Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
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of experience. Once we are able to see that it is not possible<br />
to control experience, giving up our mistaken beliefs<br />
otherwise, we will no longer be bothered by change, stress or<br />
chaos in experience, as we will no longer cling to things that<br />
cannot possibly satisfy us. Therefore, a person who sees this<br />
truth should actually consider oneself very lucky.<br />
The problem is that when one begins to realize the truth,<br />
most meditators will not feel so lucky at all. Most meditators<br />
when seeing impermanence, suffering, and non-self, will feel<br />
that something is terribly wrong. They will feel that either a)<br />
there is something wrong with the meditation practice, or b)<br />
there is something wrong with how they are practising. <strong>In</strong><br />
truth, a person who sees the changing, discomfort, and<br />
uncontrollability of experience is a person who sees things as<br />
they really are. Only by seeing these three characteristics of<br />
all experience can we change our misconceptions about<br />
reality. Only by giving up our misconceptions of reality can<br />
we free ourselves from our dependence on specific<br />
experiences and aversion towards other experiences. This<br />
profound state can be attained simply by watching one’s own<br />
breath. Once we are able to simply observe the stomach as<br />
it is, bearing with all of its changes and variations without<br />
becoming frustrated or angry or falling into suffering, letting<br />
it carry on unimpeded by expectation or control, our minds<br />
will become accustomed to such simple observation and we<br />
will be able to likewise let go of our attachments to<br />
everything in the universe. Simply by watching our own<br />
stomach rise and fall, we learn how to deal with all problems<br />
in our lives without difficulty, finding peace, happiness and<br />
freedom from suffering no matter what suffering arises or<br />
what problems we encounter, because we will be free from<br />
attachment to anything at all.<br />
The main benefit of understanding the impermanence,<br />
suffering, and uncontrollability of all arisen things is that one<br />
will then let go of the idea of entities. <strong>In</strong>stead of seeing<br />
people as people, for example, one will experience them as a<br />
set of momentary experiences, a set of phenomena that<br />
arise. The mindful meditator will hear others’ voices and<br />
understand them as “hearing” – as momentary sounds,<br />
arising and ceasing. When seeing others, one will<br />
understand it just as “seeing”, and so on. The idea of a<br />
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