Search results for: "Suffering"

  1. Page 14
  2. Not Getting What You Want
    When the Buddha explains the first noble truth, one of the examples he gives is not getting what you want—that’s suffering. Now, the common response to that is, well, just grab what you want and then you won’t suffer. But when the Buddha explains what he means by that statement, you realize it’s not something you can grab. His examples … 
  3. To Discern Suffering
    That phrase in the chant just now, “Those who don’t discern suffering”: It sounds strange. We all detect suffering in our lives. It’s a daily occurrence. Sometimes there’s a lot, sometimes there’s a little. Some people, of course, deny that there’s any suffering in their lives. I knew a journalist in Bangkok one time who asked me, “Why is … 
  4. Developing Absorption
     … The first noble truth, the truth of suffering, is to be comprehended: not just registering the fact that there is suffering, but realizing that clinging to the aggregates is the suffering. That’s not a point that’s easy to comprehend, because it’s all too easy to think that we’re suffering because of things outside. But to see that the actual suffering … 
  5. Head, Heart, & Gut
    As the Buddha says, suffering is caused by three kinds of craving: craving for sensuality, for becoming, and for not becoming. A lot of people jump from that statement to a much bigger generalization: that all desire is bad, which is not the case. The path to the end of suffering also includes desire. It’s part of right effort. Our problem is that … 
  6. Before Your Face Was Born
     … All that’s asked is that you realize you’re suffering, you realize your actions are the important cause for your suffering, and you’re willing to learn. Any attitudes that go beyond that set you up for a fall. This is why right view focuses on the issue of suffering. There’s no question about making you a better person. It’s simply … 
  7. The Power of Present Kamma
     … And as for things done in the past, the Buddha says, you don’t necessarily have to suffer from bad things done in the past. After all, this is a teaching on how to put an end to suffering, and there’s no caveat saying that he’s talking only about undeserved suffering. Even “deserved” suffering is something you don’t have to experience … 
  8. Virtue Contains the Practice
     … You have no recourse when suffering comes up. So the Buddha’s teaching you what to do when you suffer so that you’re no longer bewildered and you don’t have to continue suffering. And in that way, his teaching is a gift. As with any gift, when you receive it, you want to make good use of it. You don’t want … 
  9. The Buddha Meant What He Said
    The Buddha said several times that all he taught was stress and the end of stress, or suffering and the end of suffering—however you want to translate dukkha. His very first sermon started with the topic of stress and suffering. His last teaching was on the path to the end of suffering. He really meant what he said. The issue of what causes … 
  10. Mindfulness the Gatekeeper
     … The first duty, with the first noble truth, is to comprehend suffering. Now “comprehending” here means understanding suffering to the point of dispassion. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t think that we’re passionate for our suffering, but as the Buddha said, suffering isn’t something that just happens to us. We actually go out and do it. We cling to things, thinking that it’s … 
  11. A Message for the Universe
     … The end of suffering is also through effort. It’s through suffering through a difficult practice sometimes, that you do get release from suffering. We don’t like to hear this, but it’s a message for the whole universe, that if you don’t put forth an effort, you’re just going to be riding on the results of your past efforts, and … 
  12. Categorical Truths
     … As the Buddha says, the truth here is basically that your suffering is in the way you cling. You cling to the body, you cling to your feelings, your perceptions, your thought constructs; you cling to consciousness of the senses. Wherever you cling, that’s the suffering. This is called a noble truth because when you understand your suffering in this way, you see … 
  13. Meaning in a Meaningless Universe
    There are several times when the Buddha said that all he taught was suffering and the end of suffering. One time, as he was walking through a siṃsapā forest, he picked up a handful of leaves and asked the monks which was greater: the leaves in his hand or the leaves in the forest. They said, “Of course, the leaves in the forest are … 
  14. You Can’t Eat the Buddha
    You Can’t Eat the Buddha August 7, 2008 When you come across a situation where a friend is in pain or suffering, in mental distress, and you can help the friend overcome the pain, get over the distress, it gives rise to a very good feeling in the heart. The problem is that there are other times when we’re with other people … 
  15. Go in Brightness
     … Otherwise, as we run into suffering in life, we fall into what the Buddha says are the two reactions to suffering. One is bewilderment: Where does this come from? Why is this happening? Why is this happening to me? And then a search: Is there somebody out there who knows a way to put an end to this suffering? There are a lot of … 
  16. Stop Squirming
     … Otherwise, we’re not going to be able to comprehend suffering at all. When we can’t comprehend it, we won’t know exactly what’s causing it. Actually, the Buddha divided suffering into two sorts. There’s suffering in the four noble truths and also suffering or stress in the three characteristics. The stress of the three characteristics is something that’s simply … 
  17. Helping Yourself by Helping Others
     … There’s going to be suffering. Other people have bodies. They have the same problems. Their sufferings may be different in their details but the basic principles are the same. We’re all suffering. And so nobody gains anything by piling more suffering on other people. And notice that goodwill and patience go together. The word for patience in Pali is the same as … 
  18. The Graduated Discourse
     … You realize that you’ve been complacent all along and you’ve suffered for it. How much longer do you want to suffer? It’s sensing that suffering: That’s what makes the mind begin to be a little bit pliant and willing to develop heedfulness. Heedfulness, of course, is the basis for the five strengths, and the first of the five strengths is … 
  19. Establishing Priorities
     … The causes of suffering can be changed, which means that you actually can put an end to suffering. The Buddha’s approach was not to simply accept suffering as a given in life, that it has to be that way and we simply learn how to accept it and that’s the end of the problem. He saw that suffering can actually be brought … 
  20. The Pursuit of True Happiness
     … to comprehend suffering, to understand what’s creating such a burden on the mind.” He had discovered that there are two kinds of suffering: the stress in the changefulness in things in life, but also the unnecessary stress and suffering we cause ourselves over those changes. That’s the issue, because once that second suffering is wiped out, the changes don’t impinge on … 
  21. The Logic of Not-self
     … But what if you believe in an impermanent self? Is it still okay to hold on to that? Are you still supposed to cling to that idea? And is there something special about the idea of a permanent self that makes it a lot more conducive to suffering than the idea of an impermanent self? When dogs are suffering, are they suffering because of … 
  22. Load next page...