What I've learnt so far...

betaboy

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

In a nutshell, that's what I've learnt.

We have little control over situations and people. We may think hard, plan meticulously, move heaven and earth to accomplish something. And fail. People - even those who love us - may let us down, one accident or disease may twist our financial fortunes. But in the midst of all this, what endures is our ability to smile. To be able to smile even when one has tears. To be able to look at a situation, no matter how dreadful or tragic, and say, "Is that all you got? You think this could make me lose my smile? Never!"

This could be our greatest strength. And that's what I've learnt thus far. That's what Buddhism, as applied to this world, means to me. Of course, there is the other Buddhism - the mystical Buddhism concerning liberation - but for now my concern is the here/now. Not that the 'other Buddhism' isn't important. It definitely is - who could say no to enlightenment or liberation? - but being enlightened about small matters and being liberated from little headaches is also a good thing. The big one will come eventually.

Anyhow, this is my insight. Please share yours. Thank you.

federica

betaboy said:

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

In a nutshell, that's what I've learnt..

That's it? In a nutshell?



:wtf:

how

@Betaboy
I bet just lossin that grip on your nutshell might also create a smile.

While I agree that Pain is inevitable & suffering is optional,
your nutshelled separation of small and big enlightenment or
here/now being apart from liberation is actually part of sufferings cause.

Plus

Folks can smile for all kinds of reasons that have nothing to do with "applied Buddhism".

anataman

What I've had insight into so far is this - it's called the 'liberating peanut sutra':

1. I've confused myself with something I am not, and that made me unhappy.

2. I can easily escape this confusion and be happy! Yipee!

3. How do I stop the confusion; I recognise I am confused.

Is there anything else I need to know? What more should I do, other than be kind and compassionate to all the other confused people I meet?

DairyLama

betaboy said:

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Could you say exactly what the difference is between pain and suffering?

ThailandTom

SpinyNorman said:

betaboy said:

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Could you say exactly what the difference is between pain and suffering?

I forget the book now and the author but I remember reading something about this topic. It stated something like, we all have to endure aging, sickness and death in our lives, but that does not mean we must suffer. The Buddha taught there is an end to suffering and that is it. Sure you will have pain and troubles occur in your life, but you need not suffer because of them.

DairyLama

ThailandTom said:

SpinyNorman said:

betaboy said:

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Could you say exactly what the difference is between pain and suffering?

I forget the book now and the author but I remember reading something about this topic. It stated something like, we all have to endure aging, sickness and death in our lives, but that does not mean we must suffer. The Buddha taught there is an end to suffering and that is it. Sure you will have pain and troubles occur in your life, but you need not suffer because of them.

So it's about the difference between physical and mental suffering? Like in the Arrow Sutta?

Woah93

I have learned that believing I have learned closes the door to learning.

ThailandTom

SpinyNorman said:

ThailandTom said:

SpinyNorman said:

betaboy said:

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Could you say exactly what the difference is between pain and suffering?

I forget the book now and the author but I remember reading something about this topic. It stated something like, we all have to endure aging, sickness and death in our lives, but that does not mean we must suffer. The Buddha taught there is an end to suffering and that is it. Sure you will have pain and troubles occur in your life, but you need not suffer because of them.

So it's about the difference between physical and mental suffering? Like in the Arrow Sutta?

Without referring back to the book that I read it in and the Arrow Sutta I would say yes.. What are your thoughts?

matthewmartin

Pain and suffering are synonyms, so the technical Buddhist jargon would be of more use here.

Dukkha is and always will be-- even after you personally are enlightened, everyone around you still suffers. Enlightenment is being at peace with dukkha and then proceeding doing something to reduce it, or as a more heroic goal, to attempt to end it.

lobster

Woah93 said:

I have learned that believing I have learned closes the door to learning.

Well said.
Good to be kind, right? Except for that annoying, irritating know it all . . .
Always smile . . . but that is just not funny.
Be real . . . hey but not that real . . .
Cut the Bullshit . . . not mine of course . . .
Everything is perfect . . . except you . . .
. . . and so on . . .

Sometimes we have to learn what we already know . . .

. . . what's that Mr Cushion? The Cushion is everywhere . . . maybe so . . . maybe so . . . :buck:

and now back to the knowing . . .

genkaku

It may be of some help to admit up-front that Buddhism is scary, seriously scary. And what better way to protect yourself from the scaries than to fall back on what you've "learned" and what you "know?" When I know things, then things are less scary. And less scary is better, right?

But the answer is no, that's not right. Scary relates to that overflogged word "ego" -- the sense of a self in control, a knowledgeable self, a self whose life is in control with me at the helm. It may be nice to read books and theorize about "letting go" or "surrendering" or "renouncing" or "seeing into the true nature of things," but since I have no practice and since I have no known experience of what might be on the far side of such activities ... hell, who wouldn't be scared?

It's OK to be scared, I'd say. Scared and helpless and whatever all else. But trying to camouflage that sense of fear or helplessness only reaches so far. And that's where practice comes in handy. Camouflage and look kool all you want, but practice. Why? Because practice builds strength and because practice allows individuals, bit by bit and a little at a time, to honestly address the scaries. There's nothing conscious or goal-oriented about it ... it's just that practice does, by its nature, square off against what seemed to require an elite camouflage.

Bit by bit, "in here and out there," "wise and ignorant," "personal and objective," "scarier than shit and peaceable as sunlight" lose their separated slickness. It's not as if practice unifies anything. It's just that practice helps us to see that separations (the kool camouflage stuff) are not true. Possible? Sure. Necessary? No.

It's OK to be scared to death. It's OK to writhe. It's OK to "learn" and "know."

But it's also OK to practice.

... if any of that makes much sense.

Jainarayan

Woah93 said:

I have learned that believing I have learned closes the door to learning.

The Zen tea cup story. I love that one:

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.

The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"

"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

wangchuey

It's wonderful that you have found an "undying" happiness. Just nurture and maintain it now.

BhikkhuJayasara

I wore this patch on my backpack when I attempted the most brutally ridiculous thing I've ever done in my life.. a 24 hour taste of special operations training where you literally do not stop for 24 hours, only I was med dropped at hour 14 because I was about to pass out and my body shut down.

I was very surprised to find this teaching of the Buddha to be a popular phrase in the special forces community.. but it's true teaching regardless. There are few people who are able to put mind over matter on this planet then special forces guys. Here is the sutta about not having to accept being hit by the second dart... aka suffering is optional.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn36/sn36.006.nypo.html

Sallatha Sutta: The Dart

"An untaught worldling, O monks, experiences pleasant feelings, he experiences painful feelings and he experiences neutral feelings. A well-taught noble disciple likewise experiences pleasant, painful and neutral feelings. Now what is the distinction, the diversity, the difference that exists herein between a well-taught noble disciple and an untaught worldling?

"When an untaught worldling is touched by a painful (bodily) feeling, he worries and grieves, he laments, beats his breast, weeps and is distraught. He thus experiences two kinds of feelings, a bodily and a mental feeling. It is as if a man were pierced by a dart and, following the first piercing, he is hit by a second dart. So that person will experience feelings caused by two darts. It is similar with an untaught worldling: when touched by a painful (bodily) feeling, he worries and grieves, he laments, beats his breast, weeps and is distraught. So he experiences two kinds of feeling: a bodily and a mental feeling.

Woah93

It came across like a good metaphor and it hit home but I don't quite get from it what the difference actually is between the untaught worldling and the well taught. It says here that the well taught won't worry, lament or beat his breast. But then what does he do? Not doing those things will not make painful physical sensations go away or decrease in intensity, so what is the escape beyond sensual pleasure? What comes next?

justshea

Now you simply must meditate on that phrase everyday for the rest of your life and you'll be fine. And always remember: "An ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure."