Dukkha/Unsatisfactoriness/Unease

Shoshin

We all live in a world where Dukkha happens AKA Samsara (First Noble Truth Dukkha)...Sometimes it's subtle, other times gross...
But it's always there lurking, waiting for an opportunity (an unguarded mind) to make it's presence felt...

Sometimes we are not even aware that we are in the midst of Dukkha...It's a master/mistress of subtle seduction...and we often succumb to it's bait hook line & sinker...

Would you say that Mindfulness/being mindful is the best way to avoid its clutches ?

lobster

Yes.

The presence is easier than the engulfment or swamping. We can in essence feel/acknowledge/be the dukkha AND realise it is not so far from sukha

Don't duck the sukha or suck the dukkha ...

Bunks

I think so....mind watching mind! Catching the thoughts before they spin off in to oblivion.....

pegembara

Dukkha is caused by desire or craving. It is also the craving or tanha that creates a sense of self. This is already a latent tendency in the newborn.

O house-builder, you are seen! You will not build this house again. For your rafters are broken and your ridgepole shattered. My mind has reached the Unconditioned; I have attained the destruction of craving.

– Dhammapada Verse 154

"There are, Punna, forms cognizable via the eye — agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, fostering desire, enticing. If a monk relishes them, welcomes them, and remains fastened to them, then in him — relishing them, welcoming them, and remaining fastened to them — there arises delight. From the origination of delight, I tell you, comes the origination of suffering and stress.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn35/sn35.088.than.html

Sukha-dukkha beams are gonna blind me
But I won't feel blue
Like I always do
'Cause somewhere in the crowd there's you

ABBA

herbie

@Shoshin said:
We all live in a world where Dukkha happens AKA Samsara (First Noble Truth Dukkha)...Sometimes it's subtle, other times gross...
But it's always there lurking, waiting for an opportunity (an unguarded mind) to make it's presence felt...

Sometimes we are not even aware that we are in the midst of Dukkha...It's a master/mistress of subtle seduction...and we often succumb to it's bait hook line & sinker...

Would you say that Mindfulness/being mindful is the best way to avoid its clutches ?

Well, depends. There are many kinds of mindfulnesses.

For one belonging to the lineage of the Pali suttas the Satipatthana Sutta is certainly valid:

Because of this it was said: "This is the only way, monks, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the destruction of suffering and grief, for reaching the right path, for the attainment of Nibbana, namely the four foundations of mindfulness."

https://accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.010.nysa.html

I do not belong to that lineage, so I practice a kind of mindfulness that corresponds to my lineage.

As to afflictions before having attained the pure bodhisattva levels or the state of an arhat the drawback of meditation is that it is impermanent and habitual afflictive ignorance sets in again in post-meditation. So there must be a method to familiarize oneself with the peak 'experience' or 'insight' attained in meditations along the path. And for that mindfulness is inevitable from my perspective.

Jeroen

@Shoshin said:
Would you say that Mindfulness/being mindful is the best way to avoid its clutches ?

I would say from a practical point of view that the best way to cope with dukkha is mindful activity, anything from cooking to labouring in the garden. Inactivity is a way to be confronted with dukkha more directly, as the focus shifts from the activity to the body and the mind.

paulyso

@Shoshin said:
We all live in a world where Dukkha happens AKA Samsara (First Noble Truth Dukkha)...Sometimes it's subtle, other times gross...
But it's always there lurking, waiting for an opportunity (an unguarded mind) to make it's presence felt...

Sometimes we are not even aware that we are in the midst of Dukkha...It's a master/mistress of subtle seduction...and we often succumb to it's bait hook line & sinker...

Would you say that Mindfulness/being mindful is the best way to avoid its clutches ?

shoshin your question made me think about dukkha.no two dukkha are alike from an individual standpoint.my dukkha may not be your dukkha.but the intent is to have less,more peace .

buddha has given us the skillset to identify our personal problem and the means to eliviate it.may be first step is know thyself.specifically, know thy brain. identify dukkha triggers associated with sense media interraction.plainly,senses affect our brain reaction,that we know.it can be positive,neutral,negative.so identify personal dukkha is key..what's your trigger?

next,is skillfull means.use recollect or memory as an ally what tool or instruction that helped us individually. its about the zen proverb,learn to respond rather react.one skillfull method is counterbalance or replace the negative(dukkha)with the positive.i.e, replace hate with kindness,individually or socially.(working on that) .another skillfull means,is lessen personal offenses.don't takes things personal.the skillset of lessen ego.finding a healthy functioning ego is what we must find for ourselves through brain function and balance.the key to remember, the brain and body is a unit.being aware of our body affects our condition.

personally,being aware ,and observe,essence and function in brain helps the ease.the zen masters are on to something. the essence of brain intermittant,empty and response to condition as a function. aware,is the middle way between essence and function.

lobster

@Bunks said:
I think so....mind watching mind! Catching the thoughts before they spin off in to oblivion.....

Even though dualistic, @Bunks spin halt is a required/functional mindfulness. Like mouth watching. Action being. Peace unfolding.

We must ground our gibbering. Internalise our quest. Shine The Buddha.