Merle,
> thank you mike...i see
Always a pleasure to turn the wheel of the Dharma.
>..i ask how does the parents of a disabled child come to terms with
>suffering.? buddha style?
I can't speak for a hypothetical parent, but basically the 'mechanics' of
suffering are the same for everyone, but perhaps not the degree. If I was such
a parent, with my understanding of Buddhism, I would understand that my child's
disability is the outcome of natural conditions and is not something
supernatural like 'god's will' or bad luck, fate etc. Also, being grounded in
the 'now', I would be living with my child in each moment as he is and not in
the past (regret) or some imagined future (false hope). Instead of living with
the pain of what might have been, blame or regret, I would be living with the
acceptance of things as they are and would be much more open to celebrating
what I have right now.
> buddha teaches "escape"
Merle, I've copied below the most central teaching of Buddhism in the hope it
will show you how "escape" is a completely wrong way of looking at what Buddha
taught. You may note that it differs from Christianity in that it is not
supernatural in anyway, almost a science of how the mind works. I hope you will
give it a fair reading!
Wiki
Summary
The four noble truths can be summarized as follows:[k][l]
1. The truth of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, stress)
2. The truth of the origin of dukkha
3. The truth of the cessation of dukkha
4. The truth of the path leading to the cessation of dukkha
First truth: dukkha
Main article: Dukkha
The first noble truth is the truth of dukkha. The Pali term dukkha (Sanskrit:
duhkha) is typically translated as "suffering", but the term dukkha has a much
broader meaning than the typical use of the word "suffering". Dukkha suggests a
basic unsatisfactoriness pervading all forms of life, due to the fact that all
forms of life are impermanent and constantly
changing. Dukkha indicates a lack of satisfaction, a sense that things never
measure up to our expectations or standards.[1][web 1][17]
The emphasis on dukkha is not intended to be pessimistic, but
rather to identify the nature of dukkha, in order that dukkha things may be
overcome. The Buddha acknowledged that there is both happiness and
sorrow in the world, but he taught that even when we have some kind of
happiness, it is not permanent; it is subject to change. And due to this
unstable, impermanent nature of all things, everything we experience is said to
have the quality of duhkha or unsatisfactoriness.
Therefore unless we can gain insight into that truth, and understand
what is really able to give us happiness, and what is unable to provide
happiness, the experience of dissatisfaction will persist.[29][30][31][web 17]
Traleg Kyabgon explains:
Normally we think our happiness is contingent upon external
circumstances and situations, rather than upon our own inner attitude
toward things, or toward life in general. The Buddha was saying that
dissatisfaction is part of life, even if we are seeking happiness and
even if we manage to find temporary happiness. The very fact that it is
temporary means that sooner or later the happiness is going to pass. So
the Buddha said that unless we understand this and see how pervasive
dissatisfaction or duhkha is, it is impossible for us to start looking
for real happiness.[web 17]
Second truth: origin of dukkha
Main article: Samudaya
The second noble truth is the truth of the origin of dukkha. Within the context
of the four noble truths, the origin (Pali: samudaya) of dukkha is commonly
explained as craving (Pali: tanha) conditioned by ignorance (Pali:
avijja).[32][web 1][m] This craving runs on three channels:[32][33][34]
* Craving for sense-pleasures (kama-tanha): this is craving for sense
objects which provide pleasant feeling, or craving for sensory pleasures.
* Craving to be (bhava-tanha): this is craving to be something, to
unite with an experience. This includes craving to be solid and
ongoing, to be a being that has a past and a future,[35] and craving to prevail
and dominate over others.
* Craving not to be (vibhava-tanha): this is craving to not experience
the world, and to be nothing; a wish to be separated from painful feelings.[n]
Ignorance (Pali: avijja) can be defined as ignorance of the meaning and
implication of the four noble truths.[36] On a deeper level, it refers to a
misunderstanding of the nature of the self and reality.[o]
Another common explanation presents the cause of dukkha as disturbing emotions
(Sanskrit: kleshas) rooted in ignorance (Sanskrit: avidya).[p] In this context,
it is common to identify three root disturbing emotions, called the three
poisons,[37][38] as the root cause of suffering or dukkha. These three poisons
are:
* Ignorance (Sanskrit: avidya or moha): misunderstanding of the nature
of reality; bewilderment.
* Attachment (Sanskrit: raga): attachment to pleasurable experiences.
* Aversion (Sanskrit: dvesha): a fear of getting what we don't want, or
not getting what we do want.[q]
Third truth: cessation of dukkha
See also: Nirodha
The third Noble Truth is the truth of the cessation of dukkha. Cessation (Pali:
nirodha) refers to the cessation of suffering and the causes of suffering. It is
the cessation of all the unsatisfactory experiences and their causes in such a
way that they can no longer occur again.
It’s the removal, the final absence, the cessation of those things,
their non-arising."[web 18]
Cessation is the goal of one's spiritual practice in the Buddhist
tradition.[web 17] According to the Buddhist point of view, once we have
developed a
genuine understanding of the causes of suffering, such as craving (tanha) and
ignorance (avijja), then we can completely eradicate these causes and thus be
free from suffering.[39]
Cessation is often equated with nirvana (Sanskrit; Pali nibbana), which can be
described as the state of being in cessation[40] or the event or process of the
cessation.[41] A temporary state of nirvana can be said to occur whenever the
causes of suffering (e.g. craving) have ceased in our mind.[42]
Joseph Goldstein explains:
Ajahn Buddhadasa, a well-known Thai master of the last century, said that when
village
people in India were cooking rice and waiting for it to cool, they might
remark, "Wait a little for the rice to become nibbana". So here, nibbana means
the cool state of mind, free from the fires of the defilements. As Ajahn
Buddhadasa remarked, "The cooler the mind, the more Nibbana in that moment". We
can notice for ourselves relative states of coolness
in our own minds as we go through the day.[42]
Fourth truth: path to the cessation of dukkha
Main article: Noble Eightfold Path
The fourth noble truth is the path to the cessation of dukkha. This path is
called the Noble Eightfold Path, and it is considered to be the essence of
Buddhist practice.[web 17] The eightfold path consists of: Right Understanding,
Right Thought,
Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right
Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
While the first three truths are primarily concerned with
understanding the nature of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, stress) and its
causes, the fourth truth presents a practical method for overcoming
dukkha.[43] The path consists of a set of eight interconnected factors or
conditions, that when developed together, lead to the cessation of
dukkha.[44][web 1] Ajahn Sucitto describes the path as "a mandala of
interconnected factors that support and moderate each other."[44]
Thus, the eight items of the path are not to be understood as stages, in which
each stage is completed before moving on to the next. Rather,
they are to be understood as eight significant dimensions of one’s
behaviour—mental, spoken, and bodily—that operate in dependence on one
another; taken together, they define a complete path, or way of living.[45]
Experiential knowledge
The term "noble truths" is a common translation of the Pali terms ariya sacca
(Sanskrit: arya satya). The Pali term sacca (Sanskrit: satya) means "truth" and
"real" or "actual thing." With that in mind, Rupert Gethin explains that the
four noble truths are not asserted as propositional
truths or creeds. Instead, they are understood in the Buddhist tradition as
"true things" or "realities" that the Buddha experienced.[46][r] Gethin writes:
The word satya (Pali sacca) can certainly mean
truth, but it might equally be rendered as ‘real’ or ‘actual thing’.
That is, we are not dealing here with propositional truths with which we must
either agree or disagree, but with four ‘true things’ or
‘realities’ whose nature, we are told, the Buddha finally understood on
the night of his awakening. [...] This is not to say that the Buddha’s
discourses do not contain theoretical statements of the nature of
suffering, its cause, its cessation, and the path to its cessation, but
these descriptions function not so much as dogmas of the Buddhist faith
as a convenient conceptual framework for making sense of Buddhist
thought.[46]
This understanding is reflected by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, who states that the Four
Noble Truths are best understood not as beliefs, but as categories of
experience. Thanissaro Bhikkhu writes:
These four truths are best understood, not as
beliefs, but as categories of experience. They offer an alternative to
the ordinary way we categorize what we can know and describe–in terms of me/not
me, and being/not being.[s] These ordinary categories create trouble, for the
attempt to maintain
full being for one's sense of "me" is a stressful effort doomed to
failure, in that all of the components of that "me" are inconstant,
stressful, and thus not worthy of identifying as "me" or "mine".
[...][T]he study of the four noble truths is aimed first at
understanding these four categories, and then at applying them to
experience so that one may act properly toward each of the categories
and thus attain the highest, most total happiness possible.[web 2]
The Tibetan Buddhist lama Chögyam Trungpa emphasizes that cessation is a
personal experience.[47] Chögyam Trungpa explains:
The truth of cessation is a personal discovery. It
is not mystical and does not have any connotations of religion or
psychology. It is simply your experience... It is like experiencing
instantaneous good health: you have no cold, no flu, no aches, and no
pains in your body. You feel perfectly well, absolutely refreshed and
wakeful! Such an experience is possible.[47]
