The First And Second Noble Truth

So,

Every year since the beginning,

Really the creation of Roaring Fork Insights,

Since 2016 when I first started offering teachings here,

Every year I offer a series of talks on the Four Noble Truths.

The Four Noble Truths are core teachings in Buddhism and even though you've heard them every year,

They're never the same.

They're always unfolding.

Just as we talk about the fires in California,

It's like,

Oh yeah,

There is the truth of suffering right there,

Looks different than it did four years ago,

Or eight years ago now.

Wow.

So,

These teachings are never the same,

You know,

They're always developing and our insights into them are always evolving as well.

I never teach the same,

Or I never offer the same teaching twice.

It's always changing.

I'll use parts of things that I've maybe said before,

But even when I offer them to you,

It's always fresh,

Always new,

Because I'm changing too.

My understanding's changing,

So I have to change with the understanding.

And as a way of introducing these Four Truths,

I'll offer a story that my teacher told me.

This was in the 1960s in Menlo Park.

So Menlo Park is the southern part of the Bay Area,

And during that time in the 60s,

It was also the hangout,

Kind of the central hangout for the Grateful Dead,

And for Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters,

And it was the whole psychedelic movement was happening in this part of the Bay Area.

And there was a girl that was in high school that was,

I guess,

Had known my teacher,

And she was in Menlo Park,

And she was with some of her friends,

And they had heard about a Zen teacher in San Francisco who could teach them how to get high without taking psychedelics.

And so they were interested,

And so they drove up to San Francisco to see Shunrai Suzuki Roshi,

The founder of San Francisco Zen Center.

But at the time,

Suzuki Roshi was living in Japantown,

And he was teaching out of this little Japanese temple in the Japantown community.

And so this was before Zen Center was actually established in the Haight-Ashbury,

Or the lower Haight-Ashbury,

Where it is today.

So these girls,

These young high schoolers,

Came to see the Zen master,

And he received them,

And he was really warm and friendly,

And they told him,

Like,

We're here because we heard that you could teach us how to get high without taking drugs.

And so he smiled,

And if you've ever seen Suzuki Roshi,

He's a really,

He has a lovely face,

And he just,

Big warm smile.

So he sat down and proceeded to share with them the Four Noble Truths,

The truth of suffering,

That there is a rising,

That suffering arises because of clinging,

Of holding on,

And suffering ends,

There is an ending to suffering,

And then he talked about the practice that leads to the end of suffering.

So these young women didn't come to San Francisco to learn about suffering,

They were like,

What?

That's not really what we want to hear,

We want to hear about how to get high without taking drugs.

But they heard him talking about suffering,

And the causes and the end of suffering,

And he was so happy,

Like he was just talking away,

Suffering arises and it ends,

And because he was so happy,

These three young women became some of his first Zen students,

And they helped him establish San Francisco Zen Center.

So,

Yes,

Buddhism emphasizes suffering,

It does,

And the Four Noble Truths have to do with suffering and the end of suffering,

But it's not the only thing that's there,

It's not intended to be this downer,

Like you know,

All those Buddhists are so depressing,

They're all focused on suffering,

But it's important,

It's important to understand and make an honest assessment of this,

It's happening,

We see it right now,

We just talked about it,

There is suffering in this life.

And the teachings,

They are suggesting that we not turn away,

Oh those poor people,

Not happening to me,

Everything's good in my world,

Let me go and buy some more plastic crap on Amazon,

Like no,

That's not the solution,

Right,

Don't turn away,

Don't pretend that there isn't suffering in this life,

You know,

In a sense,

Buddhism is actually really meant to be quite realistic.

So the Buddha,

He was often referred to as the Great Physician,

I like this reference,

He diagnosed the human condition,

So as the analogy goes,

The diagnosis was that there is pain in this life,

There is pain in this life,

And there is an oppressive nature to almost all experiences,

I mean you know this,

Even when you travel,

You know you're going to some exotic location,

But you have like a 25 hour flight and a cramped little seat and there's like somebody kicking the back of the seat,

That's suffering,

That's dukkha,

That's dissatisfying,

Right?

So there's an oppressive nature to experience,

And the cause is reactivity,

Often reactivity.

Something happens,

We don't like it,

We hold on to what we don't like,

There's some contention with our moment to moment experience,

The person behind me keeps kicking the seat,

Contention with our moment to moment experience.

So that was the diagnosis,

There is difficulty,

And the prognosis is that there is an end to this affliction,

There's an end to reactivity,

And the prescription is this path of practice that we're on together,

This eightfold path of practice.

There's a way out of this cycle,

Of this contention,

And our task,

What we're being asked to do is to understand,

Understand the truth of suffering,

To understand it in our own life,

And this is different than what people really want to do when they're confronted with dissatisfaction.

You know,

We,

The idea is that in this practice is that we're supposed to stop and actually get to know it better,

And to study it,

And to feel it,

To feel,

Oh,

Yeah,

This sucks.

This is suffering.

And it's very counterintuitive to want to actually be willing to feel it,

Because what we want to do when we don't like what's happening,

Contention with the moment,

The person kicking the seat behind you in the tiny little seat on the aircraft is we want to get rid of it.

You want to turn around and say,

Hey,

You're kicking my seat.

Or you want to say to the flight attendant,

Please move me.

Can I get rid of this person?

I want to get rid of it.

This is all of us,

And that's kind of a mundane example,

But it's a true one,

Right?

Unless you're fortunate to always go first class.

But even then,

There's got to be some suffering there.

I don't know,

Because I've never been.

So dukkha.

Dukkha is the Pali word that's translated into suffering and stress,

The pain of this life.

And it's stress.

Dukkha is stress.

Dukkha is oppression.

It can be oppression.

But it's really the psychological experience when we're confronted with impermanence.

It's like an experience of anxiety.

Something's happening.

We think it's going to last forever,

And we hold on to getting rid of it.

Aversion,

Pushing it away,

Frustration.

Whether it's conscious or not.

Because in those moments when you're sitting in that cramped little airline seat,

We're not really conscious.

We don't say to ourself,

Oh,

This is dukkha.

Oh,

Yes.

All I have to do is let go.

We don't do that,

Do we?

No.

We have contention with this moment's experience.

So I love how my first teacher,

Norman Fisher,

Describes dukkha.

He says,

Anxiety is dukkha,

Is suffering.

Not getting what you want is suffering.

Being angry is suffering.

Having to put up with what you don't like is suffering.

Understanding that you have to die and you don't want to is suffering.

Wanting to be loved in a certain way is suffering.

Feeling lonely is suffering.

Being too cold is suffering.

The food is too salty is suffering.

Being on hold on the phone is suffering.

And he says that suffering is a minor problem that can be overcome with a positive attitude is one of the greatest human self-deceptions.

I'm going to repeat that because I think it's so important.

That suffering is a minor problem that can be overcome with a positive attitude is one of the greatest human self-deceptions.

I think that's so powerful.

That this uneasiness that we have,

This vulnerability that we have,

This contention that we have,

It's universal.

It's all of us.

And on some level,

It's just our human nervous system registering existence.

Feeling how shaky that is.

It's shaky,

Our existence.

There's a background of anxiety in the human nervous system that's running.

That there's some threat around the corner.

That those winds that are happening in the Santa Ana winds are going to shift and take out another neighborhood.

Right?

There's a threat.

Sometimes it's perceived,

Sometimes it's actual,

But it's running in our nervous system all the time.

And if we can remember the first fundamental truth that there's this dissatisfaction that's in the nervous system.

It's not personal.

It doesn't matter how much money you have or how much education you have.

It doesn't matter what gender you are or how old you are.

Everyone experiences this.

Everyone.

Every human being.

And usually how we deal with dissatisfaction,

Dukkha,

All types of suffering,

Is we complain about it.

We are a victim to it.

We resist it.

This is what we normally do.

And it's important to see that.

And what that does when we resist it is it leads to high blood pressure.

It creates an unhealthy body.

Stress is a killer on the body.

So that's the first,

That's the first noble truth.

Not getting high without psychedelics.

That's for sure.

Right?

I'm far out,

Man.

Right,

I know.

So the second is why do we have to be with this pain?

This dissatisfaction?

What is that about?

The second truth is suffering,

Dissatisfaction,

Contention with this moment's experience is caused by grasping.

Holding on.

Holding on.

Or wanting something to be different than it is.

Attachment.

Wanting,

Desiring a different outcome.

On some level,

We all believe that if we just get what we want,

We will be happy.

Right?

Like if we just get what we want,

We're going to be happy.

But let's just play this out,

Okay?

So say you get the thing that you want.

You know,

A person perhaps,

Like the relationship,

Or you get some experience,

Some great adventure,

Or some knowledge.

Like,

How long does that last?

You know?

If you get something that's alive,

Like a pet,

Or a person,

Or a plant,

You know it could happen.

If you're not nourishing that person,

Plant,

Or animal,

They could die,

Or they could leave you.

You know,

If you get something made of metal,

It could rust.

If you get something of value,

You'll have to insure it,

Or get a safe to protect it.

If you get something really valuable,

Then the government is going to take their share of what you have.

If you get a new car,

You know,

You can only park it in the furthest parking lot out of the parking lot for so long before somebody opens their car door and gives it a ding.

So the satisfaction of getting what you want is temporary.

It's temporary.

It doesn't last.

Soon,

This thing that we really wanted that was going to make our life so much better is something that we are obligated to take care of.

So,

Check out,

Check this out for yourself.

When you really wanted to get something,

Some item,

Or some experience,

How,

Like,

How was that?

How long did that satisfaction last?

Was that life changing?

Are you a different person because of it?

It's momentary.

It doesn't last.

So wanting,

There's nothing wrong with wanting.

I'm not suggesting that there is something wrong with wanting.

It's part of existence to want things,

To want experiences,

To want people,

To want objects.

It's being sold to us all the time,

Right?

But the satisfaction that we want from wanting doesn't last.

It's fleeting.

And the more that we get caught up in wanting,

The further away we are from actually being gratified,

Experiencing enough.

Some years ago,

I came across a message in a chocolate bar.

They used to have these little,

You know,

Sort of like a fortune cookie.

It was,

Always make your past self jealous.

And I read that and I was like,

Oh my God,

Really?

There is no end to the message of wanting a better future.

Like,

Oh my gosh,

Another?

And here's the rub.

We are continually laying down the tracks in our mind for a better future.

This is a continuous practice for us.

You know,

We're already setting into motion how our life is going to be better in the future.

So while we're living a good life,

I would say that every single one of us in this room is living a really good life.

But we are planning a better life,

Right?

We are planning a better life.

And we laugh,

But it's true.

Like when we get this all dialed in,

It's going to be great,

Right?

We're going to have a really good future ahead of us.

So when does it stop?

How does it stop?

It's possible that it stops.

Craving is the second noble truth.

And how it stops,

We'll talk about next week,

But I'm just going to illustrate it.

So I have this wooden bell ringer.

And I put it in my hand and I hold it tightly.

See how I'm holding it?

My hand is just squeezing this bell ringer,

David.

And now if you listen,

That is what I'm afraid of.

If I let it go,

The thing that I want,

It's going to fall away forever.

Right?

This is the fear.

If we don't keep our eye on the prize,

Resolve to get our thing out,

Like get that thing,

Get that vacation.

This is how we hold on to everything that we want.

The fear is that we're going to lose it.

It's going to drop.

But if we hold it like this in an open palm,

It wiggles.

Oh,

It wiggles.

Could fall.

But this is how,

If we hold our life like this,

There's freedom.

I can still have what I want.

It has a lot of space around it.

I'm not clinging to it.

This is where the freedom lies in the open palm.

So we'll cover the next two next week.

I want to kind of pause here and just talk about these first two.

Investigate our suffering,

What it is,

The ways that we suffer,

The ways that we're not free,

And what it is that we're clinging to.

Just starting to bring more attention to these two.

And we can,

Of course,

Drop into the next two,

But I think that for today I just want to focus on suffering and the cause.

So thank you for your attention.

And I welcome this investigation together.