We finished the topic "Karma & Causality" (more or less), and discussed the First Noble Truth, that everyone's life has some duhkha -- suffering, dissatisfaction, unpleasantness, pain.
Please review with the help of the following questions:
- We listed the eight types of suffering (birth, illness, aging, death, separation from loved ones, meeting with people you dislike, desiring things you cannot have, and imbalance of body and mind) Do these events or situations necessarily cause suffering? Why or why not?
- Of these eight types of suffering, some are physical, some are psychological, some are both. Which are which? If we want to change suffering to happiness, which ones do we start with?
- Why does Buddhism talk so much about suffering? To make us depressed?
- I skipped the question, "how is it that good/innocent people suffer?", which we will discuss in the next class. But what do you think the answer is? Given what we have taught in the class.
Posts
Shifu,
ReplyDeleteAmitoufo.
Recently, I've been reflecting on the 1st Noble Truth of duhkha, which in chinese I believe is (痛苦). In CTWorld's recent publication, it is also called 「迷事」. During Sunnyvale's Zen 7, Shifu constantly remind us to ignore our wandering thoughts, not to follow the 1st wandering thought with a 2nd or a 3rd: 「不怕念起，只怕覺遲。」 Duhkha is precisely such subsequent mental drama. 痛 in chinese is pain. 苦 in chinese is bitterness. Our daily travails are sometimes filled with pain. If we resist adding more to that pure experience with the 2nd and 3rd thoughts and commentaries, we can prevent the bitterness. In chinese, pain(痛) without bitterness(苦)is just pain; it is bodhi and not duhkha.
Palms Together,
傳運
good!
ReplyDeleteShifu,
ReplyDeleteAmituofo.
Yesterday, I had a hard and busy day at work taking care of many sick children. I would like to extend my earlier reflection on the 1st Noble Truth of Duhkha(痛苦) when I said pain(痛), without the bitterness(苦), is just pain. It is amazing how fleeting that pain is when one doesn't add the 2nd and 3rd mental commentary. This fleeting Emptiness of Duhkha (痛苦) becoming Bodhi is again so eloquently expressed in Chinese as (痛快).
Palms Together,
傳運