Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
it changes. You will come to see that your suffering is<br />
caused solely by mistaken perception of permanence and<br />
stability in what is neither permanent nor stable.<br />
Nonetheless, if we are not reminded and encouraged about<br />
this truth, we will be hard-pressed to see for ourselves the<br />
true nature of our condition. Without proper guidance and<br />
encouragement, the truth alone may not be enough to set us<br />
free.<br />
Truth, according to the Buddha's teaching, is quite simple.<br />
Ordinarily, when we think of truth or wisdom, we tend to<br />
make them out to be much more complicated than they<br />
actually are. We tend to have the idea that wisdom must be<br />
something complicated and difficult to understand, requiring<br />
years of study to appreciate. We think that truth requires<br />
much explanation, that a theory must have many facets and<br />
complexities for it to be the profound spiritual truth we are<br />
seeking in our practice.<br />
Because of people's desire for abstruse and complex<br />
teachings, it's hard to give a talk on truth according to the<br />
Buddha - most Buddhist meditators have already heard<br />
about the four noble truths and will not find it of much<br />
interest to listen to a teaching on such a simple theme. The<br />
truth of suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation of<br />
suffering, and the path to the cessation of suffering - what<br />
more is there to say?<br />
We generally think of the truth of suffering, for example, as<br />
something that needs lengthy explanation to understand,<br />
complete with examples and similes from ordinary life.<br />
Really, the truth of suffering is a very simple thing,<br />
encompassing all aspects of our experience. The truth of<br />
suffering means that none of what we are experiencing right<br />
now is happiness - none of it can possibly make us happy. It<br />
really does mean just that and it really is just this truth that<br />
will, when we come to see it for ourselves, set us free from<br />
suffering.<br />
The four noble truths are actually very important to keep in<br />
mind and contemplate during our practice. When we<br />
encounter suffering in our practice, we can reflect on the<br />
four noble truths and reassure ourselves based on our<br />
observations that it's only our craving and attachment that<br />
127