Buddhist Belief Blog

Among the many aspects I’ve mentioned in these posts about Buddhist Belief, are The Four Noble Truths. And, when we’re thinking about how we can better balance those “ups and downs” of our lives, it’s natural to keep coming back to the First Noble Truth of Buddhism. This Truth is, to state it briefly, “all things, all existing conditions, are dukkha, in a state of dis-ease”. (The hyphen is intentional – a state of not being “at ease”.)

When we’re suffering, when we’re not at ease, when we’re dissatisfied, when we don’t have what we want, or when we have what we don’t want, the truth of this teaching of Buddha becomes fairly obvious. You know it because you feel it in your bones. You don’t doubt it for a minute. However, if we dig deeper into the teachings about the First Noble Truth, we’ll begin to uncover some additional thoughts about the often misinterpreted assertion that “everything is suffering”. We so often don’t get past this first Truth and allow ourselves to move on to further teachings, because we know “everything” is not suffering, so how could this be truthful teaching? There’s a lot of happiness running through our lives most days. No denying it! We know this, so we end up being somewhat distrustful of this “Buddhism/Suffering” stuff.

If we really look deeply into this “happiness” we all experience, we’ll see some interesting aspects. First of all, when we feel happy, we have a tendency to desire more of it – or we cling to it hoping it will last and last. We either cling to the happiness and often end up destroying it because of the clinging, or we start to worry and become anxious about losing it – and our anxiety gets in the way of truly enjoying the happiness – and we end up losing it as a result. Once we start grasping at our moments of happiness, we’ve taken the first steps toward losing them. Our desire for more of it is destroyed, and we end up anything but happy.

I have a belief that attachment and desire are not the same thing. Not every desire is attachment – but every attachment is desire. Most of us desire certain things. Sometimes, the likelihood of attaining those things isn’t realistic, so we don’t become attached them. Some people call these “pipe-dreams”. Do you see this? We don’t get “down” if this desire doesn’t happen. We’re so often caught in our up-and-down dilemmas. We’re torn between love and dislike, attachment and rejection. Almost every activity in our lives, every agenda, is directed by these powerful currents that sweep us back and forth all the time.

If we could tap into the true wisdom within us, we could probably handle all this back-and-forth and up-and-down stuff with no problem. But, until we figure out how to tap into that wisdom, we’re only able to use our human intelligence, but even that is tied and shackled by the confusion, fear, and ignorance that I call ego.

Ego is so powerful. Any tiny little disagreement comes up, and our ego feels hurt. It tells us, “I have not been respected! They don’t remember what I did for them! I am not being treated like a human being!” When we feel hurt all the time, it’s the ego that is getting hurt. These feelings are very powerful, and they completely control us. That is what is meant by tightly bound by karmic chains so hard to escape. Our dislikes push in one direction, our attachments pull in the other direction, and ego holds us tight in it’s grasp.

One way Buddhist teachers recommend as a way to escape from these attachments and desires it to make meditation a part of our lifestyle. Many people try meditation for awhile and quit because they say it’s too boring. If you think about it, though, meditation can only be boring if we allow our so-called separate self to enter into it. If we look at meditation from the point of view of our separate self, it appears we’re not doing anything. However, in true, authentic meditation, nothing is further from the truth. In true meditation, the entire universe is coming to us fresh and new every moment. The whole world is being born brand new every moment. How can that ever be boring?

Give your separate self up to true meditation and find this out. It’s only when we’re meditating with our separate self that anxiety, attachment, boredom, and other ego-tainted emotions creep into our precious moments. Our meditations need to be simple and basic. It’s learning how to see inside – understanding how we create suffering or dis-ease for ourselves. It’s seeing into it – through it – and how to let go of it. It’s a life of awareness. You sit and become totally attentive to what’s there in every moment. Let your practice become more and more simple, until you can let go of the confusions of methods and techniques. Just be – be only the awareness of what is.

Metta ….May I be well and happy. My I live in safety. May I be healthy and strong. May I live with ease. May all beings be well and happy. May all beings live in safety. May all beings be healthy and strong. May all beings live with ease.

Namaste — Be in Peace.

Ron Rink

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Just click the links that are sort of Grey in color to take you to where you can learn more about each book and how you can purchase a copy for your own library.

Stephanie Kaza — Hooked!: Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire, and the Urge to Consume

Stephanie Kaza, an amazing writer and Buddhist teacher I knew from my 36 years living in Vermont, gathers key Buddhist thinkers to reflect upon aspects of consumerism, greed and economics. Certainly, many other authors have examined consumerism from the lens of their religious traditions, but this book’s Buddhist perspective is unusual, and its pairing of consumerist critiques with core Buddhist concepts is generally fruitful. Check this one out! Hooked!

Stephanie Kaza — Mindfully Green: A Personal and Spiritual Guide to Whole Earth Thinking

Another one from my Vermont friend — Stephanie Kaza, a biologist and professor of Environmental Studies at University of Vermont, combines Zen Buddhist practices and teachings with her 40 years as an environmentalist for this guide to enlightened environmentalism, proposing a belief in the interdependence of people and nature as the genuine way to “go green”: “When we come to see ourselves as part of the green web of life… we are naturally drawn to respond with compassion.” A good read for Buddhists or anyone from any religion. Mindfully Green

Anam Thubten — No Self – No Problem

No Self – No Problem
shows how to realize the ultimate meaning of life in each moment by dissolving all notions of ego-identity. It asks that spiritual seekers wake up to their true nature, which is already enlightened. Based on Buddhist wisdom traditions, this easy-to-read book discusses in simple, but profound and inspiring language, how we can live a life full of love, satisfaction, and happiness. No Self – No Problem

Sharon Salzberg — The Kindness Handbook

“It takes boldness, even audacity, to step out of our habitual patterns and experiment with a quality like kindness–to work with it and see just how it might shift and open up our lives. This book is an invitation to do just that. — From The Kindness Handbook