of humanity. He was engaged in self discovery to change himself., which can be good if one comes to the conclusion that the answers are not found within us.
Christ did not have to search for wisdom since he was the wisdom and power of God before and during his coming to earth. He came from heaven as a servant to mankind. He grew in understanding in his humanity only, but even at an early age he was aware of his purpose and who he actually was.
Buddha needed to make sense of the world and its suffering for himself. He was in turmoil in his soul seeing the condition of life being unfavorable for so many. So he searched for enlightenment to have answers for the dilemma he saw in the world.
Christ exhibited love which is active, it participates in others lives. He did not tolerate falsehood or have the same reaction for one being sad or happy. He taught objective truth, the true reality of life is that it is real and there are consequences here and now as well as afterward.
Theravada Buddhism says Buddha did not claim to have a special relationship with God. The fact that Buddha did not consider the existence of God to be important shows that he is not in any way related to biblical prophets or Jesus. Buddha said it doesn’t matter whether you believe in him or not. Buddha claimed to point to the right way to escape suffering and attain enlightenment. Contrary to this, Jesus claimed to be the way. Christianity teaches there was only one incarnation of God and He came to relieve the source of all suffering sin.
Although the Buddha did not deny the existence of gods, he taught that the worship of gods obstructed one's quest for Nirvana. To him the gods inhabit the cosmos and are impermanent like all other living beings. To the Buddha, if there is an eternal deity or not does not lead one to the end of suffering in this life. Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, did not claim to be divine. He claimed to be the one to point the way to Nirvana, an ultimate state in the afterlife, but it was up to each individual to find his own way there. Each has their own path to walk on to discovery.
I will say that in Buddhism there is only the ultimate impersonal unity of being itself, whose peace enfolds the individual self when it ceases to call itself " I " and dissolves in the featureless purity of Nirvana, as a drop of sea spray is merged in its mother sea. This teaching is a form of pantheism, which runs counter to what Jesus taught, which therefore cannot be the Truth.
Buddhists look to this
ultimate elimination of
self as their identity merges into the great unity. But the
goal on earth
is to eliminate whatever is possible now, they desire to regard
the world as void, so the one who is convinced of the emptiness of
everything has
no likes or dislikes. The Buddhist supposedly knows that
which he might
like is just empty, and sees it as empty.
Viewing the world as empty does not explain life. Things are constantly changing and a self cannot be seen. However, that does not mean that there is a void. We cannot see radio waves or x-rays; yet they do exist. There is no void in the apparent void. The mind of man needs to be tuned to the wavelength of God to “see” God. That wavelength resides in knowledge and acceptance of Christ. Those who do not accept Christ do not have the “receiver” necessary to discern God. (I realize that his is a poor analogy, yet it does attempt to explain why Buddhists do not and cannot discern God.)
The concept of a personal God does not fit into the Buddhist system of religion. Today there are many sects of Buddhism. Many differ in their concept of the divine and of Buddha. In general, if a Buddhist believes in God (which by definition he/she cannot) he holds to a pantheistic view. Many view God as an impersonal force which is made up of all living things and holds the universe together.
The late Dr. Suzuki is considered one of the greatest teachers of Zen Buddhism, said about his concept of God: "If God after making the world puts Himself outside it, He is no longer God. If He separates Himself from the world or wants to separate Himself, He is not God. The world is not the world when it is separated from God. God must be in the world and the world in God." ( D. T. Suzuki, The Field of Zen p. 16.) This is totally false. If one would only study Scripture attentively, one can see readily that these statements are not true, in essence. Also, a Buddhist, if he/she is a Buddhist, does not even contemplate the existence or nonexistence of God.
Since Buddhism generally does not believe in a personal God or a divine being, it does not have worship, praying, or praising of a divine being. These activities are, however, practiced by many who call themselves Buddhists. In essence Buddhists are stating by their actions that they do not truly believe what Buddha taught. Why is this? Buddhism offers no form of redemption, forgiveness, heavenly hope, or final judgment. Buddhism is a moral philosophy, an ethical way of life. Nothing more.
Below is a table to show specifically what Christianity teaches and what Buddhism teaches and does not teach. (If there is no self, then who is teaching and who is taught?) After the table are some more differences.
Christianity teaches Buddhism teaches
|
Heaven is a reality |
Nirvana is the ultimate (but not a state) = nothingness |
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|
personal eternal life |
Extinction of the self |
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|
Savior is the person of Christ |
Savior is ones self and ones works |
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|
There is a literal hell of suffering |
There is no hell in the biblical sense of permanency |
||||||
|
the one God is tri-une
|
the triple gem
|
||||||
|
God is a personal being |
Impersonal force, no God |
||||||
|
Moral absolutes |
No moral absolutes |
||||||
|
World is real for us |
World is an illusion |
||||||
|
Sin is the problem |
Ignorance is the problem |
||||||
|
Desires needs redirection |
Desire needs to be eliminated |
||||||
|
Jesus = God is salvation Emmanuel = God with us Christ = the anointed one |
Siddhartha means" he who has accomplished his objectives." Buddha = the Enlightened One |
Buddha did not claim to have a special relationship with God. Buddha did not consider the existence of God to be important. Buddha claimed to point to the right way to escape suffering and attain enlightenment. On the contrary, Jesus claimed to be the way. Christianity teaches there was only one incarnation of God. While anyone can make a belief system, it is another thing to prove it. In this Buddha and those who followed after failed, whereas Jesus succeeded.
Christ is more than a spiritual master as Buddhists claim Buddha is. Christ--God is Buddha’s creator. If a person only looks at Jesus as a human being he exemplifies the highest ideal in man, he has all the qualities Buddha taught about and sought after, but Christ is more than just a man. He is our and the Buddhists creator.
Most Buddhists believe there is only one way to Truth, the teaching of the Buddha. The emphasis is based on the path that we must work on by our own effort. That is not the good news of Christ. The difference between Buddhism and Christianity is that the Truth is Christ, while in Buddhism there is no personification of Truth. Buddhists, by their own effort, by works, attempt to arrive at Truth. Christians accept Christ as Truth, and Christ carries them to Truth, to Himself.
Christ clearly offers salvation to His followers. Buddha does not. It is said that Gautama's last words before his death were: "Buddha's do but point the way, work out your salvation with diligence."
Theravada Buddhism teaches that
each man is responsible for his
salvation, and that this is reached by ones self-effort; "Be lamps unto
yourselves. Be a refuge unto yourselves. Do not
turn to any
external refuge.... Work out your own salvation with diligence" (Mahaparinibbana-sutta
2.33;
The WAY
It is best to live a moral life. Self discipline has value. Many religions offer this for the seeker. Meditation and prayer are important, compassion, virtue are all common qualities we should develop. It is how we achieve these that needs to be understood.
The goal of each Buddhist is the attainment of the state of Nirvana. This word means to extinguish or to blow out of existence. Like a candle flame in the wind. This is the ultimate where one enters Nirvana with the extinguishing of the ego. (Yet, when the ego is extinguished there can be no one to experience anything. This is the flaw in Buddhist philosophy. A Buddhist’s life is supposed to merge in the void as does a drop of water in the sea.
Nirvana is very different from the Christian concept of heaven. Christianity teaches that one’s personality continues but is perfected by Gods grace, not by anything we can accomplish. Gautama's original teaching was that nirvana is not union with God or heaven, his system has no place for deity or one’s personal self, but rather it is a state of being. What exactly this is, Buddha never articulated. Today it is known as nothingness, which is supposedly not annihilation but means a release from suffering, desire, and the finite state of self. The Absolute is completely impersonal, and salvation is attained solely by self-effort. Yet there is no self in the Buddhist system. Remember the self is an illusion. If there is no self to experience anything, how can Nirvana ever be experienced? Does the not-self experience the nothingness of Nirvana. I don’t think so.
The Buddha taught, "I had no
notion of a self,
or of a being, or of a soul, or of a person, nor had I any notion or
non-notion." (Vairacchedika, 14).
This is annatta, the no-self.
The
problem with the Buddha is (and you the reader must see this) he did
not see that,
even though he claims to have had no notion of anything, yet he speaks
as
though he did. Who
had the experience of
not having a notion? A
self, his self,
the self he thought he had “obliterated” which
allowed him to enter the State
of
Personal peace will be found when we abide in that which is permanent. As Christians we believe that to abide in God is the only permanence to be found as He offers eternal life with Him in a place as real as earth, heaven.
Reincarnation is offered as
the process to give one
enough time to develop the qualities and practices to enter Nirvana.
Buddhists
hope to enter into the state of Nirvana, but there is no clear,
objective proof
or teaching on what occurs beyond the grave. Even Buddha was not
certain what
lay beyond death. He left no absolute teaching on the afterlife, only
philosophical speculations which can still be debated today.
The body of
Buddha lies in a grave at the bottom of the
Basic Beliefs and Practices
The basic doctrines of early Buddhism, which remain common among Buddhists today, include the “four noble truths:” existence is suffering (dukhka); suffering has a cause, namely craving and attachment (trishna); there is a cessation of suffering, which is nirvana; and there is a path to the cessation of suffering, the “eightfold path” of right views, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
Meditation and observance of moral precepts are the foundation of Buddhist practice. The five basic moral precepts, undertaken by members of monastic orders and the laity, are to refrain from taking life, stealing, acting unchastely, speaking falsely, and drinking intoxicants (which also means abstaining from the taking of drugs).
The Relationship between Buddhism and Christianity
When thinking about the relationship between Buddhism and Christianity or other theistic religions, there tend to be two paths of inquiry. Taking Buddhism at face value as a system of ethical precepts, a philosophy of life, and a set of meditative practices, many Christians and Jews have found it quite possible to affirm major aspects of Buddhism without abandoning their own faith. For these folks, Buddhism can be seen as supplementing and enriching their own theistic faith and practice.
A very different take on the relationship between Buddhism and Christianity involves emphasizing the points of difference. For example, Christians tend to emphasize that the soul (and possibly even the body) survive death through the miracle of resurrection. From a Buddhist perspective this might seem to be a form of eternal imprisonment within the limitations of one's ego. Also, Christians tend to believe that Jesus was and is absolutely unique as the divine Son of God, whereas Buddhists, while venerating the Buddha, do not worship him as God. On the other hand, Christians tend to see Buddhism, with its renunciation of the ego, and its emphasis upon the illusory nature of worldly reality as offering an escape from, rather than a solution to the evils of the world. On the other hand, there is plenty of escapism in some forms of Christian piety while many Buddhists have an impressive track record of social activism and engagement in the struggle for human justice, the Dalai Lama being a leading example. Thus there are rich opportunities for conversations between Buddhists and Christians with much to be learned on both sides.
Essentials of Buddhism
Four Noble Truths
1. Suffering exists
2. Suffering arises from attachment to desires
3. Suffering ceases when attachment to desire
ceases
4. Freedom from suffering is possible by
practicing the Eightfold
Path
Noble Eightfold Path
|
Three Qualities |
Eightfold Path |
|
Wisdom (panna) |
Right View |
|
|
Right Thought |
|
Morality (sila) |
Right Speech |
|
|
Right Action |
|
|
Right Livelihood |
|
Meditation (samadhi) |
Right Effort |
|
|
Right Mindfulness |
|
|
Right Contemplation |
Three Characteristics of Existence
1. Transience (anicca)
2. Sorrow (dukkha)
3. Selflessness (anatta)
Hindrances
1. Sensuous lust
2. Aversion and ill will
3. Sloth and torpor
4. Restlessness and worry
5. Skeptical doubt
Factors of Enlightenment
1. Mindfulness
2. Investigation
3. Energy
4. Rapture
5. Tranquility
6. Concentration
7. Equanimity
Some Salient Features of Buddhism and Explication
The foundations of Buddhism are the four Noble Truths --
namely, Suffering
(the raison d'etre of Buddhism), its cause (i.e.,
Craving), its end
(i.e., Nibbana, the Summum Bonum of Buddhism), and the Middle Way.
What is the Noble Truth of Suffering?
"Birth is suffering, old age
is suffering,
disease is suffering, death is suffering, to be united with the
unpleasant is
suffering, to be separated from the pleasant is suffering, not to
receive what
one craves for is suffering, in brief the five Aggregates of Attachment
are
suffering."
What is the Noble Truth of the Cause
of Suffering?
"It is the craving which
leads from rebirth to
rebirth accompanied by lust or passion, which delights now here now
there; it
is the craving for sensual pleasures (Kamatanha),
for existence (Bhavatanha)
and for annihilation (Vibhavatanha).
What is the Noble Truth of the
Annihilation of Suffering?
"It is the that which does
not remain, total
annihilation of this very craving, the forsaking of it, the breaking
loose,
fleeing, and deliverance from it."
What is the Noble Truth of the Path
leading to the Annihilation of Suffering?
"It is the Noble Eightfold
Path which consists
of right understanding, right thoughts, right speech, right action,
right
livelihood, right endeavor, right mindfulness, and right
concentration."
Whether the Buddhas arise or
not these four truths
exist in the universe. The Buddhas only reveal these truths which lay
hidden in
the dark abyss of time.
Scientifically interpreted,
the Dhamma may be
called the law of cause and effect. These two (cause and effect)
embrace the
entire body of the Buddha's Teachings.
The first three truths
represent the philosophy of
Buddhism; the fourth represents the ethics of Buddhism, based on that
philosophy. All these four truths are dependent on this body itself.
The Buddha
states: "In this very one-fathom long body along with perceptions and
thoughts, do I proclaim the world, the origin of the world, the end of
the
world and the path leading to the end of the world." Here the term
world
is applied to suffering.
Buddhism rests on the pivot
of sorrow. But it does
not thereby follow that Buddhism is pessimistic. It is neither totally
pessimistic nor totally optimistic; on the contrary, it teaches a truth
that
lies midway between them. One would be justified in calling the Buddha
a
pessimist if he had only enunciated the truth of suffering without
suggesting a
means to put an end to it. The Buddha perceived the universality of
sorrow and
did prescribe a panacea for this universal sickness of humanity. The
highest
conceivable happiness, according to the Buddha, is Nirvana, which is
the total
extinction of suffering.
The author of the article on
Pessimism in the
Encyclopedia Britannica writes: "Pessimism denotes an attitude of
hopelessness towards life, a vague general opinion that pain and evil
predominate in human affairs.” The original doctrine of the
Buddha is in fact
as optimistic as any optimism of the West. To call it pessimism is
merely to
apply to it a characteristically Western principle to which happiness
is
impossible without personality. The true Buddhist looks forward with
enthusiasm
to absorption into eternal bliss.
Ordinarily the enjoyment of
sensual pleasures is
the highest and only happiness of the average man. There is no doubt a
kind of
momentary happiness in the anticipation, gratification and
retrospection of
such fleeting material pleasures, but they are illusive and temporary.
According to the Buddha non-attachment is a greater bliss. Even so, in
Buddhism
the mind desires Nirvana. If
desire is
eliminated, if the ego is no more..there is nothing.
Can there be bliss in nothing?
Think about this. What
bliss is to be had in nothing. If
there is a void, there can be no bliss in
that void, can there? No,
there cannot.
The Buddha does not expect
his followers to be
constantly pondering on suffering and lead a miserable unhappy life. He
exhorts
them to be always happy and cheerful, for zest (piti) is
one of the
factors of Enlightenment. But again, if there is nothing to look
forward to
after death of the body, how can one be happy?
According to Buddhist philosophy happiness is as
impermanent as
suffering. If
suffering ends and
happiness ends, and bliss changes, too…what is one to be
happy about? You
see the illogic of this philosophy?
Real happiness is found
within, and is not to be
defined in terms of wealth, children, honor or fame. This is a
Christian
teaching as well as a Buddhist tenet.
However, in Buddhism, if there is no self, can there be a
“within”. Within
what?
Instead of trying to
rationalize suffering,
Buddhism takes suffering for granted and seeks the cause to eradicate
it.
Suffering exists as long as there is craving. It can only be
annihilated
(according to Buddhism) by treading the Noble Eightfold Path and
attaining the
supreme bliss of Nibbana (Nirvana). [Here again, Nibbana or Nirvana can
not be
experienced is the self is ‘blown out”.
How can it be?
Buddhists state that these
four truths can be
verified by experience. Hence the Buddha Dhamma is not based on the
fear of the
unknown, but is founded on the bedrock of facts which can be tested by
ourselves and verified by experience. Buddhism is, therefore, rational
and
intensely practical if one forgets about the doctrine of no-self. But if one incorporates
that doctrine into
review of the four noble truths, these truths become a lie. There can be no experience
of suffering if
what Buddhists teach is true. Who
is
suffering? Who is
experiencing
pain? No one. Yet, we all know that
someone is experiencing
the suffering--you and me. Christians
do
not say that there is no one to experience suffering.
What Christians, as exemplified by Christ, do
teach is that the gateway to eternal bliss, if you will, can be
attained
through suffering, that man can conquer suffering, that there is a self
that can
pass through suffering. There
is no attempt
escape from suffering in Christianity, as there is in Buddhism.
Some
Observations
Aldous Huxley has written:
"Alone of all the
great world religions Buddhism made its way without persecution,
censorship or
inquisition." This
is true. And this
is to be commended. Christ
would not have approved of, let’s
say, The Inquisition.
In the name of Buddhism no
altar was reddened with
the blood, no Bruno was burnt alive. Buddhism appeals more to the
intellect
than to the emotion. It is concerned more with the character of the
devotees
than with their numerical strength.
On one occasion Upali, a
follower of Nigantha
Nataputta, approached the Buddha and was so pleased with the Buddha's
exposition of the Dhamma that he instantly expressed his desire to
become a
follower of the Buddha. But the Buddha cautioned him, saying:
"Of a verity, O householder,
make a thorough
investigation. It is well for a distinguished man like you to make
(first) a
thorough investigation."
Upali, who was overjoyed at
this unexpected remark
of the Buddha, said: "Lord, had I been a follower of another religion,
its
adherents would have taken me round the streets in a procession
proclaiming
that such and such a millionaire had renounced his former faith and
embraced
theirs. But, Lord, Your Reverence advises me to investigate further.
The more
pleased am I with this remark of yours. For the second time, Lord, I
seek
refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and the Sangha."
Buddhism is saturated with
this spirit of free
enquiry and complete tolerance. It is the teaching of the open mind and
the
sympathetic heart, which, lighting and warming the whole universe with
its twin
rays of wisdom and compassion, sheds its genial glow on every being
struggling
in the ocean of birth and death. Christianity needs to show this
tolerance. The bane
of Christianity is a
Christian who is intolerant.
The Buddha was so tolerant
that he did not even
exercise his power to give commandments to his lay followers. Instead
of using
the imperative, he said: "It behooves you to do this -- It behooves you
not to do this." He commands not but does exhort.
There is in many circles the belief that Christians are intolerant, especially fundamentalist Christians, even though Christ was very tolerant of others. (He even healed those who did not claim that He was who He claimed to be. He said to love your enemies. This, does it not, extends to those who have a different view of the world than that of a Christian.) In many instances this is true. I find this intolerance in Christian circles, and I must say that I am ashamed. Christians of no matter what stripe should not flout there faith.
In Buddhism is not so. This tolerance the Buddha
extended to men,
women and all living beings and is practiced today by all Buddhists to
a much
greater extent than all Christians.
It was the Buddha who first
attempted to abolish
slavery and vehemently protested against the degrading caste system
which was
firmly rooted in the soil of
It was also the Buddha who
raised the status of
downtrodden women and not only brought them to a realization of their
importance to society but also founded the first celibate religious
order for
women with rules and regulations.
The Buddha did not humiliate
women, but only
regarded them as feeble by nature. He saw the innate good of both men
and women
and assigned to them their due places in his teaching. Sex is no
barrier to
attaining sainthood.
Sometimes the Pali term used
to denote women is matugama,
which means "mother-folk" or "society of mothers." As a
mother, woman holds an honorable place in Buddhism. Even the wife is
regarded
as "best friend" (parama sakha) of the husband.
Hasty critics are only
making ex parte
statements when they reproach Buddhism with being inimical to women.
Although
at first the Buddha refused to admit women into the Order on reasonable
grounds, yet later he yielded to the entreaties of his foster-mother,
Pajapati
Gotami, and founded the Bhikkhuni Order. Just as the Arahats Sariputta
and
Moggallana were made the two chief disciples in the Order of monks,
even so he
appointed Arahats Khema and Uppalavanna as the two chief female
disciples. Many
other female disciples too were named by the Buddha himself as his
distinguished and pious followers.
On one occasion the Buddha
said to King Kosala who
was displeased on hearing that a daughter was born to him: "A woman
child,
O Lord of men; may prove even a better offspring than a male."
Many women, who otherwise
would have fallen into
oblivion, distinguished themselves in various ways, and gained their
emancipation by following the Dhamma and entering the Order. In this
new Order,
which later proved to be a great blessing to many women, queens,
princesses,
daughters of noble families, widows, bereaved mothers, destitute women,
pitiable courtesans -- all, despite their caste or rank, met on a
common
platform, enjoyed perfect consolation and peace, and breathed that free
atmosphere which is denied to those cloistered in cottages and palatial
mansions.
It was also the Buddha who
banned the sacrifice of
poor beasts and admonished his followers to extend their
loving-kindness (metta)
to all living beings -- even to the tiniest creature that crawls at
one's feet.
No man has the power or the right to destroy the life of another as
life is
precious to all.
A genuine Buddhist would
exercise this
loving-kindness towards every living being and identify himself with
all,
making no distinction whatsoever with regard to caste, color or sex.
It is this Buddhist metta
that attempts to break all
the barriers which separate one from another. There is no reason to
keep aloof
from others merely because they belong to another persuasion or another
nationality. In that noble Toleration Edict which is based on
Culla-Vyuha and
Maha-Vyuha Suttas, Asoka says: "Concourse alone is best, that is, all
should harken willingly to the doctrine professed by others."
Buddhism is not confined to
any country or any
particular nation. It is universal. It is not nationalism which, in
other
words, is another form of caste system founded on a wider basis.
Buddhism, if
it be permitted to say so, is supranationalism.
To a Buddhist there is no
far or near, no enemy or
foreigner, no renegade or untouchable, since universal love realized
through
understanding has established the brotherhood of all living beings. A
real
Buddhist is a citizen of the world. He regards the whole world as his
motherland and all as his brothers and sisters.
Buddhism is, therefore, unique, owing to its tolerance and non-aggresssiveness.
Further Depth in Buddhist
Teaching--The Three Marks of
Existence
Buddhism does not indulge
in metaphysical speculation about first causes; as you know by now,
there is no
theology, no worship of a deity or deification of the Buddha. Buddhism
takes a
very straightforward look at our human condition. Everything that the
Buddha
taught was based on his own observation of the way things are.
Everything that
he taught can be verified by our own observation of the way things are.
If we look at our life,
very simply, in a straightforward way, we see that it is marked with
frustration and pain. This is because we attempt to secure our
relationship
with the "world out there", by solidifying our experiences in some
concrete way. For example, we might have dinner with someone we admire
very
much, everything goes just right, and when we get home later we begin
to
fantasize about all the things we can do with our new-found friend,
places we
can go etc. We are going through the process of trying to cement our
relationship. Perhaps, the next time we see our friend, she/he has a
headache
and is curt with us; we feel snubbed, hurt, all our plans go out the
window.
The problem is that the "world out there" is constantly changing,
everything is impermanent and it is impossible to make a permanent
relationship
with anything.
If we examine the notion
of impermanence closely and honestly, we see that it is all-pervading,
everything is marked by impermanence. We might posit an eternal
consciousness
principle, or higher self, but if we examine our consciousness closely
we see
that it is made up of temporary mental processes and events. We see
that our
"higher self" is speculative at best and imaginary to begin with. We
have invented the idea to secure ourselves, to cement our relationship,
once
again. Because of this we feel uneasy and anxious, even at the best of
times.
It is only when we completely abandon clinging that we feel any relief
from our
queasiness.
These three things: pain,
impermanence and egolessness are known as the three marks of existence.
The
Four Noble Truths
The first sermon that the
Buddha preached after his enlightenment was about the four noble
truths. The
first noble truth is that life is frustrating and painful. In fact, if
we are
honest with ourselves, there are times when it is downright miserable.
Things
may be fine with us, at the moment, but, if we look around, we see
other people
in the most appalling condition, children starving, terrorism, hatred,
wars,
intolerance, people being tortured and we get a sort of queasy feeling
whenever
we think about the world situation in even the most casual way. We,
ourselves,
will some day grow old, get sick and eventually die. No matter how we
try to
avoid it, some day we are going to die. Even though we try to avoid
thinking
about it, there are constant reminders that it is true.
The second noble truth is
that suffering has a cause. We suffer because we are constantly
struggling to
survive. We are constantly trying to prove our existence. We may be
extremely
humble and self-deprecating, but even that is an attempt to define
ourselves.
We are defined by our humility. The harder we struggle to establish
ourselves
and our relationships, the more painful our experience becomes.
The third noble truth is
that the cause of suffering can be ended. Our struggle to survive, our
effort
to prove ourselves and solidify our relationships is unnecessary. We,
and the
world, can get along quite comfortably without all our unnecessary
posturing.
We could just be a simple, direct and straight-forward person. We could
form a
simple relationship with our world, spouse and friend. We do this by
abandoning
our expectations about how we think things should be.
This is the fourth noble
truth: the way, or path to end the cause of suffering. The central
theme of
this way is meditation. Meditation, here, means the practice of
mindfulness/awareness, shamata/vipashyana in
Sanskrit. We practice being
mindful of all the things that we use to torture ourselves with. We
become
mindful by abandoning our expectations about the way we think things
should be
and, out of our mindfulness, we begin to develop awareness about the
way things
really are. We begin to develop the insight that things are really
quite simple,
that we can handle ourselves and our relationships very well as soon as
we stop
being so manipulative and complex.
The
Five Skandhas
The Buddhist doctrine of
egolessness seems to be confusing. I think this is because there is
some
confusion as to what is meant by ego. Ego, in the Buddhist sense, is
quite
different from the Freudian ego. The Buddhist ego is a collection of
mental
events classified into five categories, called skandhas, loosely
translated as
bundles, or heaps.
If you will allow me to
use an expression, one could say that "in the beginning" things were
going along quite well. At some point, however, there was a loss of
confidence
in the way things were going. There was a panic that produced confusion
about
what was happening. Rather than acknowledging this loss of confidence,
there
was identification with the panic and confusion. Ego began to form.
This is
known as the first skandha, the skandha of form.
After the identification
with confusion, ego begins to explore how it feels about the formation
of this
experience. If one likes the experience, we try to draw it in. If we
dislike
it, we try to push it away, or destroy it. If we feel neutral about it,
we just
ignore it. The way we feel about the experience is called the skandha
of form;
what we try to do about it is known as the skandha of
impulse/perception.
The next stage is to try
to identify, or label the experience. If we can put it into a category,
we can
manipulate it better. Then we would have a whole bag of tricks to use
on it.
This is the skandha of concept.
The final step in the
birth of ego is called the skandha of consciousness. Ego begins to
churn
thoughts and emotions around and around. This makes ego feel solid and
real.
The churning around and around is called samsara -- literally, to whirl
about.
The way ego feels about its situation (skandha of feeling) determines
which of
the six realms of existence it creates for itself.
The self then is
comprised of what one would call feelings, yet without the self, there
can be
no feeling, no though process. Nirvana,
which Buddhist label as bliss, therefore cannot exist in a blown out
self. Who is left
to experience it? Buddhism
does not answer this question,
because it cannot.
The
Six Buddhist Realms (Ways A Person
Identifies with and Attempts to Manipulate the World.)
If ego decides it likes
the situation, it begins to churn up all sorts of ways to possess it. A
craving
to consume the situation arises and we long to satisfy that craving.
Once we
do, a ghost of that craving carries over and we look around for
something else to
consume. We get into the habitual pattern of becoming consumer
oriented.
Perhaps we order a piece of software for our computer. We play with it
for
awhile, until the novelty wears out, and then we look around for the
next piece
of software that has the magic glow of not being possessed yet. Soon we
haven't
even got the shrink wrap off the current package when we start looking
for the
next one. Owning the software and using it doesn't seem to be as
important as
wanting it, looking forward to its arrival. This is known as the hungry
ghost
realm where we have made an occupation out of craving. We can never
find satisfaction;
it is like drinking salt water to quench our thirst.
Another realm is the
animal realm, or having the mind like that of an animal. Here we find
security
by making certain that everything is totally predictable. We only buy
blue chip
stock, never take a chance and never look at new possibilities. The
thought of
new possibilities frightens us and we look with scorn at anyone who
suggests anything
innovative. This realm is characterized by ignorance. We put on
blinders and
only look straight ahead, never to the right or left.
The hell realm is
characterized by acute aggression. We build a wall of anger between
ourselves
and our experience. Everything irritates us, even the most innocuous
and
innocent statement drives us mad with anger. The heat of our anger is
reflected
back on us and sends us into a frenzy to escape from our torture, which
in turn
causes us to fight even harder and get even angrier. The whole thing
builds on
itself until we don't even know if we're fighting with someone else or
ourselves. We are so busy fighting that we can't find an alternative to
fighting; the possibility of alternative never even occurs to us.
These are the three lower
realms. One of the three higher realms is called the jealous god realm.
This
pattern of existence is characterized by acute paranoia. We are always
concerned with "making it". Everything is seen from a competitive
point of view. We are always trying to score points, and trying to
prevent
others from scoring on us. If someone achieves something special we
become
determined to out do them. We never trust anyone; we "know" they're
trying to slip one past us. If someone tries to help us, we try to
figure out
their angle. If someone doesn't try to help us, they are being
uncooperative,
and we make a note to ourselves that we will get even later. "Don't get
mad, get even," that's our motto.
At some point we might
hear about spirituality. We begin to meditate, pray, and perform
certain
rituals and we find ourselves absorbed into infinite space and blissful
states
of existence. Everything sparkles with love and light. We become proud.
We
ignore everything that doesn't confirm our godhood. We have
manufactured the
god realm, the highest of the six realms of existence. The problem is
that we
have manufactured it. We begin to relax and no longer feel the need to
maintain
our exalted state. Eventually a small sliver of doubt occurs. Have we
really
made it? At first we are able to smooth over the question, but
eventually the
doubt begins to occur more and more frequently and soon we begin to
struggle to
regain our supreme confidence. As soon as we begin to struggle, we fall
back
into the lower realms and begin the whole process over and over; from
god realm
to jealous god realm to animal realm to hungry ghost realm to hell
realm. At
some point we begin to wonder if there isn't some sort of alternative
to our
habitual way of dealing with the world. This is the human realm.
The human realm is the
only one in which liberation from the six states of existence is
possible. The
human realm is characterized by doubt and inquisitiveness and the
longing for
something better. We are not as absorbed by the all consuming
preoccupations of
the other states of being. We begin to wonder whether it is possible to
relate
to the world as simple, dignified human beings.
The
Eightfold Path
The path to liberation
from these miserable states of being, as taught by the Buddha, has
eight points
and is known as the eightfold path. The
first point is called right view -- the right way to view the world.
Wrong view
occurs when we impose our expectations onto things; expectations about
how we
hope things will be, or about how we are afraid things might be. Right
view occurs
when we see things simply as they are. It is an open and accommodating
attitude. We abandon hope and fear and take joy in a simple
straight-forward
approach to life.
The second point of the
path is called right intention. It proceeds from right view. If we are
able to
abandon our expectations, our hopes and fears, we no longer need to be
manipulative. We don't have to try to con situations into our
preconceived
notions of how they should be. We work with what is. Our intentions are
pure.
The third aspect of the
path is right speech. Once our intentions are pure, we no longer have
to be
embarrassed about our speech. Since we are not trying to manipulate
people, we
do not have to be hesitant about what we say, nor do we need to try
bluffing
our way through a conversation with any sort of phony confidence. We
say what
needs to be said, very simply in a genuine way.
The fourth point on the
path, right discipline, involves a kind of renunciation. We need to
give up our
tendency to complicate issues. We practice simplicity. We have a simple
straight-forward relationship with our dinner, our job, our house and
our
family. We give up all the unnecessary and frivolous complications that
we
usually try to cloud our relationships with.
Right livelihood is the
fifth step on the path. It is only natural and right that we should
earn our
living. Often, many of us don't particularly enjoy our jobs. We can't
wait to
get home from work and begrudge the amount of time that our job takes
away from
our enjoyment of the good life. Perhaps, we might wish we had a more
glamorous
job. We don't feel that our job in a factory or office is in keeping
with the
image we want to project. The truth is that we should be glad of our
job,
whatever it is. We should form a simple relationship with it. We need
to
perform it properly, with attention to detail.
The sixth aspect of the
path is right effort. Wrong effort is struggle. We often approach a
spiritual
discipline as though we need to conquer our evil side and promote our
good
side. We are locked in combat with ourselves and try to obliterate the
tiniest
negative tendency. Right effort doesn't involve struggle at all. When
we see
things as they are, we can work with them, gently and without any kind
of
aggression whatsoever.
Right mindfulness, the
seventh step, involves precision and clarity. We are mindful of the
tiniest
details of our experience. We are mindful of the way we talk, the way
we
perform our jobs, our posture, our attitude toward our friends and
family,
every detail.
Right concentration, or
absorption, is the eighth point of the path. Usually we are absorbed in
absentmindedness. Our minds are completely captivated by all sorts of
entertainment and speculations. Right absorption means that we are
completely
absorbed in things as they are. This can only happen if we have some
sort of
discipline. We might even say that without the discipline of sitting
meditation, we can't walk the eightfold path at all. Sitting meditation
cuts
through our absentmindedness. It provides a space or gap in our
preoccupation
with ourselves.
The
Goal of Buddhism
Most people have heard of
Nirvana. It has become equated with a sort of
Eastern version of
heaven. Nirvana simply means cessation. It is the cessation of passion,
aggression and ignorance; the cessation of the struggle to prove our
existence
to the world, to survive. Buddhists believe that one need not struggle
to
survive. They state that we have already survived. We survive now; the
struggle
was just an extra complication that we added to our lives because we
had lost
our confidence in the way things are. We no longer need to manipulate
things as
they are into things as we would like them to be.
But stop and think a moment.
Is this true?
Can a person evade
struggle in this life? Do
we not have to
work to eat? Work
is not always
bliss. Sometimes it
is a struggle. Sometimes
it is a struggle to live next to a
neighbor who dislikes you, or work with a coworker who could care less
about
you. Sometimes your
boss does not like
you, yet you have to work to eat, to survive.
And it can be a struggle!
Sure, a
Buddhist monk if he is given his bread by those who do work does not
need to be
concerned with struggle. Christians
recognize that life is not easy. Christ gave us the tools to survive in life
and thrive, and love all at the same time.
Christians need not sit and meditate while the world
passes them
by. Christians are
in the world but not
of it. Buddhists
want to be out of the
world but find themselves in it. (I am not saying that some Christians
do not
have this as their goal, to get out of the world.
They do, but they are in the minority.
These Christians also do not realize that they
are in the world for a purpose, the purpose of which is to make the
world as a
form of heaven. The
prayer of Jesus says
it all...“On earth as it is in
heaven….”) That is the main difference between a
Christian and a Buddhist. The
Buddhist
goal is to leave the world; the Christian goal is to live in the world,
make it
as hospitable as possible for others who will follow, and move on to
heaven.
A Deeper Look at the
Noble Truths
THE FIRST
NOBLE TRUTH
What is the Noble Truth of
Suffering? Birth is
suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, dissociation from
the
loved is suffering, not to get what one wants is suffering: in short
the five
categories affected by clinging are suffering.
There is this Noble Truth of
Suffering: such was
the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that arose in me about
things not
heard before.
This Noble Truth must be
penetrated by fully
understanding suffering: such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing
and
light that arose in me about things not heard before.
This Noble Truth has been penetrated by fully understanding suffering: such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that arose in me about things not heard before.
[Samyutta Nikaya LVI, 11]
The First Noble Truth with
its three aspects is:
"There is suffering, dukkha. Dukkha should be understood. Dukkha has
been
understood."
This teaching is expressed
in a simple formula
which is easy to remember, and it also applies to everything that one
can
possibly experience or do or think concerning the past, the present or
the
future.
Suffering, or dukkha, is the
common bond we all
share. Everybody everywhere suffers. Human beings suffered in the past,
in
ancient
When we regard suffering, it
brings out compassionate
tendencies. But when we talk about our opinions, about what I think and
what
you think about politics and religion, then we can get into wars. If
you want
to kill people, you have to make them out to be sub-human; you cannot
very well
kill somebody if you realize they suffer the way you do. You have to
think that
they are cold-hearted, immoral, worthless and bad, and that it is
better to get
rid of them. You have to think that they are evil and that it is good
to get
rid of evil. With this attitude, you might feel justified in bombing
and
machine-gunning them. If you keep in mind our common bond of suffering
that
makes you quite incapable of doing those things.
The First Noble Truth is not
a dismal metaphysical
statement saying that everything is suffering. Notice that there is a
difference between a metaphysical doctrine in which you are making a
statement
about The Absolute and a Noble Truth which is a reflection. A Noble
Truth is a
truth to reflect upon; it is not an absolute; it is not The Absolute.
This is
where Western people get very confused because they interpret this
Noble Truth
as a kind of metaphysical truth of Buddhism - but it was never meant to
be
that.
You can see that the First
Noble Truth is not an
absolute statement because of the Fourth Noble Truth, which is the way
of
non-suffering. You cannot have absolute suffering and then have a way
out of
it, can you? That doesn’t make sense. Yet some people will
pick up on the First
Noble Truth and say that the Buddha taught that everything is suffering.
The Pali word, dukkha, means "incapable of satisfying" or "not able to bear or withstand anything": always changing, incapable of truly fulfilling or making us happy. The sensual world is like that. It would be terrible if we did find satisfaction in the sensory world because then we wouldn’t search beyond it; we’d just be bound to it. However, as we awaken to this dukkha, the suffering in life, we begin to find the way out so that we are no longer constantly trapped in sensory consciousness.
SUFFERING
It is important to reflect
upon the phrasing of the
First Noble Truth. It is phrased in a very clear way: "There is
suffering", rather than "I suffer". Psychologically, that reflection
is a much more skillful way to put it. We tend to interpret our
suffering as
"I’m really suffering. I suffer a lot - and I don’t
want to suffer."
This is the way our thinking mind is conditioned.
"I am suffering" always
conveys the sense
of "I am somebody who is suffering a lot. This suffering is mine;
I’ve had
a lot of suffering in my life." Then
the whole process,
the association with one’s self and one’s memory,
takes off. You
remember what happened when you were a baby...and so on.
But note, Buddhists are not
saying there is someone
who has suffering. It is not personal suffering anymore when Buddhists
see it
as "There is suffering". It is not: "Oh poor me, why do I have
to suffer so much? What did I do to deserve this? Why do I have to get
old? Why
do I have to have sorrow, pain, grief and despair? It is not fair! I do
not
want it. I only want happiness and security." This kind of thinking
comes
from ignorance which complicates everything and results in personality
problems.
To let go of suffering, we
have to admit it into
consciousness. But the admission in Buddhism is not from a position of:
"I
am suffering" but rather, "There is the presence of suffering"
because Buddhists are not trying to identify with the problem but
simply
acknowledge that there is one. It is unskillful to think in terms of:
"I
am an angry person; I get angry so easily; how do I get rid of it?" - that triggers off all the
underlying assumptions of a self
and it is very hard to get any perspective on that. A person becomes
very confused
because the sense of problems or thoughts takes us very easily to
suppression
or to making judgments about it and criticizing ourselves. We tend to
grasp and
identify rather than to observe, witness and understand things as they
are.
When you are just admitting that there is this feeling of confusion,
that there
is this greed or anger, then there is an honest reflection on the way
it is and
you have taken out all the underlying assumptions - or at least
undermined
them.
So do not grasp these things
as personal faults but
keep contemplating these conditions as impermanent, unsatisfactory and
non-self. Keep reflecting, seeing them as they are. The tendency is to
view
life from the sense that these are my problems, and that one is being
very honest
and forthright in admitting this. Then our life tends to reaffirm that
because
we keep operating from that wrong assumption. But that very viewpoint
is
impermanent, unsatisfactory and non-self.
"There is suffering" is a
very clear,
precise acknowledgement that at this time, there is some feeling of
unhappiness. It can range from anguish and despair to mild irritation;
dukkha
does not necessarily mean severe suffering. You do not have to be
brutalized by
life; you do not have to come from an
The sensory world is a sensitive experience. It means you are
always being
exposed to pleasure and pain and the dualism of this world of
confusion. It is
like being in something that is very vulnerable and picking up
everything that
happens to come in contact with these bodies and their senses. That is
the way
it is. That is the result of birth.
DENIAL OF SUFFERING
Suffering is something we
usually do not want to
know - we just want to get rid of it. As soon as there is any
inconvenience or annoyance,
the tendency of a person is to get rid of it or suppress it. (A mature
Christian would abide through it because a mature Christian knows that
suffering enhances spiritual growth and that it comes only to pass.) One can see why modern
society is so caught
up in seeking pleasures and delights in what is new, exciting or
romantic. We
tend to emphasize the beauties and pleasures of youth whilst the ugly
side of
life - old age, sickness, death, boredom, despair and depression, are
pushed
aside. When we find ourselves with something we do not like, we try to
get away
from it to something we do like. If we feel boredom, we go to something
interesting. If we feel frightened, we try to find safety. This is a
perfectly
natural thing to do. We are associated with that pleasure/pain
principle of
being attracted and repelled. So if the mind is not full and receptive,
then it
is selective - it selects what it likes and tries to suppress what it
does not
like. Much of our experience has to be suppressed because a lot of what
we are
inevitably involved with is unpleasant in some way.
If anything unpleasant arises, we say, ‘Run
away!’ (Again a mature Christian
would abide with it, learn from it, and move on because it comes only
to
pass.) If anyone
gets in our way, we
say, ‘Kill him!’ This tendency is often apparent in
what our governments do....Frightening,
isn’t it, when you think of
the kind of people who run our countries - because they are still very
ignorant.
But that is the way it is. The ignorant mind thinks of extermination:
‘Here’s a
mosquito; kill it!’, ‘These ants are taking over
the room; spray them with ant
killer!’ There are many bug exterminators in business today,
doing a booming
business. They specialize in killing pests - however you want to
interpret the
word ‘pests’.
MORALITY AND
COMPASSION, from a Buddhist Perspective
(Christians do not, think this way, most of the time; however, it
wouldn’t hurt
to reflect on the right to life of all living things.)
That is why we have to have
laws such as, ‘I will
refrain from intentionally killing,’ because our instinctual
nature is to kill:
if it is in the way, get rid of it. You can see this in the animal
kingdom. We
are quite predatory creatures ourselves; we think we are civilized but
we have
a really bloody history - literally. It is just filled with endless
slaughters
and justifications for all kinds of iniquities against other human
beings - not
to mention animals - and it is all because of this basic ignorance,
this
unreflecting human mind that tells us to annihilate what is in our way.
However, with reflection we
are changing that; slowly
the world’s way of thinking is transcending that basic
instinctual, animal
pattern. We (the world as a whole) are not just being law-abiding
puppets of
society, afraid to kill because we are afraid of being punished. Now we
are
really taking on responsibility. We respect the lives of other
creatures, even
the lives of insects and creatures we do not like. Nobody is ever going
to like
mosquitoes and ants, but we can reflect on the fact that they have a
right to
live.
That is a reflection of the mind; it is not just a reaction:
The same applies to
unpleasant mind states. So when
you are experiencing anger, rather than saying: ‘Oh, here I
go - angry again!’
we reflect: ‘There is anger’. Just like with fear -
if you start seeing it as
my mother’s fear or my father’s fear or the
dog’s fear or my fear, then it all
becomes a sticky web of different creatures related in some ways,
unrelated in
others; and it becomes difficult to have any real understanding. And
yet, the
fear in this being and the fear in that mangy cur is the same thing.
‘There is
fear’. It is just that. The fear that I have experienced is
no different from
the fear others have. So this is where we have compassion even for
mangy old
dogs. We understand that fear is as horrible for mangy dogs as it is
for us.
When a dog is kicked with a heavy boot and you are kicked with a heavy
boot,
that feeling of pain is the same. Pain is just pain, cold is just cold,
anger is
just anger. It is not mine but rather: ‘There is
pain.’ This is a skillful use
of thinking that helps us to see things more clearly rather than
reinforcing
the personal view. Then as a result of recognizing the state of
suffering -
that there is suffering - the second insight of this First Noble Truth
comes:
‘It should be understood’. This suffering is to be
investigated.
TO INVESTIGATE SUFFERING
I encourage you to try to
understand dukkha, you
who are a Christian, or Buddhist, or whatever: to really look at, stand
under
and accept your suffering. Try to understand it when you are feeling
physical
pain or despair and anguish or hatred and aversion - whatever form it
takes,
whatever quality it has, whether it is extreme or slight. This teaching
does
not mean that to get enlightened you have to be utterly and totally
miserable.
You do not have to have everything taken away from you or be tortured
on the
rack; it means being able to look at suffering, even if it is just a
mild
feeling of discontent, and understand it.
Christians need to understand suffering.
We all need to understand.
It is easy to find a
scapegoat for our problems.
‘If my mother had really loved me or if everyone around me
had been truly wise,
and fully dedicated towards providing a perfect environment for me,
then I
would not have the emotional problems I have now.’ This is
really silly! Yet
that is how some people actually look at the world, thinking that they
are
confused and miserable because they did not get a fair deal. But with
this formula
of the First Noble Truth, even if we have had a pretty miserable life,
what we
are looking at is not that suffering which comes from out there, but
what we
create in our own minds around it. This is an awakening in a person -
an
awakening to the Truth of suffering. And it is a Noble Truth because it
is no
longer blaming the suffering that we are experiencing on others. Thus, the Buddhist approach is quite unique with
respect to other religions because the emphasis is on the way out of
suffering
through wisdom, freedom from all delusion, rather than the attainment
of some
blissful state or union with the Ultimate.
Christians need to understand this. Buddhists do not deny
or affirm
God. They look at
suffering.
What Buddhists point to with
this teaching is our
own reaction to life. If somebody is being nasty to you or deliberately
and
malevolently trying to cause you to suffer, and you think it is that
person who
is making you suffer, you still have not understood this First Noble
Truth.
Even if he is pulling out your fingernails or doing other terrible
things to
you - as long as you think that you are suffering because of that
person, you
have not understood this First Noble Truth. A Buddhist would say that
to
understand suffering is to see clearly that it is our reaction to the
person
pulling out our fingernails, ‘I hate you,’ that is
suffering. Buddhists would
say that actual pulling out of one’s fingernails is painful,
but the suffering
involves ‘I hate you,’ and ‘How can you
do this to me,’ and ‘I’ll never forgive
you.’ This,
from a Christian point of
view, does not cut the mustard, so to speak.
Suffering need not involve hatred.
There is pain and it cannot be denied.
Pain is suffering, yet hatred adds to that suffering. The suffering is there
whether I hate the
person who is pulling out my fingernails or whether I do not. Buddhists
tend to
equate suffering only with human emotions.
They deny that a person has a “self”
that experiences pain. As
Christians, we know better than to do that.
A Buddhist would say don’t wait for somebody to pull out your fingernails in order to practice with the First Noble Truth. Try it with little things, like somebody being insensitive or rude or ignoring you. If you are suffering because that person has slighted you or offended you in some way, you can work with that. There are many times in daily life when we can be offended or upset. We can feel annoyed or irritated just by the way somebody walks or looks. Sometimes you can notice yourself feeling aversion just because of the way somebody walks or because they don’t do something that they should - one can get very upset and angry about things like that. The person has not really harmed you or done anything to you, like pulling out your fingernails, but you still suffer. If you cannot look at suffering in these simple cases, you will never be able to be so heroic as to do it if ever somebody does actually pull out your fingernails!
Buddhists
work with the little
dissatisfactions in the ordinariness of life. They say to look at the
way we
can be hurt and offended or annoyed and irritated by the neighbors, by
the
people we live with. Buddhists
believe
they know that this suffering should be understood. Buddhists practice
by
really looking at suffering as an object and understanding:
‘This is
suffering’. Buddhist’s claim to have the insightful
understanding of
PLEASURE
Where
has this hedonistic seeking
of pleasure as an end in itself brought us, us meaning the world? It
has
continued now for several decades but is humanity any happier as a
result? It
seems that nowadays most people (practicing
Christians, and I presume Buddhists excluded) have
been given the right
and freedom to do anything we like with drugs, sex, and travel and so
on -
anything goes; anything is allowed; nothing is forbidden. You have to
do
something really obscene, really violent, before you’ll be
ostracized. But has
being able to follow our impulses made us any happier or more relaxed
and
contented? In fact, it has tended to make us very selfish; we
don’t think about
how our actions might affect others. We tend to think only about
ourselves: me
and my happiness, my freedom and my rights. So I become a terrible
nuisance, a
source of great frustration, annoyance and misery for the people around
me. If
I think I can do anything I want or say anything I feel like saying,
even at
the expense of others, then I’m a person who is nothing but a
nuisance to
society.
When the sense of
‘what I want’ and ‘what I think
should and should not be’ arises, and we wish to delight in
all the pleasures
of life, we inevitably get upset because life seems so hopeless and
everything
seems to go wrong. We just get whirled about by life - just running
around in
states of fear and desire. And even when we get everything we want, we
will
think there is something missing, something incomplete yet. So even
when life
is at its best, there is still this sense of suffering - something yet
to be
done, some kind of doubt or fear haunting us.
No one is or has been exempt from this feeling. If you say you have never
felt this, then the
truth is not in you…you are fooling yourself.
For example, I’ve
always liked the serenity and
atmosphere of a quiet lake. And after I visit such a place there seems
always
to be sense of anguish in my mind when I have to leave.
I had the feeling of wanting to hold on to
this quietude! This is dukkha!
I find that if I do things
heedlessly - even
something quite harmless like looking at a lake surrounded by trees and
birds
flying overhead - if I’m just reaching out and trying to hold
on to something,
it always brings an unpleasant feeling. How can you hold on to a
pleasant scene?
The best you can do is to take a picture of it, trying to capture
everything on
a piece of paper. That’s dukkha; if you want to hold on to
something which is
beautiful because you don’t want to be separated from it -
that is suffering.
Having to be in situations you don’t like is also suffering. Working at a job you don’t like, being around people that turn you the wrong way, this causes mental pain. But you need to remember that things are as they are, so we can recognize and appreciate them in their changing forms without grasping. Grasping is wanting to hold on to something we like; wanting to get rid of something we don’t like; or wanting to get something we don’t have..
THE SECOND NOBLE TRUTH
What is the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering?
It is craving which renews
being and is accompanied
by relish and lust, relishing this and that: in other words, craving
for
sensual desires, craving for being, and craving for non-being. But
whereon does
this craving arise and flourish? Wherever there is what seems lovable
and
gratifying, thereon it arises and flourishes.
There is this Noble Truth of
the Origin of
Suffering: such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that
arose
concerning me about things not heard before.
This Noble Truth must be penetrated to by abandoning the
origin of
suffering....
This Noble Truth has been
penetrated to by
abandoning the origin of suffering: such was the vision, insight,
wisdom,
knowing and light that arose in me about things not heard before. [Samyutta Nikaya LVI, 11]
The Second Noble Truth with
its three aspects is:
‘There is the origin of suffering, which is attachment to
desire. Desire should
be let go of. Desire has been let go of.’
The Second Noble Truth
states that there is an
origin of suffering and that the origin of suffering is attachment to
the three
kinds of desire: desire for sense pleasure (
THREE KINDS OF DESIRE
Desire, or tanha in the Pali language, is an important thing
to understand.
What is desire?
We also contemplate the
feeling of wanting to
become something. But if there is ignorance, then when we are not
seeking
something delicious to eat or some beautiful music to listen to, we can
be
caught in a realm of ambition and attainment - the desire to become. We
get
caught in that movement of striving to become happy, seeking to become
wealthy;
or we might attempt to make our life feel important by attempting to
make the
world right. So note this sense of wanting to become something other
than what
you are.
Listen to the bhava tanha of
your life: ‘I want to
practice meditation so I can become free from my pain. I want to become
a
better Christian. I want to have a wife and children and a profession.
I want
to enjoy the sense world without having to give up anything.’
When we get disillusioned
with trying to become
something, then there is the desire to get rid of things. So we
contemplate: ‘I
want to get rid of my suffering. I want to get rid of my anger.
I’ve got this
anger and I want to get rid of it. I want to get rid of jealousy, fear
and
anxiety.’ We are actually contemplating that within ourselves
who wants to get
rid of things; we are not trying to get rid of the desire to get rid
of. We are
not taking a stand against the desire to get rid of things nor are we
encouraging that desire. Instead, we are reflecting,
‘It’s like this; it feels
like this to want to get rid of something; I’ve got to
conquer my anger; I have
to kill the Devil and get rid of my greed - then I will
become....’ We can see
from this train of thought that becoming and getting rid of are very
much
associated.
Bear in mind though that
these three categories are
merely convenient ways of contemplating desire. They are not totally
separate
forms of desire but different aspects of it.
The second insight into the Second
Noble Truth is:
‘Desire should be
let go of.’ This is how letting
go comes into our practice. You have an insight that desire should be
let go
of, but that insight is not a desire to let go of anything. If you are
not very
wise and are not really reflecting in your mind, you tend to follow the
‘I want
to get rid of, I want to let go of all my desires’ - but this
is just another
desire. However, you can reflect upon it; you can see the desire to get
rid of,
the desire to become or the desire for sense pleasure. By understanding
these
three kinds of desire, Buddhists teach that you can let them go.
The Second Noble Truth does
not ask you to think,
‘I have a lot of sensual desires’, or,
‘I’m really ambitious; or, ‘I’m
a real
nihilist. I just want out. I’m a real no desire fanatic.
That’s me.’ The Second
Noble Truth is not that. It is not about identifying with desires in
any way;
it’s about recognizing desire.
Desire is not what we are
but it is the way we tend
to react out of ignorance when we have not understood these Four Noble
Truths
in their three aspects. We tend to react like this to everything. These
are
normal reactions due to ignorance.
Buddhists state that we need not continue to suffer. We are not just hopeless victims of desire. We can allow desire to be the way it is and so begin to let go of it. Desire has power over us and deludes us only as long as we grasp it, believe in it and react to it.
GRASPING IS SUFFERING
Usually we equate suffering
with feeling, but
feeling is not suffering. It is the grasping of desire that is
suffering. In
Buddhism, desire does not cause suffering; the cause of suffering is
the grasping
of desire..
Buddhists teach that one
really has to investigate
desire and know it for what it is. One has to know what is natural and
necessary for survival and what is not necessary for survival. We can
be very
idealistic in thinking that even the need for food is some kind of
desire we
should not have. One can be quite ridiculous about it. But the Buddha
was not
an idealist and he was not a moralist. He
was not trying to condemn anything. He was trying to awaken
us to truth so
that we could see things clearly.
Once there is that clarity
and seeing in the right
way, then there is no suffering. You can still feel hunger. You can
still need
food without it becoming a desire. Food is a natural need of the body.
The body
is not self; it needs food otherwise it will get very weak and die.
That is the
nature of the body - there is nothing wrong with that. Buddhism states
that if
we get very moralistic and high-minded and believe that we are
our
bodies, that hunger is our own problem, and that we should not even eat
- that
is not wisdom; it is foolishness.
When you really see the origin of suffering, you realize that the problem is the grasping of desire not the desire itself. Grasping means being deluded by it, thinking it’s really ‘me’ and ‘mine’: ‘These desires are me and there is something wrong with me for having them’; or, ‘I don’t like the way I am now. I have to become something else’; or, ‘I have to get rid of something before I can become what I want to be.’ All this is desire. So you listen to it with bare attention, not saying it’s good or bad, but merely recognizing it for what it is.
For Christians, this teaching is important because it helps us to see things as they really are. There is nothing wrong with that. Too often, Christians want to place our ideals onto the world. Yet, we must remember that we are not of the world. We live in it, yet we have to see the world and experience it as it is, and not how we want it to be.
Christ teaches this also;
yet, for whatever reason,
Christianity seems to gloss over this aspect of the Truth that Christ
taught. Many
Christians are not even
aware of the fact that Christ did teach this…by his actions. He also taught that we
must let go, that we
must lose our life for the sake of Him and the Gospel to really find
life, to
find ourselves as we are meant to be.
LETTING GO
If we contemplate desires
and listen to them, we
are actually no longer attaching to them; we are just allowing them to
be the
way they are. Then we come to the realization that the origin of
suffering,
desire, can be laid aside and let go of.
How do you let go of things?
This means you leave
them as they are; it does not mean you annihilate them or throw them
away. It
is more like setting down and letting them be. Through the practice of
letting
go we realize that there is the origin of suffering, which is the
attachment to
desire, and we realize that we should let go of these three kinds of
desire.
Then we realize that we have let go of these desires; there is no
longer any
attachment to them.
When you find yourself
attached, remember that
‘letting go’ is not ‘getting rid
of’ or ‘throwing away’. If I’m
holding onto
this clock and you say, ‘Let go of it!’, that
doesn’t mean ‘throw it out’. I
might think that I have to throw it away because I’m attached
to it, but that
would just be the desire to get rid of it. We tend to think that
getting rid of
the object is a way of getting rid of attachment. But if I can
contemplate
attachment, this grasping of the clock, I realize that there is no
point in
getting rid of it - it’s a good clock; it keeps good time and
is not heavy to
carry around. The clock is not the problem. The problem is grasping the
clock.
So what do I do? Let it go, lay it aside - put it down gently without
any kind
of aversion. Then I can pick it up again, see what time it is and lay
it aside
when necessary.
You can apply this insight
into ‘letting go’ to the
desire for sense pleasures. Maybe you want to have a lot of fun. How
would you
lay aside that desire without any aversion? Simply recognize the desire
without
judging it. You can contemplate wanting to get rid of it - because you
feel
guilty about having such a foolish desire - but just lay it aside.
Then, when
you see it as it is, recognizing that it’s just desire, you
are no longer
attached to it.
So the way is always working
with the moments of daily
life. When you are feeling depressed and negative, just the moment that
you
refuse to indulge in that feeling is an enlightenment experience. When
you see that,
you need not sink into the sea of depression and despair and wallow in
it. You
can actually stop by learning not to give things a second thought.
You have to find this out
through practice so that
you will know for yourself how to let go of the origin of suffering.
Can you
let go of desire by wanting to let go of it? What is it that is really
letting
go in a given moment? You have to contemplate the experience of letting
go and
really examine and investigate until the insight comes. Keep with it
until that
insight comes: ‘Ah, letting go, yes, now I understand. Desire
is being let go
of.’ This does not mean that you are going to let go of
desire forever but, at
that one moment, you actually have let go and you
have done it in full
conscious awareness. There is an insight then. This is what is call in
Buddhism
insight knowledge. In Pali, it is called nanadassana
or profound
understanding.
Now with personal problems
and obsessions, to let
go of them is just that much. It is not a matter of analyzing and
endlessly
making more of a problem about them, but of practicing that state of
leaving
things alone, letting go of them. At first, you let go but then you
pick them
up again because the habit of grasping is so strong. But at least you
have the
idea. The more you
begin to see how to
do it, then the more you are able to sustain the state of
non-attachment.
ACCOMPLISHMENT
It is important to know when
you have let go of
desire: when you no longer judge or try to get rid of it; when you
recognize
that it’s just the way it is. When you are really calm and
peaceful, then you
will find that there is no attachment to anything. You are not caught
up,
trying to get something or trying to get rid of something. Well-being
is just
knowing things as they are without feeling the necessity to pass
judgment upon
them.
We say all the time,
‘This shouldn’t be like
this!’, ‘I shouldn’t be this
way!’ and, ‘You shouldn’t be like this
and you
shouldn’t do that!’ and so on. I’m sure I
could tell you what you should be -
and you could tell me what I should be. We should be kind, loving,
generous,
good-hearted, hard-working, diligent, courageous, brave and
compassionate. I
don’t have to know to tell you that! But to really know you,
I would have to
open up to you rather than start from an ideal about what a woman or
man should
be, what a Buddhist should be or what a Christian should be.
It’s not that we
don’t know what we should be.
Our suffering comes from the
attachment that we
have to ideals, and the complexities we create about the way things
are. We are
never what we should be according to our highest ideals. Life, others,
the country
we are in, the world we live in - things never seem to be what they
should be.
We become very critical of everything and of ourselves: ‘I
know I should be
more patient, but I just CAN’T be
patient!’....Listen to all the ‘shoulds’
and
the ‘should nots’ and the desires: wanting the
pleasant, wanting to become or
wanting to get rid of the ugly and the painful. It’s like
listening to somebody
talking over the fence saying, ‘I want this and I
don’t like that. It should be
this way and it shouldn’t be that way.’ Really take
time to listen to the
complaining mind; bring it into consciousness.
The more we contemplate and
investigate grasping,
the more the insight arises: ‘Desire should be let go
of.’ Then, through the
actual practice and understanding of what letting go really is we have
the
third insight into the Second Noble Truth, which is: ‘Desire
has been let go
of.’ We actually know letting go. It is not a theoretical
letting go, but a
direct insight. You know letting go has been accomplished. This is what
Buddhist
practice is all about.
THE THIRD NOBLE TRUTH
What is the Noble Truth of
the Cessation of Suffering?
It is the fading and cessation of that same craving; the rejecting,
relinquishing, leaving and renouncing of it. But whereon is this
craving abandoned
and made to cease? Wherever there is what seems lovable and gratifying,
thereon
it is abandoned and made to cease.
There is this Noble Truth of
the Cessation of
Suffering: such was the vision, insight, wisdom, knowing and light that
arose about
things not heard before.
This Noble Truth must be penetrated to by realizing the
Cessation of
Suffering....
This Noble Truth has been
penetrated to by realizing
the Cessation of Suffering: such was the vision, insight, wisdom,
knowing and
light that arose in me about things not heard before.
[Samyutta Nikaya LVI, 11]
The Third Noble Truth with
its three aspects is:
‘There is the cessation of suffering, of dukkha.
The cessation of dukkha
should be realized. The cessation of dukkha has
been realized.’
The whole aim of the
Buddhist teaching is to
develop the reflective mind in order to let go of delusions. The Four
Noble
Truths is a teaching about letting go by investigating or looking into
-
contemplating: ‘Why is it like this? Why is it this
way?’ It is good to ponder
over things. We
contemplate...the mind
is not forming an opinion about whether these are good, bad, useful or
useless.
The mind is actually opening and considering. ‘What does this
mean? What do
Christian ministers or Buddhist monks represent? Buddhists
would say that we should contemplate
how this way of living has sustained traditions and allowed them to be
handed
down from its original founder, Christ or the Buddha, to the present
time.
We reflect as we see
suffering; as we see the
nature of desire; as we recognize that attachment to desire is
suffering. These
insights can only come through reflection; they cannot come through
belief. You
cannot make yourself believe or realize an insight as a willful act;
through
really contemplating and pondering these truths, the insights come to
you. They
come only through the mind being open and receptive to the teaching -
blind
belief is certainly not advised or expected of a Christian or Buddhist
or
anyone. Instead,
the mind should be
willing to be receptive, pondering and considering.
This mental state is very
important - it is the way
out of suffering. It is not the mind which has fixed views and
prejudices and
thinks it knows it all or which just takes what other people say as
being the
truth. To the Buddhist is the mind that is open to these Four Noble
Truths and
can reflect upon something that we can see within our own mind. To the Christian, it is
the life of Christ,
what He taught, and His actions.
People rarely realize
non-suffering because it takes
a special kind of willingness in order to ponder and investigate and
get beyond
the gross and the obvious. It takes a willingness to actually look at
your own
reactions, to be able to see the attachments and to contemplate:
‘What does
attachment feel like?’
For example, do you feel
happy or liberated by
being attached to desire? Is it uplifting or depressing? These
questions are
for you to investigate. If you find out that being attached to your
desires is
liberating, then do that. Attach to all your desires and see what the
result
is.
In my life, Ronald
Coleman’s life, I have seen that
attachment to my desires is suffering. There is no doubt about that. I
can see
how much suffering in my life has been caused by attachments to
material
things, ideas, attitudes or fears. I can see all kinds of unnecessary
misery
that I have caused myself through attachment because I did not know any
better.
I was brought up in
THE TRUTH OF
IMPERMANENCE
Buddhist’s teach
this: ‘All
that is subject to arising is subject to
ceasing.’ Now this may not sound like any great knowledge but
what it really
implies is a universal pattern: whatever is subject to arising is
subject to
ceasing; it is impermanent and not self....So don’t attach,
don’t be deluded by
what arises and ceases. Don’t look for your refuges that
which you want to abide
in and trust, in anything that arises - because those things will cease.
If you want to suffer and
waste your life, go
around seeking things that arise. They will all take you anywhere, not
to God
or Christ, and you will not be any the wiser for it. You will just go
around
repeating the same old dreary habits and when you die, you will not
have
learned anything important from your life.
Rather than just thinking about it, really contemplate: ‘All that is subject to arising is subject to ceasing.’ Apply it to life in general, to your own experience. Then you will understand. Just note: beginning....ending. Contemplate how things are. This sensory realm is all about arising and ceasing, beginning and ending; there can be perfect understanding, (Buddhists call this samma ditthi), in this lifetime.
I would like to emphasize
how important it is to
develop this way of reflecting. Rather than just developing a method of
tranquillizing
your mind, which certainly is important, really see that proper
meditation is a
commitment to wise investigation. It involves a courageous effort to
look
deeply into things, not analyzing yourself and making judgments about
why you
suffer on a personal level, but resolving to really follow the path
until you
have profound understanding. Such perfect understanding is based upon
the
pattern of arising and ceasing. Once this law is understood, everything
is seen
as fitting into that pattern.
All that is subject to arising is subject to ceasing is not about ultimate reality – God, and eternal life; but if you profoundly understand and know that all that is subject to arising is subject to ceasing, then you are read to realize the ultimate reality, the deathless, immortal truths. You are ready then to know Christ. This is the commencement for to know Christ deeply.
So you see, what Buddhism
teaches can bring one to
the doorstep of Christ. Buddhists
see
all as impermanent. They
are ready to
learn of the permanent, of the eternal God, of Christ.
Christians should not look at the Buddhist
and say that he/she is lost. The
Buddhist is closer to Christ than many nominal Christians ever will be. Buddhists just
don’t know that they are at
the door of Christ. Buddhists
stop at
the doorstep of Christ—they do not see the door. Christians need to be
compassionate enough to
open the door of Christ from the inside and invite the Buddhist in. This means to be morally
tolerant.
MORTALITY AND CESSATION
With the reflection upon the
Noble Truths,
Buddhists bring into consciousness this very problem of human
existence. They look
at this sense of alienation and blind attachment to sensory
consciousness, the
attachment to that which is separate and stands forth in consciousness.
Out of
ignorance, men and women attach to desires for sense pleasures. When
one
identifies with what the Buddhist calls mortal or death-bound, and with
what is
unsatisfactory, that very attachment is suffering.
Is this any different than what Christians
know to be true? Does
it matter how one
arrives at this type of knowledge?
Christians need to share Christ in an attitude of
reverence for what the
Buddhist has learned. I
admit, Buddhists
have a different method to arrive at the door of Truth, and it seems
strange to
Christians. However,
we as Christians
must remember that there are many pathways to Christ.
There is only one God, yet the way one comes
to Him is of little significance.
I dare
say that there is not a Christian alive who has come to Christ in the
same
environment as another Christian,
How
could we? One man
is not identical to
another man.
To the Buddhist, sense
pleasures are all mortal
pleasures. Whatever we see, hear, touch, taste, think or feel is mortal
-
death-bound. So when we attach to the mortal senses, we attach to
death. If we
have not contemplated or understood it, we just attach blindly to
mortality
hoping that we can stave it off for a while. We pretend that
we’re going to be
really happy with the things we attach to - only to feel eventually
disillusioned, despairing and disappointed. We might succeed in
becoming what
we want, but that too is mortal. We’re attaching to another
death-bound
condition. Then, with the desire to die, we might attach to suicide or
to
annihilation - but death itself is yet another death-bound condition.
Whatever
we attach to in these three kinds of desires, we’re attaching
to death - which
means that we’re going to experience disappointment or
despair.
Death of the mind is
despair; depression is a kind
of death experience of the mind. Just as the body dies a physical
death, the
mind dies. Mental states and mental conditions die; we call it despair,
boredom, depression and anguish. Whenever we attach, if we’re
experiencing
boredom, despair, anguish and sorrow, we tend to seek some other mortal
condition that’s arising. As an example, you feel despair and
you think, ‘I
want a piece of apple pie.’ Off you go! For a moment you can
absorb into the sweet,
delicious, flavor of that piece of pie. At that moment,
there’s becoming -
you’ve actually become the sweet, delicious, apple pie
flavor! But you can’t
hold on to that very long. You swallow and what’s left? Then
you have to go on
to do something else. This, to the Buddhist, is
‘becoming’.
We are blinded, caught in
this becoming process on
the sensual plane. But through knowing desire without judging the
beauty or
ugliness of the sensual plane, we come to see desire as it is. There is
knowing. Then, by laying aside these desires rather than grasping at
them, we
experience what Buddhists call nirodha, the
cessation of suffering. This
is the Third Noble Truth that a person must realize. We contemplate
cessation.
We say, ‘There is cessation’, and we know when
something has ceased.
ALLOWING THINGS TO ARISE
Before you can let things go, you have to admit them into full consciousness. In meditation, t