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Creating Bridges: Spirituality & Philosophy:
Spirituality in Daily Life:
Impermanence and Suffering
Part 1 of 2
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by Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron |
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Buddhism talks a lot about impermanence, death and suffering. Isn't such an approach to life unhealthy and pessimistic?
The word "suffering" is not an accurate translation of the Pali or Sanskrit word dukha. Dukha has the connotation of unsatisfactory experiences. It means that everything isn't completely wonderful in our lives. While most of us don't feel we are suffering all the time, we would agree that not everything in our lives is perfect. Even when we're relatively happy, there's no guarantee that things will continue to go well. One small event can change our entire experience. This is what is meant by unsatisfactory experiences, dukha, or suffering. The Buddha merely described our present situation. Therefore he was being realistic, not pessimistic. His motivation for describing this was to help us seek the means to free ourselves from it.
The purpose of contemplating impermanence, death, and unsatisfactory experiences isn't to become depressed and have the joy taken out of life. Rather, the purpose is to rid ourselves of attachment and false expectations. If we become emotionally afraid or depressed when thinking about these things, then we are not contemplating them correctly. Meditating on these subjects should make our minds calm and lucid because it decreases our clinging attachment and the confusion that attachment causes in our lives.
At present, our minds are easily overwhelmed by the false projections of attachment. We see people and objects in an unrealistic way. Things are changing moment by moment but they appear to us to be constant and unchanging. That is why we are upset when they break. We may say, "All these things are impermanent," but our words aren't consistent with our innate view, which mistakenly considers our body and our loved ones to be unchanging. This unrealistic conception causes us pain, because we have expectations of things and people that cannot be fulfilled. Our loved ones cannot live forever; a relationship doesn't remain the same; the new car will not always be the shiny model just off the showroom floor. Thus, we are perpetually disappointed when we must part with the people we care for, when our possessions break, when our body becomes weak or old. If we had a more realistic view of these things and accepted their impermanence -- not just with our words but with our heart -- then such disappointment would not come.
Contemplating impermanence and death also eliminates many of the useless worries that prevent us from being happy and relaxed. Ordinarily, we become upset when we are criticized or insulted. We are angry when our possessions are stolen and feel jealous if someone else gets the promotion we wanted. We are proud of our looks or athletic ability. All of these attitudes are disturbing emotions that leave harmful imprints on our mindstream and bring us problems in our future lives as well as in this life. However, if we contemplate the transient nature of these things, we accept that our life will end and that none of these things can accompany us at death. Understanding that, we will stop exaggerating their importance, and they will no longer be so problematic for us.
That doesn't mean that we become apathetic towards the people and environment around us. On the contrary, by eliminating the wrong conception of permanence and the disturbing attitudes that stem from it, our minds will become clearer and we'll be able to enjoy things for what they are. We'll live more in the present, appreciating things as they are now, without fantasies about what they should be or might become. We'll worry less about small matters and will be less distracted when we meditate. We will not be so touchy about how others treat us. By reflecting on impermanence and unsatisfactory experiences, we can deal better with all the unpleasant events that occur because we are still in the cycle of constantly recurring problems. In short, by correctly contemplating these truths, our mental state will become healthier.
Thus the understanding of our mortality inspires us to think deeply about what is important in life and to set clear priorities. If we do so, our life will be more vibrant and when the time of death arrives, we will have no regrets. For example, no one dies thinking, "I should have worked more overtime." But people do die regretting that they mistreated others or did not tell those they loved that they loved them. People die regretting that they did minimal spiritual practice. By reflecting on death in advance, we will do what is important while we are alive and will avoid such regrets at the time of death.
Why is there suffering? How can we stop it?
Unsatisfactory experiences occur simply because the causes for them exist. One cause is our disturbing attitudes, such as ignorance, attachment, and anger. The other is the harmful actions we have engaged in, such as killing, stealing, and lying, which are motivated by disturbing attitudes. By developing the wisdom realizing selflessness, we will eliminate the disturbing attitudes and the contaminated actions they cause, thus stopping the source of our problems. As a result, the painful consequences will not follow, and instead, we'll abide in nirvana, a state of lasting happiness. In the meantime, before we generate this wisdom, by doing purification practices we will impede the ripening of the results of our previous destructive actions. The Buddha also taught many techniques for mentally transforming difficult circumstances into the path to enlightenment. We can learn about these and practice them when we have problems.
The FAQs in this section are extracted from Ven Thubten Chodron's Buddhism for Beginners, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca NY
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Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron,
Buddhist Nun, Teacher, Author
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Thubten Chodron (Cherry Greene) graduated with a B.A. in History from UCLA in 1971. After traveling extensively in Europe, North Africa and Asia, she taught in the Los Angeles City School District did post-graduate work in Education at USC.
In l975, she attended a meditation course given by Ven. Lama Yeshe and Ven. Zopa Rinpoche, and subsequently went to their monastery in Nepal to explore Buddhism. In l977, she was ordained as a Buddhist nun.
Chodron studied and practiced Buddhism of the Tibetan tradition under the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan masters for many years in India and Nepal.
She was the spiritual program director at Lama Tzong Khapa Institute in Italy for nearly two years and studied three years at Dorje Pamo Monastery in France. For two years she was resident teacher at Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore, and for ten years she was resident teacher and spiritual advisor at Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle.
She currently is co-founder of Sravasti Abbey at Liberation Park in USA. Ven. Chodron has taught Buddhist philosophy, psychology and meditation worldwide.
Her books include:
Open Heart, Clear Mind; Buddhism for Beginners; Working with Anger; Taming the Monkey Mind, and Blossoms of the Dharma: Living as a Buddhist Nun.
Active in interfaith dialogue, she also does prison work. Ven. Chodron emphasizes the practical application of Buddha's teachings in daily life and is especially skilled at explaining them in ways easily understood and practiced by Westerners.
www.thubtenchodron.
org
www.sravastiabbey.
org
www.dharmafriendship.
org
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