The First Noble Truth

Nidish

I was thinking... About what I have been lacking... About what it was that was within me which stopped me from attaining Nirvana.. And then, it dawned upon me.. It was the fact that I rejoice being in Samsara... I have no reason to leave Samsara... I can not comprehend the First Noble truth at all... I think the pleasures outweigh the sufferings... I don't get why we need a "better" position when we can make this position better... I don't see why nirvana is needed at all... I have figured out that my clinging to samsara - to the pleasures of samsara - has made me unwilling to seek for anything else!! Please help me out with this one... I feel this is the first boulder I need to chuck... Yes, I do seem really primitive in this aspect, but I need help...
Every time I suffer(in the broader sense), I tend to think it is all because of me - of something I had done the day before or the moment before - and believe that if I am careful the next time, I will not suffer... I just can't see why this is not true... And, I feel, IGNORANCE IS BLISS.. Or at least, IGNORANCE IS BLISS TOO!! Both ways I think I don't need to practice The Dhamma I know this is REAL ignorance.. But I just can't tell myself why I am wrong!!! So Please do help me out!!!!

seeker242

Ignorance IS bliss...temporarily. "Temporarily" simply isn't good enough.

SherabDorje

We all get sick, get old, and die. Ultimately you will be separated from all these things you enjoy so much now. It happens to all human beings. Maybe for now you're enjoying yourself, but this too will pass. You will age, become ill, and die, and if nothing else, you should prepare yourself for that.

Nidish

Anyway, I think, that I will be born again, and I can once again enjoy... Or there is this other thought - If one day I would die, then I had better enjoy things before that happens!!!

SherabDorje

Whatever...

seeker242

If you want to "chuck the boulder", you have to contemplate the impermanence of the things your happiness comes from. If you are unwilling to do that, you will never understand the first truth.

Cinorjer

Nidish, Nirvana does not mean you don't enjoy life. You don't have to spend your life in meditation or reject everything that gives you pleasure. And Buddhism does not say all life is nothing but pain and anguish and struggle. What a brutal, short life that would be. It's no wonder you have a problem with the First Noble Truth.

Dukkha is not just pain and heartbreak and loss. The Noble Truths define what Buddha meant by the term. Dukkha is also getting what you want and then trying to hang onto it. It's wanting to have security in an insecure world. Most lives have their ups and downs, and it's good that you're doing OK now. We're all mortal, and subject to forces beyond our control.

Yes, "Enjoy today, because tomorrow may never come." is a philosophy that many people try to live by. Buddhists are encouraged to live in the moment, to let life flow through us without grasping. But "Enjoy today" can easily become an excuse to ignore the consequences of your actions. Tomorrow does eventually come, and the party is over. What then?

The Dharma teaches the Middle Way.

Nidish

If you want to "chuck the boulder", you have to contemplate the impermanence of the things your happiness comes from. If you are unwilling to do that, you will never understand the first truth.

Can u tell me how u faced this?? Or how u would???

Kartari

I was thinking... About what I have been lacking... About what it was that was within me which stopped me from attaining Nirvana.. And then, it dawned upon me.. It was the fact that I rejoice being in Samsara... I have no reason to leave Samsara... I can not comprehend the First Noble truth at all... I think the pleasures outweigh the sufferings... I don't get why we need a "better" position when we can make this position better... I don't see why nirvana is needed at all... I have figured out that my clinging to samsara - to the pleasures of samsara - has made me unwilling to seek for anything else!! Please help me out with this one... I feel this is the first boulder I need to chuck... Yes, I do seem really primitive in this aspect, but I need help...
Every time I suffer(in the broader sense), I tend to think it is all because of me - of something I had done the day before or the moment before - and believe that if I am careful the next time, I will not suffer... I just can't see why this is not true... And, I feel, IGNORANCE IS BLISS.. Or at least, IGNORANCE IS BLISS TOO!! Both ways I think I don't need to practice The Dhamma I know this is REAL ignorance.. But I just can't tell myself why I am wrong!!! So Please do help me out!!!!

Lol, I have the opposite problem, too cynical. This post is funny to me, because I never thought the 1st Noble Truth would not be obvious to anyone, let alone a Buddhist.

If this attitude of yours is so compelling that you don't want to change it... then don't. Don't go looking for suffering, it will find you sooner or later. All you have to do is be alive. Life will teach you the 1st Noble Truth, no matter how careful you might be about avoiding it.

Nidish

@Kartari Even i was like you till very recently - actually till today morning!! But then, I realized that I had not achieved Nirvana and sought a reason - was it improper practice? Was it wrong conception? And then I understood!! Till then I thought it was really easy and I had understood it.. Now that I know that I don't(trust me this really takes effort to understand), things are different, and I feel closer to Nirvana.. And Nirvana has become a very close reality to me now :P

Maybe I am just imagining things :P

Roger

May I respe

Every time I suffer(in the broader sense), I tend to think it is all because of me - of something I had done the day before or the moment before - and believe that if I am careful the next time, I will not suffer... I just can't see why this is not true... And, I feel, IGNORANCE IS BLISS.. Or at least, IGNORANCE IS BLISS TOO!! Both ways I think I don't need to practice The Dhamma I know this is REAL ignorance.. But I just can't tell myself why I am wrong!!! So Please do help me out!!!!

Pardon me if I miss your point. I'm not wanting to challenge you gratuitously. May I suggest the possibility that suffering has not even BEGUN for you? You can lead a charmed life for quite a while, not seeing nor being affected by the suffering which surrounds other people. THEN in your last years everything becomes unbearable suffering-wise for you. For example you can get eye, rectal and liver cancer all at the same time. Sorry for being graphic. When I watch basic cable TV and all I see is graphic imagery. Thought I'd try it out here. Anyway, it's just a thought. EVERYTHING is in transition. Awaken your Buddha nature to prepare for changes.

rainbowwarrior

The Buddha said that if we could remember how painful it is to be born, we would never want to do it again.

Nidish

Well, I am 15... And maybe I have a lot more to experience in life...

SherabDorje

The Buddha did not really begin his journey until he was 27 or 28, so it makes perfect sense that you would feel at 15 that there is more positive to life than suffering- so just wait a while.

seeker242

If you want to "chuck the boulder", you have to contemplate the impermanence of the things your happiness comes from. If you are unwilling to do that, you will never understand the first truth.

Can u tell me how u faced this?? Or how u would???

http://www.wildmind.org/blogs/on-practice/the-centrality-of-impermanence