If life is suffering, why live?

In his oversimplicity, he is wrong on each point.

That time my ANGER killed me (NDE)

But I hate him so much because he's so full of hate, and I hate hate and people who hate!

Why are you mad? - Oh, I'dunno, no reason.

Can anger grow so bad that it eats us alive? But anger is "natural," and it's not good to hold it in. Science has found that people who express their anger, say by beating a pillow, significantly worsen. Acting out what is a transient emotion into a practice trigger-and-response.

Ven. JC Reilly, Dr. Nicholson, and angry Sandler

Every time I hear that man's name, I get so triggered and p*ssed off, I'm just like Whoopi Goldberg cussing like I did when I was best friends with Mr. Trump, who often hired to me to cuss with my filthy mouth during my act.

Shut the h*ll up, Kids, before I beat you! - Yeah, you heard Mom, shut the h*ll up! - No, you!

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The way to "manage" anger is to let it all hang out, behave irrationally, right? What could be healthier? When anger arises, watch it mindfully (non-reactively). If that is impossible, apply the immediately-effective antidote of metta (loving-kindness).

What are the Three Poisons the Buddha warned against? Craving, HATRED, and delusion.

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If feeling cold indifference towards others and their plight, practice karuna (compassion).

If not happy enough and wishing to instantly be happy, engage in mudita (joy in others' joy), the opposite of schadenfreude.

(What's that? It's delight in the misfortune of others, like poor Mr. Trump, who has to wear an adult diaper and fouls himself daily, which is why his baggy pants are so ill-fitting and wrinkled and his posture so extraordinarily bad, pushing his butt out and behind him. Just ask firsthand witness Noel Casler.)

What's wrong with anger if I don't hurt anyone?

One of the very dysfunctional things about anger is that, without realizing it, we often use it as the basis of our bad habits: I have to drink, I have to party, I have to get my grind on...or I'll explode. First, make things internally intolerable with messy emotions. Then "solve" the distress with a dysfunctional coping method.

Angry activist dies from heart attack and discovers we are all one (NDE)

Anger Management my @$$!

(Coming Home) Mr. David Williamson shares the story of his near-death experience, dying of a heart attack brought on by hypertension after years of intense anger-fueled activism in support of the Black community.

During his encounter on the Other Side, he is surprised to realize that we are All One, while experiencing himself as a glowing orb of light and learning that no experience in this human life is ever lost or wasted.

Mr. Williamson shares how the experience transformed the way he views life now and how it changed the way he relates to all other people.

"We are creating our next life right now in this moment, with our attention"

- David Williamson

Follow David Williamson on his Substack to connect with him, receive articles he writes, and learn about workshops he may offer ⇨  dwilliamson.substack.com.

Support this channel and become a member of Coming Home ⇨ @cominghomechannel. Watch all of the near-death experience stories ⇨ • Near-Death Experiences

SUBMIT YOUR NDE

Share your NDE story for consideration on the Coming Home channel ⇨ cominghomefilms.org/submit...

Subscribe to newsletter ⇨ cominghomechannel.substack.com where Coming Home explores the meaning and purpose of near-death experiences in the modern age. CH writes about the intersection of spirituality, life after death, comparative religion, philosophy, depth psychology, modern culture, and most of all how we can all stay connected to the truth that living doesn't end when we die in this life. Connect on Facebook ⇨ cominghomechannel. Instagram ⇨ cominghomechannel.

• VIDEO: Childish Gambino - "This Is America"
• Hidden meaning behind "This Is [MAGA] America"
• David Williamson (Coming Home NDE (video), June 27, 2023; Dhr. Seven, Ani, Melissa MacKay of insightla.org (video recommendation), Wisdom Quarterly COMMENTARY

Buddhism as magic: Amitabha's heaven

The Tale of Amitabha Sutra, [not] spoken of by the [historical] Buddha

(Wisdom Tellers) March 29, 2024: Explore the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss (Sukhavati) with Buddha Amitabha, [not] spoken by the [historical] Buddha [but added later in apocryphal texts attributed to the Buddha, as many Mahayana sutras are something other than authentic texts spoken by the historical figure of the Buddha and his first enlightened disciples as represented in the Pali language canon].

Join us on a profound journey through the realms of [the journey to] enlightenment. #Amitabha

What is the "pure land"?

Sukhavati (Sukhāvatī, "blissful") is the pure land of Amitābha ("Infinite Light") in Mahayana Buddhism.

• Mahayana ("Greater Vehicle") is an amalgamation of Hinduism (Brahminical Brahmanism) taking the historical Buddha's Doctrine (Dharma) and making it align with the very (Vedic) beliefs the Buddha opposed and argued against, revivifying the meaning of obscure texts and stories from the ancient "Knowledge Books" of Proto-India. But the Brahmins had their views and were not going to lose them to this new shramana ("wandering ascetic") movement headed by Shakyamuni Buddha (the Scythian Siddhartha Gautama) and Mahavira (the Nigantha Nattaputta, founder of Jainism).
• Therefore, elements of Mahayana Buddhism are almost indistinguishable from modern Hinduism even if at their core their ambition is different. One would not know it's different because it's clothed in the same sort of fanciful language of a "higher self" (atman) merging with the Infinite (Brahman) until there's no distinction (advaita) and we are returned to our original luminous state of mind. The historical Buddha spoke of "pure lands" as worlds where once-returners and non-returners might be reborn to advance towards arhatship. Such worlds only exist when the teaching of a Buddha still exists in the world because that is how they came to be once-returners and non-returners. It may sound silly, but this is because when someone reaches the first stage of enlightenment (called stream entry), one will at most be reborn seven more times. If one progresses no further, one is nevertheless sure of reaching full enlightenment within seven lives. 
• Although there are other stages detailed in the Path to Freedom (Vimuttimagga), these are abbreviated to four in the later commentarial and exegetical text the Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga), which is regarded as canonical (official doctrine) in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. This abbreviation results in four classes of enlightened individuals: stream-enterers, once-returners, non-returners, and arhats. There is more than one kind of stream-enterer, who have at most fewer and fewer rebirths to endure.
• With practice, a stream-enterer may become an arhat in the same life. Practicing no further, that same person nevertheless faces no more than seven more rebirths. The next class of noble ones (Aryans) is the once-returner who will at most be reborn in this world one more time. (This seems to open up the possibility of being reborn in a sukhavati, a place where all the beings study the Dharma until they reach liberation without again being reborn in a lower world. As there are more than one such worlds, one can imagine being reborn in more than one of those worlds). Still such attainers are once-returners (sakkadagamis).
• The next stage and class is non-returning, who is no longer liable to being reborn in the human world again. (One of the extraordinary things about stream-enterers and the others is that they have all overcome the possibility of being reborn in any world lower than the human plane). But the non-returner, not returning to this plane of existence, is reborn in a sukhavati (pure abode), there to reach arhatship in however long it takes.
• The arhat is the fully enlightened person, who it must be noted is not the "supremely" enlightened. The enlightenment of a buddha and that of a disciple is the same in many respects. But a disciple is not likely to be able to teach others effectively and can in no way establish the Dharma in the world. This kind of enlightenment is called "supreme" (samma-sam-bodhi, "all the way around enlightenment" with the linguistic and other abilities to be able to establish the Dharma and a Sangha).
• There is another kind of "full" enlightenment between these two, and that is the enlightenment of a pacceka-buddha ("non-teaching" or "silent" buddha). This person sees all and knows all just like a supremely awakened buddha but does not possess the Ten Powers of a Buddha to effectively teach or establish the Dharma.
• All three are nevertheless called arhats; therefore, all buddhas are arhats, but not all arhats are buddhas. It's nitpicking, but it's important to make the distinction for scholarship purposes. The more interesting nitpicking distinctions are those in the first category: Stream entry has four kinds, like those born among noble families and the bija-bija. See The Path to Freedom (Upatissa) for details.

Sukhavati Pure Land is also called the "Land of Bliss" or the "Western Paradise" and is the most well-known of the Buddhist pure lands due to the popularity of faith-based Pure Land Buddhism in East Asia.

Etymology and names

Sukhavati the word is the feminine form of the Sanskrit word sukhāvat ("full of joy," "blissful") [1, 2] from sukha ("delight," "joy") and -vat ("full of") [3].

Sukhavati is known by different names in other languages. East Asian names are based on Chinese translations, and longer names may consist of the words "Western," "Blissful," and "Pure Land" in various combinations.

Some names and combinations are more popular in certain countries. Due to its importance, Sukhavati is often simply called "The Pure Land" without distinguishing it from other pure lands. Wiki: Sukhavati

#Amitayus #Amitayur #Amituofo #AmidaButsu #Öpamé #UltimateBliss #Sukhavati #Dharma #Enlightenment #BuddhaLand #PureLand

World Happiness Report 2024

Why are you happy? - Well, I'm a Buddhist nun, and the Dharma and Sangha are so beautiful.

Buddha, why are you always smiling?

In this issue of the World Happiness Report we focus on the happiness of people at different stages of life.

In the "Seven Ages of Man" (listed below) in Shakespeare’s hypnotic As You Like It, the later stages of life are portrayed as deeply depressing.

But happiness research shows a more nuanced picture, one that is changing over time.

Explore the 2024 report for the latest findings on the happiness of the world’s young, old – and everyone in between.

Shakespeare: All the world's a stage

The Seven Ages by William Shakespeare (Kanish Mahajan/slideshare.net)

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Act II, Scene VII, Line 139 features one of [Edward De Vere's aka] Shakespeare's most famous monologues, spoken by the character Jaques, which begins:

"All the world's a stage

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts"

The central metaphor, stated in vivid verbal sketches, is that a human lifespan is a play in seven acts. These seven "acts," or "ages," are:

At first, [1] the infant,

Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.

Then [2] the whining schoolboy, with his satchel

And shining morning face, creeping like snail

Unwillingly to school. And then [3] the lover,

Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad

Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then [4] a soldier,

Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,

Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,

Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon's mouth. And then [5] the justice,

In fair round belly with good capon lined,

With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,

Full of wise saws and modern instances;

And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts

Into [6] the lean and slippered pantaloon,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide

For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,

That ends this strange eventful history,

Is [7] second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

Read the Report

We prefer to think of smiling as face yoga, Thich Nhat Hanh, not just the mouth.

• 

  Fat, Happy Budai (Hotei)

  Chapter 1: Happiness and Age: Summary
• Chapter 2: Happiness of the younger, the older, and those in between
• Chapter 3: Child and Adolescent Well-being: Global Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities
• Chapter 4: Supporting the Well-being of an Aging Global Population: Associations between Well-being and Dementia
• Chapter 5: Differences in Life Satisfaction among Older Adults in India

Home | The World Happiness Report; Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Shauna Schwartz (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Happy Nat'l Unicorn and Int'l ASMR Day

Unicorns were real flesh and bone creatures like narwhals on land, a kind of goat or sheep.

I love the sound of bristles and sticking metal into soft wood, oooh. *Tingle Tingle* 😵💗

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National Unicorn Day

What mythological creature has been more beloved over the centuries than the unicorn?

As an incredible symbol of purity and enchantment, the unicorn is loved by children and adults alike. They are integral parts of fairytales and legends.

For all the roles they have played in art, literature, and cinematography, unicorns deserve their own day. 

How to celebrate National Unicorn Day

If one is a misfit seeker, one is a unicorn.

The best way to celebrate is to find a fun, fanciful activity to enjoy with family and/or friends. Get creative with art, music, or other projects that promote free-thinking and fantasy. Or try out some of these other ideas: daysoftheyear.com/days/unicorn-day.

It's International ASMR Day, too

ASMR can help a meditator

There’s a day dedicated to the odd and delightful sensations of ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response). What in the world is that? Fans of This American Life already know. It is a phenomenon that tickles the senses of some sensitive types in the most unexpected ways.

Every year, on April 9th, the world celebrates International ASMR Day. This special day is about whispers and tingles and global recognition of an intriguing sensory experience that has captivated millions worldwide.

Wisdom is Bliss (Thurman)

The story of ASMR Day began in 2012, sparked by the curiosity and creativity of ASMR artists like KellyMsAutumnRed and Ilse Blansert of Waterwhisperers.

Their goal was simple yet profound: to spread awareness and appreciation of ASMR.

It’s a sensation that many describe as a delightful tingling in the scalp and neck, often triggered by specific sounds or sights [somewhat like synesthesia].

I can't feel anything from just sound, Hun. - Shush, then enjoy the tactile sensations of massage.

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The forest is alive with subtle sensations

Bring to mind the gentle rustling of leaves or the pleasant whisper of a kind voice. These are the kinds of stimuli that frequently lead to ASMR bliss. Think of a cat or dog companion getting a backrub. Now imagine a human feeling the same way because of auditory or visual stimulation.

Why does the world celebrate ASMR Day? It’s more than just enjoying tingling sensations, which only some feel. There’s more to it. This day highlights the therapeutic potential of ASMR.

I feel it, I feel it - the sound of rustling paper!

For some, it’s a gateway to relaxation, a means to alleviate stress, or even a helpful tool to drift off into a peaceful sleep.

It’s a day for ASMR enthusiasts to share their favorite experiences, for YouTube content creators to showcase their innovative works, and for newbies to dip their toes into a mesmerizing world.

Whether one is a long-time fan or just curious about what all the fuss is about, International ASMR Day is the perfect time to explore this fascinating sensory journey.​​​​​ More

The Buddha on pleasure (sutra)

Oh, now I get it! Now Buddhism makes sense! The Buddha really did awaken to the utmost!

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(SN 36.2) Pleasure

Dhr. Seven (based on Bhikkhu Bodhi translation), Ashley Wells (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

[This is the Sukha Sutra, the discourse on happiness, joy, eustress, delight. The Buddha taught:]

“Meditators, there are three feelings. What are the three? There is pleasant feeling, painful feeling, and neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. These are the three feelings.”

Whether it be pleasant or painful

Along with the neither-painful-nor-pleasant,

Both the internal and the external,

Whatever kind of feeling there is:

Having known, “This is disappointing,

Perishable, disintegrating,”

Having touched and touched them, seeing their fall,

One loses one’s passion for [and addiction to] them.

COMMENTARY

Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly edited by Ashley Wells

Well, why in the world would anyone ever want to become dispassionate toward pleasant feeling, or stop hating painful feeling, or stop being disinterested in (bored with) neutral feeling?

It is on account of pleasure (sukha) and pleasant feelings of all kinds (sights, sounds, scents, savors, sensations, or semblances in the mind based on these five) that craving (tanha) and greed (lobha) arises. And as soon as it arises, suffering (dukkha) co-arises. So there is a hidden danger in responding to pleasant feeling (sense stimuli) with desire, lust, pining, hankering, clinging, obsession, addiction, and craving.

It is on account of these that one acts (creates karma of mind, speech, and body), and it is on account of karma (deeds) that one creates this entire mass of suffering: rebirth, painful karmic results (vipaka and phala, resultants and fruits).

It is on account of hating pain or unpleasant feelings (dukkha) of all kinds that aversion (dosa) arises. And as soon as it arises, suffering co-arises. So there is another hidden danger in responding to unpleasant feeling (sense stimuli) with aversion (whether it manifests as hate or fear, the urge to destroy the source of pain or to run away from it).

It is on account of these that one acts, and it is on account of karma (actions) that one creates this entire mass of suffering: rebirth, painful karmic results.

It is on account of [reacting or responding with] confusion, indifference, indolence, or boredom toward neutral feelings of all kinds (those many things that inspire neither sukha nor dukkha) that boredom arises. And as soon as it arises, suffering co-arises. [Who likes boredom?] So there is a third hidden danger in responding to neutral feeling (sense stimuli) with boredom and indifference (whether it manifests as sleepiness, lethargy, sloth, torpor, inaction, negligence, or distraction).

It is on account of these that one conducts oneself, and it is on account karma (conduct, behavior, intentions) that one creates this entire mass of suffering: rebirth, painful karmic results.

So one could say, it is because of feeling (sensations or sensory stimulation and emotions, which are mental formations or sankharas that seem to be reactions to things based on our history and the cognitive labels we apply to ideas and sensory information) that we react. A reaction is an action, that is to say, is karma. Karma keeps this wheel turning. We grasp and cling, in search of ever fresh pleasant sensations, meeting all sorts of trouble (dukkha) along the way. Trouble (dukkha) goads us. We're constantly running from unpleasant and inert (neutral, bland, boring) stimuli, seeking out excitement and pleasure.

That's about seven good reasons to want to become dispassionate toward craving and go in search of peace. Moreover, there are much better pleasures than sensuality can provide. There's one form of pleasure one should not fear, as it is not based on carnal desires. It is called piti or rapture, bliss, zest, a kind of happiness arising from the temporary purification of the mind/heart through absorption (jhana).

Meditative absorption gets a bad rap because even the wandering ascetic Siddhartha feared it, avoided it, and on account of his foolishness could not attain enlightenment. He could not purify his heart/mind. He should have "followed his bliss." Instead, he pursued self-mortification, tapas or severe "austerities" to burn off impurities and blame and deprive the body as if it (rebirth and craving) were the body's fault.

The body was not to blame. It had been the mind all along. On the verge of starvation and exhaustion, he accepted food and gave up severe fasting. He gave up trying to punish his body to enlightenment via penance the way so many "saints" had pursued it. And he came upon the Middle Way, avoiding the two extremes of hedonism and pleasure and self-mortification and pain.

The female donor Sujata and her maid saved him, gave him food, restored him to health. And he set off on his great quest again, this time with a healthy body and a clear mind. And he pondered all that he had put himself through. Spontaneously, he remembered a very dee meditation he at the age of 7 once had. He had spontaneously entered the first absorption at that time when left under the shade of a tree as the Scythians/Sakas/Shakyians were enjoying a planting festival.

His meditation had not been going particularly well. And he remembered that bliss, that piti that arises in the first and second absorptions. He questioned himself why he had feared this sort of pleasure -- given that it was not tied to sensuality and not associated with unwholesome states. And he wondered, "Maybe this is the way to enlightenment." An inner knowing or intuition called back to him that it was. So he pursued it.

He had spontaneous entered that absorption as a child because for so many past lives he had been a wandering ascetic, a mendicant, a meditator. And for so many past lives, he had enjoyed the karmic results of having mastered those absorptions. That karma had led him to heaven many time, to kingship in many worlds, to abundance and riches, beauty and strong faculties. Here he was still enjoying those good results as a handsome, strong, capable young man, age of about 35.

He had renounced his riches, his influence, his palaces, his beautiful and devoted wife, his royal parents and friends, family, and subjects. He had set off on a quest to provide for them all this one thing that could nowhere in the world be found: the end of all suffering.

No longer fearing that pleasure, that rapture, that bliss of meditative absorption, he pursued those progressive states of samadhi (stillness and mental coherence, superconsciousness brought about by purification of the mind/heart).

Then entering them, emerging, mastering, and moving on to more subtle and sublime states, he emerged and turned his mind to the question, Why do we suffer. Knowledge arose, wisdom arose, light arose. That knowledge could be condensed into the profound technical term Dependent Origination. This term should not be slighted. It is deep and profound and made it possible for Siddhartha to go from an ordinary, uninstructed worldling to an arhat, a fully enlightened person. And what's more than that, a supremely enlightened teacher or samma-sam-buddha. For he had over aeons developed the karma that gave him the capacity to teach what he himself had realized.

The turning point was that he took that samadhi, which many others have, and added to it what no one else had: a fourfold setting up of mindfulness. That is to say, he took that temporarily purified mind and applied it, in general, to the question, "Why is there suffering?" and, in specific, to the answer by way of Dependent Origination.

Briefly stated, "When this is, that comes to be. When this is not, that does not come to be." All things are dependently origination. That is, all things depend on conditions and constituents for their existence and do not exist without them. (The mind-blowing fact is that they do not even exist with them because when the constituents of a thing are present and arranged in a functional manner, the "thing" seems to arise. But all there actually is is that assemblage of constituents, not something new. Why? It is because all things are impersonal. All things are impermanent, just a temporary arrangement of those constituents which are not the thing but without which the thing -- or the illusion of the thing -- does not arise. All things are unsatisfactory, disappointing, painful, full of hidden danger, like a lure. For example, when a "wheel" is present, what is really there? Spokes, a hub, a tire, wood, a peg, and so on. When all of the constituents are arranged, "wheel" arises, that is, it originates. It comes into existence. Where is the "wheel" in these things? It is nowhere to be found. Those things are empty of a wheel.

Another example: When "flame" arises, on what conditions and constituents does it rely? Heat, fuel, a wick or catalyzing agent, oxygen, and a mysterious process of combustion. When these five are present, the illusion of "flame" arises. Where is the flame? In the conditions and constituents, apart from them? Neither. It is not in them, and it does not exist apart from them. What arose was an illusion that seemed to be a new thing. But it was just those five things, like the whole being more than the sum of its parts.

We can take anything apart (analyze it) and see the same thing: Dependent Origination. This thing, this illusion, is dependent on those things. When this (these things) is, that (illusion) comes to be. This is all very nice and interesting and accounts for all things in the world. But who cares?

I care. You care. But what we care about more is us, ourselves, our individual consciousness, our ego, our self, personality, our existence, our "soul." What conditions and constituents are there that give rise to the illusion of "self" (of an eternal soul going through all this)?

There are five. They are form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. When these are present, "self" arises. And with the self, all those feelings, all that identification, all that karma, all that rebirth, all those results of karma, and of that entire mass of suffering arises. This is completely unacceptable.

Fortunately, we don't have to believe it. We have to find the "self." Go find yourself. Where should I look? Look for self in the body, this form. Whatever form one takes, where is the self in it? Well, I'm not the body. Aha, then I must be feelings! Of course, I am this feeling and that feeling, and all the past feelings and all the future feelings... Well, that doesn't make much sense. I must be the perceptions. No, I am my intentions, my emotions, my history, my cognitive labels, these mental formations. No, well, that doesn't make sense either. AHA, I am the Feeler. I am the Perceiver. I am the formless in Form. I am these Formations. I am (OM!) Consciousness itself!!! The only problem is, consciousness is not a noun so much as a verb.

It is not a thing quite like other things. It is, and when investigated this becomes clear, an empty process, an impersonal process, a stream of cittas and cetasikas, mind-moments and mental concomitants. Well, okay, I'm not consciousness, because what is consciousness without formations, perceptions, feelings, and form? No, on second thought, I am that I am. Which I am? This one. No, that one. Here I am, wasn't I?

What Siddhartha saw that put him on the path to enlightenment and nirvana (unending peace and happiness) was that this "self" is dependently originated just like everything else in this reality, in this universe, in this multiverse, in these dimensions, in these worlds exalted and abysmal.

But what was he looking for? He didn't start off "looking for himself," though that's what he found. He was looking for an answer to the question, "Why do we suffer and what is the end of all suffering?" How does one bring that about, the end of all pain, grief, loss, annoyance, the not getting what we want, the getting what we don't want, the ultimate disappointment in all things, the lack of fulfillment, the never being satisfied? All of that stuff is called dukkha.

Me no want dukkha. How me get not-dukkha? By understanding Dependent Origination, it all became clear. And with it, the illusion fell away. And with its falling away, the reality was laid bare. And the mind/heart shrank back, let go, became disillusioned and dispassionate toward all formations. And he was free. Siddhartha was now the Buddha. He would soon be able to teach and lead others to this realization and to enlightenment and to a glimpse of nirvana. Now, one should know, there are two nirvanas. They are the same, of course, but they are differentiated as "nirvana with remainder" and "nirvana without remainder." What remains? Once one has touch nirvana, there is no falling back.

One has entered the stream that leads inevitably and invariably to the consummation, to the end of ALL suffering of any and every kind, to nirvana.

But though one has realized it here-and-now, there is some residual to deal with. This body (form) still exists. This mind (feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness) still exists -- only now one does not take it to be a "self" to cling to. One no longer clings to the Five Things (heaps, aggregates) as a self.

What is suffering?

Suffering is an illusion, too, one based on causes, conditions, and constituents. It is real, insofar as any dependently originated thing is, but it does not apply to anyone.

By identifying with the Five Aggregates clung to as "self," those very aggregates were suffering. When the illusion is dispelled, there is no one for the suffering to cling to.

By letting go, wisdom arises and wisdom cuts off the illusion of an ongoing self wandering endlessly through samsara, that self that is the One True I, the Higher Self, the Ultimate Myself, the Eternal Soul, the Personality, the I am that I am, the Doer, the Watcher, the Recipient of the Results of Karma, the conceit, the pride, the clinging to ephemeral things like form (assemblages of the Four Great Elements or characteristics of materiality manifesting as particles called kalapas, which a purified and still mind, a coherent and concentrated heart, can directly see) and mind.

That is no "self," that body composed of these secondary manifestations of those primary elements (maha dhatus). That is no self, that feeling (pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral) arising based on causes and conditions, that perception, those formations, that consciousness.

So, yeah, you know, if one could become disillusioned and dispassionate toward feeling, it would be good to do so. If only there were a way! There is. That is condensed as the Ennobling Eightfold Path, which is a very general outline. A more detailed outline would be the 37 Requisites of Enlightenment, all those "things pertaining to awakening" from this illusion. They are listed in seven groupings. (Wow, this seven sure pops up a lot, does it not?) But to sum it up more briefly and still very usefully, one should come to know just one thing: Dependent Origination.

Why? Because if one understood this and its 12 causal links, one would never again become confused as to why suffering arises and what it is that, first having come to be, gives rise to this suffering. One would be like the Buddha was on that day under that other tree, the Bodhi tree. And one begins by getting under a tree, in the shade, absorbing the mind into a single object of awareness then taking that awareness to three other things (for a fourfold setting up of mindfulness).

A final word to clarify something no one seems to understand: Why did the Buddha single out craving, desire or literally "thirst" (tanha) as the lynchpin to all this unraveling? You know how everyone, including Lisa Simpson, thinks "desire is bad" and "the Buddha wants us to not desire"? That is inaccurate and very misleading no matter how many times and places one seems to see that in the sutras.

When he was reviewing the causal links of suffering, how this whole mess started, he saw a general starting point (ignorance) but no specific starting point. It wasn't as if one day there wasn't ignorance and then the next moment there was, and this was a Big Bang that gave rise to everything. That's how it sounds, that's how it reads, that's how teachers say it, but it isn't correct.

It's all an illusion, and illusion is dependent on ignorance, it's true, but the 12 causal links are set in this functional relationship to one another. When this is, that comes to be. With the ending of this, that ends. So it should theoretically be possible to pull out any of the pins or Jenga pieces and bring this whole painful game down. But that's not easily done. The Buddha looked and looked and realized that of all these 12, the easiest to pull is desire (tanha).

If one can pull that, the whole structure resulting in suffering falls apart. So he taught beings (devas and humans) to start there. That's workable. That's doable. If we could, if you can, forget getting rid of desire. Keep it. Cling to it. Trust in it. Never mind it. Instead, focus on ignorance. Pull that one. Get rid of that one...no, no, but we can't. That's not doable. We can't just go from ignorant to unignorant. It's too much of a jump. We can't just go from any piece of the puzzle to bring suffering down. But we can with desire. That one's doable. That we could do something about.

What can we do about it? We can read the short sutra that started this exegesis, this rant, this Dharma talk, this whatever it is. In it the Buddha says, as translated by Ven. Sujato:

“Me[ditator]s, there are these three feelings. What three? Pleasant, painful, and neutral feeling. These are the three feelings.

Whatever is felt

internally and externally—

whether pleasure or pain

as well as what’s neutral—

having known this as suffering,

deceptive, falling apart,

one sees them vanish

as they’re experienced again and again:

that’s how to be free of desire for them.”

• Saṁyutta Nikāya, "The Connected Discourses," on the subject of feeling (sensation, touch)
• SN 36.2: Sukha Sutta—Bhikkhu Bodhi (suttacentral.net)
• Linked Discourses (36.2 1) with verses, "Pleasure"

Alas, it was all for naught, to give such a long commentary only probably confuses the matter. The mind/heart that is not temporarily purified cannot hope to awaken to the Truth in an instant of reading or hearing, no matter how intellectualized the Dharma is, distilled down to many important points. People want simple, particularly modern Americans raised on a diet of assumptions and thinking we know. So forget all that and let's listen to magic words of the Buddha that frequently gave rise to enlightenment on the spot. This is called ānupubbī-kathā (Ven. Nyanaponika) or:

"Gradual Instruction"

The historical Buddha

It is a progressive delivery of those things pertinent to a sudden awakening. (And, no, it's not the apocryphal Heart Sutra). It is what the Buddha said when it was necessary to first prepare the listener's mind heart) before speaking on the advanced teaching of the Four Ennobling Truths.

• ["Noble" means "enlightened," and "ennobling" means "what gets one to the noble state."]

The magic passage (e.g., D. 3; D 14; M. 56) runs as follows:

"Then the Blessed One gave the person a gradual instruction. That is to say, he spoke on letting go (giving, sharing, generosity, dāna), on virtuous conduct (sīla), and on rebirth in the heavens (sagga). He explained the peril, the vanity, and the depravity of sensual pleasures, and the advantage of letting go.

"When the Blessed One perceived that the listener's mind was prepared, pliant, free from obstacles, elevated, and lucid, he then explained that exalted teaching particular to the Buddhas (buddhānam sāmukkamsikā desanā), that is: suffering (disappointment), its cause, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation."

Is it good to have a great meditation?

Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

It was so unexpected. I didn't do anything.

Is it good to have a great meditation? No, it is great to have one.

A good session makes it all worthwhile as things are not only progressing, but they seem like they're progressing, too. Progress may always be being made, but it sure doesn't feel like it.

O, I see, attention: Just breathe while noticing.

Of course, there is potentially one bad thing about it, and it's not to do with the meditation itself.

If meditation is about letting go, completely letting go, let it be. But we know we have neither let go nor let it be if we ATTACH (cling) to the pleasant experience of:

• bliss (piti and sukha),
• light (aloka),
• sense of progress,
• calm (samatha),
• connection,
• effortlessness,
• freedom (vimutti),
• contentment (santutthitā),
• oneness/nonduality (advaita),
• unbroken mindfulness (sati), or
• stillness (samadhi).

Relax. Let go. We have been swimming upstream for a long time. "Abraham" (through channel Esther Hicks) assures us that everything we want is downstream. Let go. Go with the flow, which will go the way of the Tao (Taoist word for the Way, the path of least resistance).

So a great meditation can't be bad. But craving (tanha), grasping and clinging (upadana) can't be good; it will lead to tremendous suffering. And by setting up expectations about what it "should" be is likely to derail our practice altogether. If we have gotten up and are no longer returning to the mat, to the practice, that is defeat. Why have we stopped. Experience was not meeting our expectations.

Drop, abandon, release expectations and just be. Sit. Breathe. Let go. Let it be.

Just when we thought we were saying something new, suddenly we remember the startling advice of Western Buddhist monk Ajahn Sumedho (formerly Robert Karr Jackman). Craving is unskillful (leads to suffering).

Let go of what? Three things

Zen Master Doggone thinks he's
going to muscle it to enlightenment.

But people neglect to realize there are THREE KINDS OF CRAVING.

• First, there's commonplace sensual craving (five sense strand pleasure).
• Second, there's the desire to become something (arhat, saint, enlightened, free, mindful, knowledgeable, a seer, etc.)
• Third, there's the craving to get rid of something (suffering, sadness, absentmindedness, craving, ignorance, spiritual blindness, bad habits, etc.) It's all a manifestation of misery-making greed (lobha), cupidity, affection, subtle clinging.

To "let go" is to let it be. Whatever it is, we just observe it dispassionately. There's little sense in establishing a goal, objective, marker. Doing so only sets us up for frustration. The way there is to let go. It does not come from wanting and squirming.