an essay on dependent origination written by Ajahn Brahm which i find very helpful.
below is a quote from the essay:
Jatipaccayå Dukkha5 – ‘Suffering is caused by birth’.
As shown above, birth is a sufficient cause for suffering, that is, birth must
give rise to dukkha. Every being that is born will get old, get sick and die, and
experience the inescapable dukkha associated with that process. Thus birth is the
problem.
This first link of Paticca-samuppåda is rarely given the attention it deserves.
It has enormous implications. Before the great insight into Dependent Origination
under the Bodhi Tree, the Bodhisatta, like most people, had lived in hope that
somehow He could attain perfect happiness in this existence or some future existence.
Now He saw that all existence (bhava) is inextricably involved with suffering. There
is no perfect happiness to be found in any form of existence. As The Buddha said in
the Anguttara collection:
“Just as a tiny bit of faeces has a bad smell, so I do not recommend even a tiny
bit of existence, not even for so long as a fingersnap”. (AN 1, 18)
A simile might help. A person born in a harsh prison, raised in that prison,
who has spent all their time in the prison, can only know prison life. They don’t even
suspect that anything beyond their prison can exist. So they make the best of prison.
Those who think positively, because they have gone to prison seminars, begin to think
that the harsh prison is instead a wonderful place. They even compose songs like “All
jails bright and beautiful … the good Lord made them all”! Others get involved with
social service, compassionately decorating the prison cells of others. When someone
gets tortured or otherwise punished in jail, they think something has gone wrong and
look for someone to blame. If someone suggests that it is the very nature of jail to be
suffering, then they are dismissed as a pessimist and told to “Get a life!”. One full
moon night, a prisoner discovers a door leading out of the jail and goes through. Only
then does he realize that jail was inherently suffering and you can’t make it other
wise. He goes back to tell his fellow prisoners. Most don’t believe him. They can’t
even imagine anything other than their jail. When he says that the jail is suffering and
the cessation of imprisonment is happiness, he is accused by one and all of escapism.
Sometimes people rebuke me saying “You monks are just trying to escape
from the real world!”.
I reply “Well done! At last someone else has understood Buddhism!”
What’s wrong with escapism, especially when one realises that the real world
is the harsh prison
he is a witty and hilarious monk. he has learnt a lot from his teacher venerable ajahn chah really well. he is able to use humour to put across the dhamma very well. well done, bravo.
Very good article. Thank you.
Good article.
Reminds me (quote from _wanderer_),
Garab Dorje Rinpoche said that, "Even with 5
Wisdoms, the Buddha
was unable to find happiness in Samsara."