Sunday, April 12, 2015

Is Everything Suffering?

(Chapter 5 of "The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching" 
by Thich Nhat Hanh)

(Notes): We need to be careful that this Chapter is written in the realm of conventional truth because suffering is separated from happiness. (The Four Noble Truths is in the realm of the conventional truth and the Heart Sutra is in the realm of the ultimate truth.)

The followings are the summary of Thay's messages to us.

1) "Everything on Earth is suffering" is not a teaching of the Buddha. Buddha taught the truth of suffering, but he also taught the truth of "dwelling happily in things as they are".

⇒ Even if "All mental formations are sufferings" is the source, it is wrong because all mental formations are not unwholesome. ("All unwholesome mental formations are sufferings" is correct but wholesome mental formations are the source of happiness.)

2) The theory of the Three Kinds of Suffering was an attempt by many good students of the Buddha who tried to prove that everything on Earth is suffering (an attempt to justify the universalization of suffering).

3) Invoking the names of the Buddha or repeating a phrase mechanically cannot help us understand the true nature of suffering or reveal the path shown to us by the Buddha because we will be caught in forms, words, and notions. Instead, we need to use our own intelligence.

4) 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.

⇒ (My question to Buddha and Thay is "Why don't you teach us to look deeply into joy and understand the root cause of joy when we recognize joy?" We may generate gratitude, humility and love.)
(p5) http://www.slideshare.net/compassion5151/3-versions-of-oneself

5) We need to understand the Three Dharma Seals are impermanence, nonself, and nirvana.

The followings are more detailed Thay's messages to us.

1. First Noble Truth of suffering doesn't mean "everything on Earth is suffering". It is not a teaching of the Buddha. ⇒ 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. ⇒ 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.

2. The theory of the Three Kinds of Suffering was an attempt by many good students of the Buddha who tried to prove that everything on Earth is suffering. ⇒ (We need to forget about the theory of the Three Kinds of Suffering.)

① "the suffering of suffering": the suffering associated with unpleasant feelings (eg: pain of a toothache, losing your temper, or feeling too cold on a winter's day)
② "the suffering of composite things": Whatever comes together eventually has to come apart. (eg: all composite things: everything)
③ "the suffering associated with change": (eg: Our liver may be in good health today, but when we grow old, it will cause us to suffer.)

3. 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.

(1) The question, "Does the realization of the truth of suffering depend on the repetition of the words, 'This is suffering.'?" was answered affirmatively by many schools. ⇒ (Everyone knows that Birth, Old age, Sickness, Death, Sorrow, grief, mental anguish, and disturbance, To be with those you dislike, To be separated from those you love, Not having what you long for, are sufferings. In other words, to grasp the Five Aggregates as though they constitute a self is suffering.) ⇒ (The repetition of the words is not necessary for realizing the truth of suffering.)

(2) One School pointed out that an arhat is not fully awakened because an arhat needs to repeat something constantly in order to be able to realize it. ⇒  (It isn't essential for everyone to repeat something constantly for realizing it.)

(3) Invoking the names of the Buddha or repeating a phrase mechanically cannot help us understand the true nature of suffering or reveal the path shown to us by the Buddha. Because we will be caught in forms, words, and notions. We need to use our own intelligence. It is safer to have a teacher and friends who can show us ways to practice correctly.⇒ (We don't need to invoke the names of the Buddha or repeat a phrase mechanically.)

(4) Buddha only wants us to recognize suffering when it is present and to recognize joy when suffering is absent. Buddha didn't offer a theory that is "All things are suffering". ⇒ (We need to be mindful in order to recognize suffering when it is present and to recognize joy when suffering is absent.) ⇒ (My question to Thay is "Why don't you teach us to look deeply into joy and understand the root cause of joy when we recognize joy?" We may generate gratitude, humility and love.)

(5) The argument, "Impermanent, therefore suffering, therefore nonself" is illogical. And in many texts, suffering is regarded as one of the Three Dharma Seals, along with impermanence and nonself. But to put suffering on the same level as impermanence and nonself is an error. The Buddha taught impermanence and nonself to help us not be caught in signs (forms). ⇒ ("Being caught in signs (forms), therefore suffering, therefore impermanence and nonself" is logical.) ⇒ We need to be careful to illogical teachings.

(Re: Three Dharma Seals)
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. (For an explication of the Three Dharma Seals, see chap. 18.) ⇒ Thay hopes scholars and practitioners will begin to accept the teaching that all things are marked by impermanence, nonself, and nirvana, and not make too great an effort to prove that everything is suffering. ⇒ We need to understand the Three Dharma Seals are impermanence, nonself, and nirvana. (Things are changing. It is called emptiness (empty of separate existence). From the point of view of time, we say "impermanence," and from the point of view of space, we say "nonself.")

(Re: Nagarjuna listed nirvana as one of the Three Dharma Seals)
Another common misunderstanding of the Buddha's teaching is that all of our suffering is caused by craving. 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. ⇒ We need to say, "The basis for this suffering is such and such an affliction," and then call it by its true name to find the cause of our suffering and the way to heal ourselves.