A deva named Kamada had been trying to follow the Buddha's Teachings. Alas, he found the task too demanding. Sounding somewhat depressed and downcast -- as human meditators sound when they cannot see any immediate "progress" in their practice and on that account lose sight of the long-term perspective. Discouraged, Kamada illuminated the entire grove as he materialized to complain to the Buddha about how difficult he found it to practice the Dharma.
The Buddha, who is sometimes referred to as the "master physician," took a forward-looking approach. Rather than coddling, comforting, and agreeing with the deva, he instead praised those recluses who renounce (even temporarily) the household life to work steadfastly towards the goal:
"They do even what is difficult to do,
[O Kamada," said the Blessed One],
"The trainees who are composed in virtue,
Steadfast are they in their hearts.
For one who has entered the homeless life
There comes contentment that brings happiness."
[O Kamada," said the Blessed One],
"The trainees who are composed in virtue,
Steadfast are they in their hearts.
For one who has entered the homeless life
There comes contentment that brings happiness."
That is not what Kamada wanted to hear right at that moment. He remained disconsolate, insisting on the difficulty: "It is hard to win this serene contentment, Blessed One, very hard!"
The Buddha repeated that some beings nevertheless manage to do it. Which beings? Those "who love to achieve the mastery of the heart, whose minds [are made calm by balanced effort by mindfulness and the abandoning of discursive thought] both day and night, who love to meditate." What meditation? Meditation on the three universal characteristics of
- change
- unsatisfactoriness
is the way to ultimate contentment because it leads to detachment from worldly concerns. After all, what is there to worry about when one remains aware of the mark of impermanence? Or remains aware that things are ultimately unsatisfying? Or remains aware that things are ultimately not our own; they cannot be possessed or mastered but only grasped at and clung to until they are taken away?
However, Kamada argued that it is hard to compose the mind. The Buddha, accepting that the task might not be easy, added: "Yet that which is hard to compose, they do compose it" and, calming their restless minds, they attain the stages of awakening towards enlightenment.
"The path is uneven and impassable, Blessed One!" Kamada insisted, seeming to crave some magic to make everything easy.
Magic is not how buddhas teach: They cannot tread the path for us but can only encourage and show the way. We ourselves must summon the effort to walk on. Liberation takes balanced effort (not too much, not too little), which is consistent and persistent. To do otherwise is -- to over exert then slack off -- is to become discouraged.
But for Kamada, not yet a noble one, training the mind seemed to be an endless task:
"Though the path is uneven and impassable,
The noble ones walk along it, Kamada.
The ignoble fall down head first,
Straight down on the uneven path.
But the path of the noble ones is even,
For the noble are even amidst the uneven."
(KS I, 68-69; SN 2:6)
