Search results for: "Suffering"
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- A Mind Larger than the World… The Buddha would recommend that you make your ultimate purpose the end of suffering. Then you have to think about what you have to do in order to get there. Which aspects of your life are getting in the way? Which aspects of your life are helpful? You want to sort things out in line with that standard. Then you think about the four …
- The Uses of Right Concentration… He mentioned the eight factors of the path but then focused just on the first factor, right view about suffering, its cause, its cessation, and the path to its cessation. That was enough for Ven. Añña Kondañña to experience the Dhamma eye, the first level of awakening. We can assume that Añña Kondañña followed through from right view to develop the other factors of …
- Inquisitive… How can you take that understanding of mind and body, and use it to put an end to suffering? There’s the belief that the body is just a dead lump and then the mind is what invigorates it. But how can something that’s totally mental have an impact on a dead lump? There’s another theory, which is that they’re both …
- Pain & Distraction… This is why, when the Buddha talks about suffering, he talks about aggregates. Cut the problem of suffering down into little bits and pieces, and you find it’s a lot more manageable. Learn how to destroy the world that you create around the pain: The pain is in this part of the body and it has this shape and it’s doing this …
- A Culture of Self Reliance… We’re doing these things because we see that our minds are suffering, and the dominant values of the culture are not helping. They’re increasing our suffering. So you need to develop a sense of independence. You need to have a sense of self-reliance as you maintain these values, keeping in mind the fact that you’re doing it because the mind …
- The Pursuit of Pleasure… It was when he decided he was not afraid of this pleasure that he was able to start pursuing the path that actually led to the end of suffering. This is an important story, because a lot of us have indulged in pleasures that have been really harmful and we get burned. So we learn not to trust pleasure, to be afraid of it …
- Feeding on Right Resolve… If something qualifies as suffering, you don’t just sit and look at it. You try to comprehend it: “What exactly is this? Where is it coming from? Where is it going?” With craving, you don’t say, “Okay, I just accept the craving coming and going,” you actively try to abandon it to the point where there’s no more nostalgia for craving …
- Producing Discernment… So, given that this is where you are, you want to learn how not to suffer from it. You have to look at what you’re doing to create suffering inside. What is your internal producer doing? What is the part of the mind that wants to enjoy a particular pleasure but is not getting the pleasure, and so starts getting obstreperous? And how …
- Who’s in Charge Here?… I see that I’m causing myself unnecessary suffering and I want to put an end to it.” With whatever is in line with that, you’ve got to say, “I’m going to side with that, whether it comes from inside or outside.” As the Buddha said, one of the measures of your discernment, particularly with regard to effort, is seen with regard …
- In the Context of the Deathless… As long as we want something permanent in life, we’re going to suffer. But when we finally realize that there’s nothing permanent at all, we say, “Okay, no problem. I’ll accept that.” But that attitude is really sad, given the fact that the Buddha does promise: You follow the path and it leads to a happiness that has no limitations. It …
- The Buddha Respects Your Potential… But he saw that we do have this potential within us, that we can train ourselves and develop our skill in looking after the mind so that we can put an end to suffering, totally. And because he respected that potential within us, he taught for forty-five years. The question is, do we respect that potential within ourselves? It’s all too easy …
- Factors for Awakening… Now, you recognize wise people by using your own powers of judgment as honestly as you can, so in the ultimate analysis appropriate attention does come down to your willingness to look at actions, to see where they’re causing suffering and to ask yourself questions: “Okay, where is this suffering? Exactly what am I stressed out about? Do wise people do these sorts …
- When Ill Will Is in Fashion… But then, of course, there may be people you would like to see suffer a little bit first. They’ve done a lot of evil. They’ve generated a lot of ill will. We see this especially now, when ill will seems to be in fashion. The Buddha’s definition for ill will is, “May these beings be killed, may they be destroyed, may …
- The Breath All the Way… But are you really being fair? Are you being fair to the other person? Are you being fair to yourself? After all, who’s suffering from your anger? You’re certainly suffering from it right now. So if you find that the mind is being burdened by things like this, you find ways of unburdening it. The Buddha takes this even deeper, into the …
- The Basic Pattern… If you see that the consequences are causing harm, causing suffering, you can change the way you act. You have that freedom. You can learn from your mistakes. After all, the Buddha himself started out making a lot of mistakes in his practice: all those years of self affliction, extreme austerities, six years of a big mistake. And imagine the pride that went along …
- Step by Step… He says that, in walking the path, the realization of the cessation of suffering is the same thing as the development of the path. Now, this doesn’t mean that the path is the goal. What it does mean, though, is that in the doing of the path, you’re going to realize the cessation of suffering. You don’t have to keep glancing …
- Make the Most of Right Now… Dukkha means pain, stress, suffering. It’s unsatisfactory because there is something better, but taken on its own, when you say that something is unsatisfactory, it sounds as if you could simply change your standards and learn how to be satisfied with things, and then you’d be okay. And that’s a lot of what modern Dhamma teaches: Accept the fact that things …
- From Inconstancy to Dispassion… But then we’re still suffering, and we’re still making other people suffer, too. The question is, how much longer do you want an extension on this particular defilement? How much longer do you want your hair to be on fire? Because what happens when your hair is on fire: You’re not the only one who’s on fire. It sets fire …
- Name & Form… We’re focusing on form because we want to learn about the activities of name, because it’s the mental side that’s causing suffering. But it’s also the mental side where the solution to the problem of suffering is going to be found. Your experience of the body is a good place to learn a lot of these principles. Try to sensitize …
- Mindfulness in the Driver’s Seat… And why would you have any ill will for someone? Why would you want somebody to suffer? You could think of all the bad things they’ve done, but then you ask yourself, “What good comes out of seeing somebody suffer, even if they’ve done bad things?” There are a lot of people who, when they get punished for their bad deeds, don …
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