Putting an end to suffering

JaySon

I find these four lines from the Diamond Sutra extremely helpful for putting an end to suffering...

A star, a defective view, a flame,
An illusion, a drop of dew, a bubble,
A dream, a flash of lightning, a cloud:
See causative phenomena as such

See all causative phenomena as...

Like a star in the daytime. All beings and objects appear permanent and appear to exist independently. Reality seems to be hidden like a star in the daytime, that all beings and objects are impermanent and exist dependently upon causes and conditions.

Like a defective view. Like a defective view, all beings and objects appear permanent and appear to exist independently. In reality, all beings and objects are impermanent and exist dependently upon causes and conditions.

Like a flame. A flame appears to be permanent and exist independently. In reality, the flame is made up of oxygen, the substance it is burning, and many other factors. It is a dependent arising and impermanent like all phenomena. Take away just oxygen, for example, and the flame goes out.

Like an illusion. All phenomena appear to exist permanently and independently. This is like an illusion because all is dependently arisen and constantly changing.

Like a drop of dew. All phenomena is as impermanent as a drop of dew.

Like a bubble. All causal phenomena is like a bubble, impermanent, and may burst at any moment. Your body is like a bubble, as are the bodies of all your friends, enemies, loved ones, and neutral people.

Like a dream. Everything is like a dream, seeming to exist from its own side. Our minds see a false reality throughout the day. In reality, everything is a dependent arising.

Like a flash of lightning. Something manifests due to causes and conditions and, like a flash of lightning, the manifestation breaks up because the causes and conditions for its manifestation are no longer there.

Like a cloud. All phenomena are like clouds passing by in the sky, impermanent, dependently arisen, and may form or break up at any time due to causes and conditions.

It helps to meditate on these individually first with analytical meditation then with single-pointed meditation on the insight that arises. It also helps to be mindful of these throughout the day. Maybe take a day to look around and think, "Everything is like a dream. It appears permanent, yet it's impermanent. Everything is a dependent arising."

Why does this put an end to suffering? Because now you can see there's no basis for attachment, aversion, or ignorance. It doesn't arise. Or, if it arises, you can handle it by cutting through it with these four lines from the Diamond Sutra.

lobster

Well said ♥️
Mindful awareness/attention. In the moment ...
Done with suffering yet? Still wasting ... My Precious?

oṃ a mo gha vai ro
ca na ma hā mu dra
ma ṇi pa dma jvā la
pra va rtta ya hūṃ

http://www.buddhanet.net/oxherd1.htm

federica

Like a flower.
Our lives are precisely like a flower....

Bunks

Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu

David

Nice

lobster

Shoshin

Like a dream. Everything is like a dream, seeming to exist from its own side. Our minds see a false reality throughout the day. In reality, everything is a dependent arising.

@JaySon

The above reminds me of a Red Tara dedication

"May I clearly perceive all experiences to be as insubstantial as the dream fabric of the night and instantly awaken to perceive the pure wisdom displayed in the arising of every phenomena"

pegembara

"Now suppose that a magician or magician's apprentice were to display a magic trick at a major intersection, and a man with good eyesight were to see it, observe it, & appropriately examine it. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in a magic trick? In the same way, a monk sees, observes, & appropriately examines any consciousness that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near. To him — seeing it, observing it, & appropriately examining it — it would appear empty, void, without substance: for what substance would there be in consciousness?

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.095.than.html

Evaṁ abhikkantadassāviṁ, atthi pañhena āgamaṁ:
So, to the One With Excellent Sight, I have come in need with a question:

Kathaṁ lokaṁ avekkhantaṁ Maccurājā na passati?” [143 (1118) 15-3]
Looking on the world in what way does the king of Death not see (one)?

“Suññato lokaṁ avekkhassu, Mogharāja sadā sato.
“Look on the world as empty,02 Mogharāja, being always mindful.

Attānudiṭṭhiṁ ūhacca, evaṁ Maccutaro siyā.
Having removed (wrong) view of self, in this way one will cross beyond Death.

Evaṁ lokaṁ avekkhantaṁ Maccurājā na passatī” ti. [144 (1119) 15-4]
When looking on the world in this way the king of Death does not see (one).”

Mogharājamāṇavapucchā niṭṭhitā
The Young Man Mogharāja's Questions are Finished

https://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Texts-and-Translations/Parayanavagga/Parayanavaggo-15.htm

The sankhara aggregate offers no pleasure
and truly is painful,
for it has to age, grow ill, and die every day.
When the mind knows the unexcelled Dhamma,
it extracts itself from its defiling error
that aggravates disease.
This error is a fierce fault of the mind.
But when it clearly sees the Dhamma,
it removes its error,
and there's no more poison in the heart.
When the mind sees the Dhamma,
abundantly good
& released from error,
meeting the Dhamma, it sheds all things
that would make it restless.
It's mindful, in & of itself,
& unentangled.
Its love for the khandhas comes to an end,
its likes are cured,
its worries cease,
all dust is gone.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/mun/ballad.html

lobster

You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view. You begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for.

You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you’ve outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with.

You learn that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a “consumer” looking for you next fix.

http://www.elise.com/q/webwisdom/awakening.htm

I'll join. ?

Jeroen

I was recently meditating on the properties of the imagination, and came to the conclusion that while enticing it is often not useful or beneficial. Similarly metaphor is rarely useful in explaining things, since it rarely holds up beyond a casual glance.

JaySon

Today I had the day off work and was lying on the couch with my orange cat on my stomach, imagining we were like two candleflames in the wind.

JaySon

@federica said:
Like a flower.
Our lives are precisely like a flower....

Blooms. Becomes beautiful. Wilts. Dies.

federica

...which exposes the seed pod, sows, continues....

JaySon

@federica said:
...which exposes the seed pod, sows, continues....

Not to mention the flower is made up of sunlight, rain, soil, oxygen... pedals, stem... and the label "flower" imputed by the mind.

federica

the possibilities are endless.
That too, being a metaphor.....

JaySon

@federica said:
the possibilities are endless.
That too, being a metaphor.....

I find interesting the fact that the causes of a flower are endless. The causes have to be infinite when you follow them back to start dust, to the big bang, and whatever was beyond the big bang. The conditions for this flower to arise have to go back to beginningless time.

person

"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." —Carl Sagan