Search results for: "Suffering"

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  2. The Self-correcting Mind
     … He went out and actually found the path to the end of suffering. But he also found that the path was something that had to be done within the mind—because we suffer from our lack of skill in how we handle sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and all the thoughts of the mind. No one else can make us skillful. Other people … 
  3. Comfortable With the Truth
     … As the Buddha said, we suffer because of craving and ignorance. And one of the major issues in ignorance is not seeing where we’re causing ourselves suffering. When they talk about ignorance of the four noble truths, that’s precisely what they mean: We don’t see our own craving, we don’t see our own ignorance in action, and so we keep … 
  4. More Buddhist Engineering
     … The Buddha did say that we suffer from not wanting to die, but then he offered a path to the deathless. We suffer because we just want the desire not to die to do all the work. And, of course, if you stop there, there’s going to be suffering. But the Buddha discovered there’s a path you can practice, a path that … 
  5. Self-hatred
     … It comes down to seeing that you’re suffering and that your actions are causing the suffering. So you have to be willing to change your actions in order to stop suffering. But you can learn how to stop. Use the tools that the Buddha provides to figure out exactly what approach you have to take, where the possible problems might be and what … 
  6. Peace Requires Character
     … Sometimes we hear that the Buddha wanted to get rid of all forms of suffering, but actually he was looking at, “Where does suffering come from? Focus on the cause.” Stop setting fires that you then have to put out. Find a place where you’re setting a fire, stop doing it, and then you’re done. The suffering out there in the world … 
  7. Inner Discontent
     … As long as long as there’s still suffering in the mind, you can’t be content with what’s going on in the mind. You have to be very careful, very watchful, to figure out exactly what it is you’re doing that’s causing suffering. He has you look at your actions, he has you look at your words, he has you … 
  8. The Role of the Observer
     … This is how we understand suffering: We comprehend it by being inquisitive. The Buddha says we suffer because of our clinging. How are we clinging? These thoughts come into the mind, and a large part of you doesn’t like them, but another part does. Well, what is the part that does? What is the part that holds on to them, and why? When … 
  9. How & Why We Meditate
     … There’s an analysis of suffering and stress called dependent co-arising, which describes all the different factors that, based on ignorance, give rise to stress and suffering. Half of them, including the three types of fabrication, come prior to sensory contact. Even before you see something or hear something, the mind is already primed to create suffering out of it—if it’s … 
  10. Why We Train the Mind
     … There’s a passage where the Buddha says that conviction in the practice is conditioned by suffering. You see that things are really bad. He doesn’t say that all life is suffering. That’s a misrepresentation of what he had to say. But there is suffering in life. And most of the things that we really pin our hopes on tend to fall … 
  11. Even Animals Can Be Trained
     … What is it doing that’s causing suffering? In particular, what kind of cravings is it engaging in that lead to suffering? It’s the cravings that we’re going to have to attack. You can’t attack suffering straight on. You have to attack the problem at the cause. Otherwise, it’s like having a boat that’s full of water, and you … 
  12. Ignorance & Deception
    The Buddha had said several times that all he taught was suffering and the end of suffering. You have to keep that in mind as you’re practicing his teaching: Everything is aimed at those two topics. To put an end to suffering, you have to understand where it comes from. The two main causes are craving and ignorance. The ignorance here is not … 
  13. The Wisdom of Ardency
     … The wise people are the ones who realize they’ve got unskillful qualities in their minds, that those qualities are causing suffering, and that they’ve got to do something about it. The best use of the Dhamma is not to talk about it, but to use it to get rid of that suffering. It’s in figuring out what you’ve got to … 
  14. Filling in the Buddha’s Outline
     … The other is the four noble truths, going into the unskillful behavior in the mind that’s causing suffering and then seeing what kind of skillful behavior we can develop in its place so that we can bring suffering to an end. That’s basically the big framework for the problem. Now, the framework tells you a lot. The Buddha is saying that suffering … 
  15. Planting a Tree
     … He was just a person who was suffering and was tired of suffering and decided to see what the possibility of action was: “How far can your actions take you?” So when you think about the Buddha, remember that the message of his life all comes down to actions: what you’re doing. All of us have actions we’ve done in the past … 
  16. The Bureaucracy of the Defilements
     … But if you give them their way, you’re the one who’s going to suffer. They’re not going to suffer. They’re creating your kamma and it’s all going to affect you. It’s because you, as the boss, delegated things and you tend to get distracted—you’re not even there in the head office all of the time—that … 
  17. Circular Practice
     … people who actually have the right values, people who see the value of training the mind, the value of digging down into the mind and seeing why it’s still causing itself suffering. Even though everything we do is aimed at happiness, we still suffer. And if we don’t keep the question of suffering foremost in mind—and particularly the suffering the mind … 
  18. Concentration that Bears Great Fruit
     … As the Buddha said, the craving that leads to becoming is the cause of suffering, so if you want to put an end to suffering, you have to know this process well. And here is our place to observe it, right as the mind gets centered here in this very clear and conscious state of becoming. This is why such an important part of … 
  19. Pro-self, Pro-help
     … When the Buddha talks about suffering and the possibility of ending suffering in right view, the wise response is to resolve not to do anything that’ll cause suffering. In other words, you realize that your actions make a difference. And you have to be careful, because some of the ways you can act can cause a lot of suffering both for yourself and … 
  20. The Buddha Aimed High
     … We suffer from these things because of our craving, and only when we deal with our craving will we get anywhere. So that’s the focus of the teachings. It’s the kernel of the four noble truths. You solve the problem of suffering not by solving suffering, but by solving the cause. You’ve got to abandon the cause. We want to abandon … 
  21. Everything You Need
     … Approach the present moment looking for where is the suffering? In other words, where is the clinging right now and where is the craving that’s causing the suffering? That’s what appropriate attention means. You look at the present moment and you apply the four noble truths to every present moment that comes. What can you develop right now that will be in … 
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