Life Isn’t Just Suffering
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
Full article
http://mettarefuge.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/life-isnt-just-suffering-but-clinging-always-is/
Extract
4 noble truths
They’re a practical, problem-solving approach — the way a doctor approaches an illness, or a mechanic a faulty engine. You identify a problem and look for its cause. You then put an end to the problem by eliminating the cause.
What’s special about the Buddha’s approach is that the problem he attacks is the whole of human suffering, and the solution he offers is something human beings can do for themselves. Just as a doctor with a surefire cure for measles isn’t afraid of measles, the Buddha isn’t afraid of any aspect of human suffering. And, having experienced a happiness totally unconditional, he’s not afraid to point out the suffering and stress inherent in places where most of us would rather not see it — in the conditioned pleasures we cling to. He teaches us not to deny that suffering and stress or to run away from it, but to stand still and face up to it, to examine it carefully. That way — by understanding it — we can ferret out its cause and put an end to it. Totally. How confident can you get?
The paradox here is that, in clinging to things, we don’t trap them or get them under our control. Instead, we trap ourselves. When we realize our captivity, we naturally search for a way out. And this is where it’s so important that the first noble truth not say that “Life is suffering.” If life were suffering, where would we look for an end to suffering? We’d be left with nothing but death and annihilation. But when the actual truth is that clinging is suffering, we simply have to look for the clinging and eliminate its causes.
This process takes time, though, because we can’t simply tell the mind not to cling. It’s like a disobedient child: if you force it to let go while you’re looking, it’ll search for a blind spot where you can’t see it, and will start to cling there. In fact, the mind’s major blind spot — ignorance — is the prime cause that gives rise to clinging’s proximate cause: craving. So, as the fourth noble truth, the Buddha recommends a path of practice to get rid of the blind spot. The path has eight factors.
In a more abbreviated form, the Buddha’s term for the practice is “abandoning and developing”: abandoning activities that hinder awareness, and developing qualities that expand its clarity and range.
The abandoning — in which you refrain from unskillful thoughts, words, and deeds inspired by craving — is obviously an antidote to clinging. The developing, though, plays a more paradoxical role, for you have to hold to the skillful qualities of mindfulness, concentration, and discernment that foster awareness until they’re fully mature. Only then can you let them go.
If we negotiate life armed with all four noble truths, realizing that life contains both suffering and an end to suffering, there’s hope: hope that we’ll be able to sort out which parts of life belong to which truth; hope that someday, in this life, we’ll discover the brightness at the point where we can agree with the Buddha, “Oh. Yes. This is the end of suffering and stress.”
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"To study is to know the texts,
To practice is to know your defilements,
To attain the goal is to know & let go."
- Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo
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