The Buddha said that the human condition is like that of a person shot with an arrow. Its both painful and urgent. But instead of getting immediate help for our affliction, we ask for details about the bow from which the arrow was shot. We ask who made the arrow. We want to know about the appearance and background of the person who strung the bow. We ask about many things--inconsequential things--while overlooking our immediate problem. We ask about origins and ends, but we leave this moment forgotten. We leave it forgotten even though we live in it.So how do we escape this condition, this suffering. We must first learn how to journey into now.Today it seems "at least to me" that many, especially our youth, have lost faith in our ancient storybook versions of the world. Science, with all its new discoveries, has many of us looking at the universe as a strange, vast, complex, impersonal, and a meaningless realm of mind and matter.
So how do we deal with this loss of faith? We go to extremes, some of us will blind ourselves to our situation and attempt to escape via drugs or alcohol or our jobs or one of the innumerable belief systems out there. Or we face the prospect that we are intelligent beings living in a meaningless world. How many times have you thought, if I only had this or if I had a different job, or if I can change this and get rid of that, then I would be happy. We are always looking for happiness, somewhere out there.
As a Chinese philosopher put it. "We move through the world in a narrow groove, preoccupied with the petty things we see and hear, brooding over our prejudices, passing by the joys of our life without even knowing that we have missed anything". Never for a moment do we taste the heady wine of freedom. We are as truly imprisoned as if we lay at the bottom of a dungeon, heaped with chains. What would it take for us to be free, to move beyond this ignorance, discontent and confusion, chained hopelessly to uncertainty and fear?
We have to journey into now. We have to comprehend Reality as a whole, not based on any concept of belief, it's perception itself. Its seeing before signs appear, before ideas sprout, before falling into thought. Its called awakening or enlightenment, and its nothing more than just seeing things and accepting them as they are rather than the way we wish are believe them to be.
"When I was a young man, near the beginning of my life, I looked around with true mindfulness and saw that all things are subject to decay. Thus all things are subject to death, sorrow and suffering. I became aware that I too was of the same nature, the nature of beginning and end. What if I searched for that which underlies all creation, that which is nirvana, the perfect freedom from unconditioned existence?"
ReplyDelete"After much seeking for truth and knowledge the profoundness of reality came to me with a clarity never before known. I knew that most people never see this reality because they attach to the material aspect of the world. Illusions of self and other fill their vision. I also realized there are those with little dust limiting their vision."
- The Buddha
Udakupama Sutta:
ReplyDelete"Monks, seven types of individuals are to be found existing in the world. Which seven?
"There is the case where an individual sinks down once and stays sunk. There is the case where an individual, on coming to the surface, sinks down again. There is the case where an individual, on coming to the surface, stays there. There is the case where an individual, on coming to the surface, opens his eyes & looks around. There is the case where an individual, on coming to the surface, heads across. There is the case where an individual, on coming to the surface, gains a foothold. Then there is the case where an individual, on coming to the surface, crosses over, reaches the far shore, stands on high ground, a brahman.
"And how does an individual sink down once and stay sunk? There is the case where an individual is endowed with exclusively dark, unskillful qualities. That's how an individual sinks down once and stays sunk.
"And how does an individual, on coming to the surface, sink down again? There is the case where an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Conviction in skillful qualities is good, conscience is good, concern is good, persistence is good, discernment with regard to skillful qualities is good.' But his conviction neither remains nor grows, but simply wanes away. His conscience, his concern, his persistence, his discernment neither remain nor grow, but simply wane away. That's how an individual, on coming to the surface, sinks down again.
"And how does an individual, on coming to the surface, stay there? There is the case where an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Conviction in skillful qualities is good, conscience is good, concern[1] is good, persistence is good, discernment with regard to skillful qualities is good.' His conviction doesn't wane, but instead develops & remains. His conscience, his concern, his persistence, his discernment don't wane, but instead develop & remain. That's how an individual, on coming to the surface, stays there.
Part 2:
ReplyDelete"And how does an individual, on coming to the surface, open his eyes & look around? There is the case where an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Conviction in skillful qualities is good, conscience is good, concern is good, persistence is good, discernment with regard to skillful qualities is good.' With the total ending of [the first] three fetters, he becomes a stream-winner, steadfast, never again destined for states of woe, headed for self-awakening. That's how an individual, on coming to the surface, opens his eyes & looks around.
"And how does an individual, on coming to the surface, head across? There is the case where an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Conviction in skillful qualities is good, conscience is good, concern is good, persistence is good, discernment with regard to skillful qualities is good.' With the total ending of [the first] three fetters, and with the attenuation of passion, aversion, & delusion, he becomes a once-returner, who — on returning only one more time to this world — will make an ending to stress. That's how an individual, on coming to the surface, heads across.
"And how does an individual, on coming to the surface, gain a foothold? There is the case where an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Conviction in skillful qualities is good, conscience is good, concern is good, persistence is good, discernment with regard to skillful qualities is good.' With the total ending of the five lower fetters, he is due to be reborn [in the Pure Abodes], there to be totally unbound, never again to return from that world. That's how an individual, on coming to the surface, gains a foothold.
"And how does an individual, on coming to the surface, cross over, reach the far shore, stand on high ground, a brahman? There is the case where an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Conviction in skillful qualities is good, conscience is good, concern is good, persistence is good, discernment with regard to skillful qualities is good.' With the ending of the mental fermentations, he enters & remains in the fermentation-free awareness-release & discernment-release, having directly known and realized them for himself right in the here & now. That's how an individual, on coming to the surface, crosses over, reaches the far shore, stands on high ground, a brahman.
"These are the seven types of individuals to be found existing in the world."
Sent to me by my friend Seelagawesi Thero yesterday for my B day.
First of all, Happy belated Birthday my friend. Thank you for this post I have really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI have a simpler saying that I like to use.
Their are two kinds of people in the world. Those who dedicate themselves to becoming artists, and those who forget about themselves and dedicate their lives to art. There's a big difference. -Dainin Katagiri-