The Heart Of The Buddha's Teachings - Session One

You don't have to read the book because I'm going to read the book today.

If you read the description,

I will be doing this every Sunday or it may change.

The date may change depending on my own schedule.

We're coming together to read the Heart of the Buddha's Teachings by Thich Nhat Hanh.

This is a really special book and actually coincidentally a really beautiful time to have chosen this book because of course maybe you already know,

Many people already know that Thich Nhat Hanh recently died,

I think two Saturdays ago is what it is.

And so very timely to have chosen this book and I feel so blessed to be able to do this with a group of people.

We can imagine this is a Sangha,

A community that we're forming.

You don't have to have read the book,

You don't have to be Buddhist,

You don't have to be practicing Buddhist.

Definitely you can just be someone who's curious about what the Buddha's teachings were and in that way come together to hear some more about the Buddha's teachings.

This book is really amazing because Thich Nhat Hanh has simplified all of the Buddha's teachings or many of the Buddha's teachings into very easily digestible and easily understandable content.

And so we're going to go through that bit by bit.

Each time we come together I'll read some out of the book.

I imagine this will take about 10 sessions completely.

I'll read some out of the book and then from there we'll do a short contemplation together.

I have a probing question or a short contemplation exercise and then I'll offer some questions for you to sit with for the rest of the week.

So if that is appealing to you to be able to journal and sit with some questions and your own self-development,

Your own process of growth.

So the Buddha's teachings are not about having to make the whole world Buddhist.

The Buddha's teachings are about how anybody from any religious background,

From any moral or ethical background can develop themselves into a complete and whole human being.

And so actually today's readings,

The first readings from today,

We'll deal with these primary teachings and what they have to offer us.

So I'm going to get started because I don't want to take too much of your beautiful Sunday.

And I will start first actually.

So if you did bring the book,

I know some people did buy the book in order to join the Heart of the Buddha's teachings.

If you did buy the book,

It starts at chapter one as most books do.

But I am actually going to begin with chapter four because I think this helps us set the stage for how to listen to the teachings of the Buddha.

So I'll start with chapter four.

Today I'm going to read chapters one through five.

Don't let that be daunting.

They're very short chapters.

Once we have finished the reading,

Then I will offer this contemplation exercise and some questions.

And maybe people are here and they want to have a brief discussion about some of what we have read today.

OK,

So let's begin.

Chapter four,

Understanding the Buddha's teachings.

When we hear a Dharma talk or study a sutra,

Our only job is to remain open.

Usually when we hear or read something new,

We just compare it to our own ideas.

If it is the same,

We accept it and say that is correct.

If it's not the same,

We say it is incorrect.

In either case,

We learn nothing.

If we read or listen with an open mind and an open heart,

The rain of the Dharma will penetrate the soil of our consciousness.

A poem.

The gentle spring rain permeates the soil of my soul.

A seed that has lain deeply in the earth for many years just smiles.

While reading or listening,

Don't work too hard.

Be like the earth.

When the rain comes,

The earth only has to open herself up to the rain.

Allow the rain of the Dharma to come in and penetrate the seeds that are buried deep in your consciousness.

A teacher cannot give you the truth.

The truth is already in you.

You only need to open yourself,

Body,

Mind and heart,

So that his or her teachings will penetrate your own seeds of understanding and enlightenment.

If you let the words enter you,

The soil and the seeds will do the rest of the work.

The transmission of the teachings of the Buddha can be divided into three streams.

Source Buddhism,

Many Schools Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism.

Source Buddhism includes all the teachings the Buddha gave during his lifetime.

140 years after the Buddha's great passing away,

The Sangha divided into two schools.

Mahasangika,

Literally majority,

Referring to those who wanted changes,

And Shtaviravada,

Literally school of elders,

Referring to those who oppose the changes advocated by the Mahasangikas.

A hundred years after that,

The Shtaviravada divided into two branches.

Sarvastivada,

The school that proclaims everything is,

And Vibhajyavada,

The school that discriminates.

The Vibhajyavadans supported by King Akosha,

Ashoka,

Excuse me,

Flourished in the Ganga's valley,

While the Sarvastivadans went north to Kashmir.

For 400 years during and after the Buddha's lifetime,

His teachings were transmitted only orally.

After that,

Monks in the Tamrashatya school,

Those who wear copper-colored robes,

In Sri Lanka,

A derivative of the Vibhajyavada school,

Began to think about writing the Buddha's discourses on palm leaves,

And it took another hundred years to begin.

By that time,

It is said that there was only one monk who had memorized the whole canon,

And that he was somewhat arrogant.

The other monks had to persuade him to recite the discourses,

So they could write them down.

When we hear this,

We feel a little uneasy,

Knowing that an arrogant monk may not have been the best vehicle to transmit the teachings of the Buddha.

Even during the Buddha's lifetime,

There were people such as the monk,

Aritta,

Who misunderstood the Buddha's teachings and conveyed them incorrectly.

It is also apparent that some of the monks who memorized the sutras over the centuries did not understand their deepest meaning,

Or at the very least,

They forgot or changed some words.

As a result,

Some of the Buddha's teachings were distorted even before they were written down.

Before the Buddha attained full realization of the path,

For example,

He had tried various methods to suppress his mind,

And they did not work.

In one discourse,

He recanted,

I thought,

Why don't I grit my teeth,

Press my tongue against my palate,

And use my mind to repress my mind?

Then,

As a wrestler might take hold of the head or the shoulders of someone weaker than he,

And in order to restrain and coerce that person,

He has to hold him down constantly without letting go for a moment.

So I gritted my teeth,

Pressed my tongue against my palate,

And used my mind to suppress my mind.

As I did this,

I was bathed in sweat.

Although I was not lacking in strength,

Although I maintained mindfulness and did not fall from mindfulness,

My body and my mind were not at peace,

And I was exhausted by the striving,

Even though the painful feelings that arose in my body were not able to overwhelm my mind.

Obviously,

The Buddha was telling us not to practice in this way,

Yet this passage was later inserted into other discourses to convey exactly the opposite meaning.

Just as a wrestler takes hold of the head or the shoulders of someone weaker than himself,

Restrains and coerces that person,

And holds him down constantly,

Not letting go for one moment,

So a monk who meditates in order to stop all unwholesome thoughts of desire and aversion,

When these thoughts continue to arise,

Should grit his teeth,

Press his tongue against his palate,

And do his best to use his mind to beat down and defeat his mind.

There are other instances where teachings of the Buddha have been inserted in the wrong place.

For instance,

The teaching of the 12 links of conditioned Genesis,

To be discussed in chapter 27,

Have been inserted in many sutras where they do not belong,

To explain the cycle of birth and death,

When in fact the sutras are about the transcendence of birth and death.

They have been wrongly inserted in the Kajayanagotra Sutra,

Or the Discourse on the Middle Way.

Often,

We need to study several discourses and compare them in order to understand which is the true teaching of the Buddha.

It is like stringing precious jewels together to make a necklace.

If we see each sutra in light of the overall body of teachings,

We will not be attached to any one teaching.

With comparative study and looking deeply into the meaning of the texts,

We can surmise what is a solid teaching that will help our practice and what is probably an incorrect transmission.

By the time the Buddha's discourses were written down in Pali in Sri Lanka,

There were 18 or 20 schools and each had its own recension of the Buddha's teaching.

These schools did not tear the teachings of the Buddha apart,

But were threads of a single garment.

A number of these recensions exist today.

The Pali Canon contains the recension that originated from the Tamra Shatya school,

And the Chinese and Tibetan Canons contain recensions from a number of other schools,

Sarvastivada being most prominent.

The Sarastivada and the Tamra Shatya recensions were written down at about the same time.

The former was written down in Pali and the latter in Sanskrit.

Other schools used other Indian languages and Prakrit.

The sutras that were written down in Pali in Sri Lanka are known as the Southern Transmission,

Also known as Mahaviharavasan tradition.

The Sarvastivada texts known as the Northern Transmission exist in Sanskrit only in fragmented form.

Fortunately,

They were translated into Chinese and Tibetan,

And many of these translations are still available.

We have to remember that the Buddha did not speak Pali,

Sanskrit or Prakrit.

It is surmised that he spoke a language close to Pali and some think that it was Ardha Magadhi,

And there is no record of the Buddha's words in his own language.

By comparing the equivalent sutras in the Pali and Chinese Canons,

We can see which teachings must have preceded Buddhism's dividing into schools.

When the sutras in both Canons are the same,

We can conclude that what they say must have been there before the division.

When the recensions are different,

We can surmise that one or both might be incorrect.

The Northern Transmission preserved some discourses better,

And the Southern Transmission preserved others better.

That is the advantage of having two transmissions to compare.

The third stream of Buddhism's teachings,

Mahayana Buddhism,

Arose in the first or second century BCE during the time of schools Buddhism.

There were some monks who started to live a life completely divorced from the rest of the society.

The lay people were concerned only with making offerings and supporting the monks.

That is why at that time there arose among Buddhist lay,

As well as monastic practitioners,

The idea of popularizing Buddhism.

From this sprouted the Mahayana way of thinking.

It was a movement aimed at developing the deep sources of Buddhist thought and reviving the tremendous energy of bodhichitta,

The mind of love,

And bringing Buddhism back into contact with life.

This was the Mahayanizing movement of Buddhism.

These three streams complement one another.

It was impossible for source Buddhism to remember everything the Buddha had taught,

So it was necessary for schools Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism to renew teachings that had been forgotten or overlooked.

Like all traditions,

Buddhism needs to renew itself regularly in order to stay alive and grow.

The Buddha always found new ways to express his awakening.

Since the Buddha's lifetime,

Buddhists have continued to open new Dharma doors to express and share the teachings begun in the Deer Park in Sharnath.

Please remember that a sutra or a Dharma talk is not insight in and of itself.

It is a means of presenting insight,

Using words and concepts.

When you use a map to get to Paris,

Once you have arrived,

You can put the map away and enjoy being in Paris.

If you spend all your time with your map,

If you get caught by the words and notions presented by the Buddha,

You'll miss the reality.

The Buddha said many times,

My teaching is like a finger pointing to the moon.

Do not mistake the finger for the moon.

In the Mahayana Buddhist tradition,

It is said if you explain the meaning of every word and phrase in the sutras,

You slander the Buddhas of the three times,

Past,

Present,

And future.

But if you disregard even one word of the sutras,

You risk speaking the words of Mara.

Sutras are essential guides for our practice,

But we must read them carefully and use our own intelligence and the help of a teacher and a Sangha to understand the true meaning and put it into practice.

After reading a sutra or any spiritual text,

We should feel lighter,

Not heavier.

Buddha's teachings are meant to awaken our true self,

Not merely to add to our storehouse of knowledge.

From time to time,

The Buddha refused to answer a question posed to him.

The philosopher Vatsyagotra asked,

Is there a self?

And the Buddha did not say anything.

Vatsyagotra persisted,

Do you mean there is no self?

But the Buddha still did not reply.

Finally,

Vatsyagotra left.

Ananda,

The Buddha's attendant,

Was puzzled.

Lord,

You always teach that there is no self.

Why did you not say so to Vatsyagotra?

The Buddha told Ananda that he did not reply because Vatsyagotra was looking for a theory,

Not a way to remove obstacles.

On another occasion,

The Buddha heard a group of disciples discussing whether or not he had such and such,

Whether or not he had said such and such,

And he told them,

For 45 years I have not uttered a single word.

He did not want his disciples to be caught by words or notions,

Even his own.

When an archaeologist finds a statue that has been broken,

He invites sculptors who specialize in restoration to study the art of that period and repair the statue.

We must do the same.

If we have an overall view of the teachings of the Buddha,

When a piece is missing or has been added,

We have to recognize and repair the damage.

And this is why I wanted to read chapter four first,

Because it sets the stage for reading the rest of the chapters.

And the book,

Or the idea basically,

Is to look at these teachings and to question them with your own mind,

To not get caught up in the words,

To not get caught up in the concepts,

But instead to work to put them into practice,

And also to recognize the history of Buddhist teachings,

Which is that none of the words we read are actually from the Buddha.

They are all transcribed hundreds of years later in most cases from people who heard speeches from the Buddha or talks or lessons from the Buddha.

So we have to be able to look at these sutras and these words that are written down and assess for ourselves if they actually have value or not or perhaps have been misinterpreted.

And that's why it's so important to have a teacher who you can go to,

Who has understood the teachings and can give them to you in such a way that you know you are not going to misunderstand them or use them incorrectly.

And that's why this book by Thich Nhat Hanh is so valuable,

Especially for those of us who are relatively new or just sort of dabbling in Buddhism and want to learn a little bit more about how it may aid us in our self-development.

Let's begin with chapter one.

Entering the Heart of the Buddha.

Buddha was not a god.

He was a human being like you and me,

And he suffered just as we do.

If we go to the Buddha with our hearts open,

He will look at us,

His eyes filled with compassion,

And say,

Because there is suffering in your heart,

It is possible for you to enter my heart.

The layman,

Vimalakirti,

Said,

Because the world is sick,

I am sick.

Because people suffer,

I have to suffer.

This statement was also made by the Buddha.

Please don't think that because you are unhappy,

Because there is pain in your heart,

That you cannot go to the Buddha.

It is exactly because there is pain in your heart that communication is possible.

Your suffering and my suffering are the basic condition for us to enter the Buddha's heart and for the Buddha to enter our hearts.

For 45 years,

The Buddha said over and over again,

I teach only suffering and the transformation of suffering.

When we recognize and acknowledge our own suffering,

The Buddha,

Which means the Buddha in us,

Will look at it,

Discover what has brought it about,

And prescribe a course of action that can transform it into peace,

Joy,

And liberation.

Suffering is the means the Buddha used to liberate himself,

And it is also the means by which we can become free.

The ocean of suffering is immense,

But if you turn around,

You can see the land.

The seed of suffering in you may be strong,

But don't wait until you have no more suffering,

Before allowing yourself to be happy.

When one tree in the garden is sick,

You have to care for it,

But don't overlook all the healthy trees.

Even while you have pain in your heart,

You can enjoy the many wonders of life,

The beautiful sunset,

The smile of a child,

The many flowers and trees.

To suffer is not enough.

Please don't be imprisoned by your suffering.

If you have experienced hunger,

You know that having food is a miracle.

If you have suffered from the cold,

You know the preciousness of warmth.

When you have suffered,

You know how to appreciate the elements of paradise that are present.

If you dwell only in your suffering,

You will miss paradise.

Don't ignore your suffering,

But don't forget to enjoy the wonders of life,

For your sake and for the benefit of many beings.

When I was young,

I wrote this poem.

I penetrated the heart of the Buddha with a heart that was deeply wounded.

My youth,

An unripe plum.

Your teeth have left their marks on it.

The tooth marks still vibrate.

I remember always,

Remember always,

Since I learned how to love you.

The door of my soul has been left wide open to the winds of the four directions.

Reality calls for change.

The fruit of awareness is already ripe,

And the door can never be closed.

Fire consumes this century,

And mountains and forests bear its mark.

The wind howls across my ears,

While the whole sky shakes violently in the snowstorm.

Nature's wounds lie still,

Missing the frozen blade,

Restless,

Tossing and turning in agony all night.

I grew up in a time of war.

There was destruction all around.

Children,

Adults,

Values,

A whole country.

As a young person,

I suffered a lot.

Once the door of awareness has been opened,

You cannot close it.

The wounds of war in me are still not all healed.

There are nights I lie awake and embrace my people,

My country,

And the whole planet with my mindful breathing.

Without suffering,

You cannot grow.

Without suffering,

You cannot get the peace and joy you deserve.

Please don't run away from your suffering.

Embrace it and cherish it.

Go to the Buddha,

Sit with him,

And show him your pain.

He will look at you with loving kindness,

Compassion,

And mindfulness,

And show you ways to embrace your suffering and look deeply into it.

With understanding and compassion,

You will be able to heal the wounds in your heart and the wounds in the world.

The Buddha called suffering a holy truth because our suffering has the capacity of showing us the path to liberation.

Embrace your suffering and let it reveal to you the way to peace.

The first Dharma talk.

Siddhartha Gautama was 29 years old when he left his family to search for a way to end his and others' suffering.

He studied meditation with many teachers,

And after six years of practice,

He sat under the Bodhi tree and vowed not to stand up until he was enlightened.

He sat all night,

And as the morning star arose,

He had a profound breakthrough and became a Buddha,

Filled with understanding and love.

The Buddha spent the next 49 days enjoying the peace of his realization,

And after that he walked slowly to the deer park in Sharnath to share his understanding with the five ascetics with whom he had practiced earlier.

When the five men saw him coming,

They felt uneasy.

Siddhartha had abandoned them,

They thought,

But he looked so radiant that they could not resist welcoming him.

They washed his feet and offered him water to drink.

The Buddha said,

Dear friends,

I have seen deeply that nothing can be by itself alone,

That everything has to inter-be with everything else.

I have seen that all beings are endowed with the nature of awakening.

He offered to say more,

But the monks didn't know whether to believe him or not,

So the Buddha asked,

Have I ever lied to you?

They knew that he hadn't,

And they agreed to receive his teachings.

The Buddha then taught the four noble truths of the existence of suffering,

The making of suffering,

The possibility of restoring well-being,

And the Noble Eightfold Path that leads to well-being.

Hearing this,

An immaculate vision of the four noble truths arose in Kondana,

One of the five ascetics.

The Buddha observed this and explained,

Kondana understands,

Kondana understands,

And from that day on Kondana was called the one who understands.

The Buddha then declared,

Dear friends,

With humans,

Gods,

Brahmins,

Monastics,

And maras,

I as witness,

I tell you that if I have not experienced directly all that I have told you,

I would not proclaim that I am an enlightened person free from suffering.

Because I myself have identified suffering,

Understood suffering,

Identified the causes of suffering,

Removed the causes of suffering,

Confirmed the existence of well-being,

Obtained well-being,

Identified the path to well-being,

Gone to the end of the path,

And realized total liberation,

I now proclaim to you that I am a free person.

At that moment,

The earth shook and the voices of the gods,

Humans,

And other living beings throughout the cosmos said that on the planet earth,

An enlightened person had been born and had put into motion the wheel of the Dharma,

The way of understanding and love.

This teaching is recorded in the discourse on the turning the wheel of the Dharma.

Since then,

2,

600 years have passed and the wheel of the Dharma continues to turn.

It is up to us,

The present generation,

To keep the wheel turning for the happiness of the many.

Three points characterize this sutra.

The first is the teaching of the middle way.

The Buddha wanted his five friends to be free from the idea that austerity is the only correct practice.

He had learned firsthand that if you destroy your health,

You have no energy left to realize the path.

The other extreme to be avoided,

He said,

Is indulgence in sense pleasures.

Being possessed by sexual desire,

Running after fame,

Eating immoderately,

Sleeping too much,

Or chasing after possessions.

The second point is the teaching of the Four Noble Truths.

This teaching was of great value during the lifetime of the Buddha,

Is of great value in our time,

And will be of great value for millennia to come.

The third point is engagement in the world.

The teachings of the Buddha were not to escape from life,

But to help us relate to ourselves and the world as thoroughly as possible.

The Noble Eightfold Path includes right speech and right livelihood.

These teachings are for people in the world who have to communicate with each other and earn a living.

The discourse on turning the wheel of the Dharma is filled with joy and hope.

It teaches us to recognize suffering as suffering and to transform our suffering into mindfulness,

Compassion,

Peace,

And liberation.

The Four Noble Truths,

The First Turning.

After realizing complete perfect awakening,

The Buddha had to find words to share his insight.

He already had the water,

But he had to discover jars like the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path to hold it.

The Four Noble Truths are the cream of the Buddha's teaching.

The Buddha continued to proclaim these truths right up until his great passing away.

The Chinese translate Four Noble Truths as Four Wonderful Truths or Four Holy Truths.

Our suffering is holy if we embrace it and look deeply into it.

If we don't,

It isn't holy at all.

We just drown in the ocean of our suffering.

For truth,

The Chinese use the characters for word and king.

No one can argue with the words of a king.

These four truths are not something to argue about.

They are something to practice and realize.

The First Noble Truth is suffering.

The root meaning of the Chinese character for suffering is bitter.

Happiness is sweet.

Suffering is bitter.

We all suffer to some extent.

We have some malaise in our body and our mind.

We have to recognize and acknowledge the presence of this suffering and touch it.

To do so,

We may need the help of a teacher and a sangha,

Friends in the practice.

The Second Noble Truth is the origin,

Roots,

Nature,

Creation,

Or arising of suffering.

After we touch our suffering,

We need to look deeply into it and see how it came to be.

We need to recognize and identify the spiritual and material foods we have ingested that are causing us to suffer.

The Third Noble Truth is the cessation of suffering.

By refraining from doing the things that make us suffer,

We can end suffering.

This is good news.

The Buddha did not deny the existence of suffering,

But he also did not deny the existence of joy and happiness.

If you think that Buddhism says everything is suffering and we cannot do anything about it,

That is the opposite of the Buddha's message.

The Buddha taught us how to recognize and acknowledge the presence of suffering,

But he also taught the cessation of suffering.

If there were no possibility of cessation,

What is the use of practicing?

The Third Truth is that healing is possible.

The Fourth Noble Truth is the path that leads to refraining from doing the things that cause us to suffer.

This is the path that we need the most.

The Buddha called it the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Chinese translate it as the path of eight right practices.

Right view,

Right thinking,

Right speech,

Right action,

Right livelihood,

Right diligence,

Right mindfulness,

And right concentration.

We skipped chapter four because we already read it.

Chapter five,

Our last chapter for today,

Is everything suffering.

If we are not careful in the way we practice,

We may have the tendency to make the words of our teacher into a doctrine or an ideology,

Since the Buddha said that the first noble truth is suffering.

Many good students of the Buddha have used their skills to prove that everything on earth is suffering.

The theory of the three kinds of suffering was such an attempt,

It is not a teaching of the Buddha.

The first kind of suffering is the suffering of suffering.

The suffering associated with unpleasant feelings,

Like the pain of a toothache,

Losing your temper,

Or feeling too cold on a winter's day.

The second is the suffering of composite things.

Whatever comes together eventually has to come apart,

Therefore all composite things are described as suffering.

Even things that have not yet decayed,

Such as mountains,

Rivers,

And the sun,

Are seen to be suffering,

Because they will decay and cause suffering eventually.

When you believe that everything composed is suffering,

How can you find joy?

The third is the suffering associated with change.

Our liver may be in good health today,

But when we grow old,

It will cause us to suffer.

There is no point in celebrating joy,

Because sooner or later it will turn into suffering.

Suffering is a black cloud that envelops everything.

Joy is an illusion.

Only suffering is real.

For more than 2000 years,

Students of Buddhism have been declaring that the Buddha taught that all objects of perception,

All physical,

And psychological,

And physiological phenomena,

And all wholesome,

Unwholesome,

And neutral states of mind are suffering.

One hundred years after the Buddha passed away,

Practitioners were already repeating the formula.

This is suffering,

Life is suffering,

Everything is suffering.

They thought that to obtain insight into the first noble truth,

They had to repeat this formula.

Some commentators said that without this constant repetition,

The four noble truths could not be realized.

Today many people invoke the names of the Buddha,

Or do similar practices mechanically.

Believing that this will bring them insight and emancipation,

They are caught in forms,

Words,

And notions,

And are not using their intelligence to receive and practice the Dharma.

It can be dangerous to practice without using your own intelligence,

Without a teacher and friends who can show you ways to practice correctly.

Repeating a phrase like life is suffering might help you notice when you are about to become attached to something,

But it cannot help you understand the true nature of suffering,

Or reveal the path shown to us by the Buddha.

This dialogue is repeated in many sutras.

Things are conditioned things,

Permanent or impermanent.

They are impermanent,

World-honored one.

If things are impermanent,

Are they suffering or well-being?

They are suffering,

World-honored one.

If things are suffering,

Can we say that they are self or belong to self?

No,

World-honored one.

When we read this,

We may think that the Buddha is offering a theory,

All things are suffering,

That we have to prove in our daily lives.

But in other parts of the same sutras,

The Buddha says that he only wants us to recognize suffering when it is present and to recognize joy when suffering is absent.

By the time the Buddha discourses were written down,

Seeing all things as suffering must have been widely practiced,

As the above quotation occurs more frequently than the teaching on the origin of suffering and the path to end suffering.

The argument,

Impermanent,

Therefore suffering,

Therefore non-self is illogical.

Of course,

If we believe that something is permanent or has a self,

We may suffer when we discover that it is impermanent and without a separate self.

But in many texts,

Suffering is regarded as one of the three Dharma seals,

Along with impermanence and non-self.

It is said that all teachings of the Buddha bear the three Dharma seals.

To put suffering on the same level as impermanence and non-self is an error.

Impermanence and non-self are universal.

They are a mark of all things.

Suffering is not.

It is not difficult to see that a table is impermanent and does not have a self separate from all non-table elements like wood,

Rain,

Sun,

Furniture maker,

And so on.

But is it suffering?

A table will only make us suffer if we attribute permanence or separateness to it.

When we are attached to a certain table,

It is not the table that causes us to suffer.

It is our attachment.

We can agree that anger is impermanent,

Without a separate self,

And filled with suffering.

But it is strange to talk about a table or a flower as being filled with suffering.

The Buddha taught impermanence and non-self to help us not be caught in signs.

The theory of the three kinds of suffering is an attempt to justify the universalization of suffering.

What joy is left in life?

We find it in Nirvana.

In several sutras,

The Buddha taught that Nirvana,

The joy of completely extinguishing our ideas and concepts rather than suffering,

Is one of the three Dharma seals.

This is stated four times in the Samyukta Agama of the Northern Transmission,

Quoting from yet another sutra,

Nargarjuna listed Nirvana as one of the three Dharma seals.

To me,

It is much easier to envision a state where there are no obstacles created by concepts than to see all things as suffering.

I hope scholars and practitioners will begin to accept the teaching that all things are marked by impermanence,

Non-self,

And Nirvana,

And not to make too great an effort to prove that everything is suffering.

Another common misunderstanding of the Buddha's teachings is that all of our suffering is caused by craving.

In the Discourse on Turning the Wheel of the Dharma,

The Buddha did say that craving is the cause of suffering,

But he said this because craving is the first on the list of the afflictions.

If we use our intelligence,

We can see that craving can be a cause of pain,

But other afflictions such as anger,

Ignorance,

Suspicion,

Arrogance,

And wrong views can also cause pain and suffering.

Ignorance,

Which gives rise to wrong perceptions,

Is responsible for much of our pain.

To make the sutras shorter and therefore easier to memorize,

The first item on a list was often used to represent the whole list.

The word eyes,

For example,

Is used in many sutras to represent all six sense organs,

And form is often used to represent all five aggregates.

If we practice identifying the causes of our suffering,

We will see that sometimes it is due to craving and sometimes it is due to other factors.

To say life is suffering is too general.

To say that craving is the cause of all of our suffering is too simplistic.

We need to say the basis for this suffering is such and such an affliction,

And then call it by its true name.

If we have a stomachache,

We need to call it a stomachache.

If it is a headache,

We call it a headache.

How else will we find the cause of our suffering and the way to heal ourselves?

It is true that the Buddha taught the truth of suffering,

But he also taught the truth of dwelling happily in things as they are.

To succeed in the practice,

We must stop trying to prove that everything is suffering.

In fact,

We must stop trying to prove anything.

If we touch the truth of suffering with our mindfulness,

We will be able to recognize and identify our specific suffering,

Its specific causes,

And the way to remove those causes and end our suffering.

Okay,

Let's stop there because this is pretty heavy,

This first part,

But it's so important.

It's about the Four Noble Truths,

This first part of the reading,

And this is considered the first turning of the Dharma Wheel.

So we have the Four Noble Truths and these are very important in the entire platform of Buddhist thought and how to transform the mind is to recognize the existence of suffering,

To recognize that suffering has a cause,

To see that because suffering has a cause,

It also has an end,

And to see that there is a path to this ending.

And so that is the practice that we have to begin to bring into our own lives and assess it for its truth.

And that means we take away the words,

We take away the concepts,

And we turn to practice.

So that's what I'd like to do with you now,

A short contemplation,

A short sit before I give you some questions to take away with yourself for the week,

Maybe to sit on.

I encourage you to reread these five chapters and use these questions in your journal or in your practice.

But let's first sit,

Just a little 10 minute sit here.

Wherever you are lying down or sitting up,

Allow your eyes to close or leave them open.

Either way is okay.

But allow the sense organs to relax.

Letting the eyes themselves quiet and letting the physical energy of the body subside as you bring your attention and your awareness to the natural rhythm of your in and out breath.

As you notice yourself breathing,

For some of you,

This may be very easy.

This may come very smooth.

And if that's the case,

I invite you to acknowledge and absorb,

Sit with that ease and that comfort.

But for some of you,

It may be very challenging.

The breath may not be flowing very smoothly.

And the mind may not be very quiet.

If this is the case for you,

I invite you to absorb and dive into that experience as well.

So whether it feels pleasant to watch yourself breathe,

Or it feels challenging and uncomfortable,

Whichever experience you are having right now,

Rather than turning away from it,

Turn to it and explore as fully as possible that experience that you are having in this moment.

Letting the mind begin to broaden and widen.

Open your focus of attention.

Moving now beyond the breath,

Whether comfortable or uncomfortable,

To notice and experience any sensations in your physical body.

Realizing sensations in your physical body,

Allow yourself in this moment to label them as comfortable or uncomfortable.

Perhaps you have some slight pain in your neck or back,

Some tightness in your hips.

Perhaps you feel very warm.

Maybe you're sitting on a very comfortable seat or lying in a very comfortable bed.

Rather than isolate your mind to one type of experience.

Explore both types of experience that exist in your physical body right now,

Comfortable and uncomfortable.

Don't look away,

But look towards.

You may find that it's rather easy to explore your discomfort and that it is rather challenging to find the comfort that exists.

This is okay.

This is totally normal.

If that's true for you,

Work diligently to search for anything in this moment that feels good right now.

Now broaden and expand your focus of attention to include the space around you.

You feel your breath,

Its natural rhythm,

Whether comfortable or uncomfortable.

You feel your body and how it contains both comfortable and uncomfortable elements.

Now explore your surroundings.

Perhaps there are sounds that are particularly annoying.

Maybe the room is not quite as warm as you would like it to be.

Maybe your internet isn't working as well as you wish that it were.

Notice your environment in its completeness and look for things that are causing any discomfort at all.

We'll call these the ugly parts of life.

Rather than attempting to change them or turn away from them,

Turn towards them and look at them deeply.

Continue this.

The mind is vast.

It can hold so much.

Now look inside of your environment for the beautiful.

Perhaps it is a smell like the smell of a candle that you've lit this morning or perhaps it is the comfortable seat that you have for yourself.

If your eyes are open,

Maybe you have beautiful colors in your space or a nice piece of furniture that you particularly love.

Look for anything in this moment,

The sunlight coming through an open window,

The sound of a bird chirping or a purring cat nearby.

Look for the beautiful and rather than trying to hold on to it,

Simply allow your mind to acknowledge that just like the ugly,

The beautiful exists.

Continue looking.

Perhaps the mind is distracted and that feels uncomfortable and then you hear the sound of my voice and it brings you back.

Acknowledge that this is yet another example of the ugly parts of life and the beautiful parts of life coexisting from the experience of your breath to the sensations in your body to the space that you inhabit right now.

Observe that no matter how great you feel,

Breathe or the space you are in is there is something ugly as well.

Acknowledge that no matter how ugly the breath,

The sensations in the body or the space you are in is there is something beautiful to find.

Sit with this for the next two minutes in silence.

Now we move on.

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