Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
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future advancement based on this knowledge, to the<br />
assumed benefit of the human race as a whole. When one<br />
looks, however, at the ways people generally make use of<br />
this knowledge and even the actual reasons why it is valued,<br />
there doesn’t seem to be any greater purpose than the<br />
accumulation of material gain, often at the expense of other<br />
beings and even our own peace of mind.<br />
If we look at the people who are said to benefit most from<br />
scientific advancements, we find that they are not more<br />
happy or content in general than people who live in poverty<br />
without much technological advancement at all. While it<br />
must be admitted that technology has brought a great<br />
empowerment to the human race, it is not at all guaranteed<br />
that humankind will use that power for its actual benefit.<br />
Knowledge alone cannot bring happiness or peace; only<br />
wisdom of how to use such knowledge in truly beneficial<br />
ways can accomplish such a worthwhile task.<br />
The most important wisdom to attain, then, is that which<br />
allows us to become free from suffering. When we talk about<br />
“seeing” in the Buddha’s teaching, we don’t mean coming to<br />
see the truth about everything, but learning specifically<br />
about suffering and happiness and how they come to be.<br />
The Buddha focused his teaching on the building blocks of<br />
experiential reality because he saw that suffering comes<br />
about based solely on misunderstanding them. We practice<br />
insight meditation to understand the nature of experiential<br />
reality – how misunderstanding leads to bad habits and how<br />
bad habits and behaviours lead to suffering. When we come<br />
to see our moment to moment activities as they are, we will<br />
understand the difference between activities that are useful<br />
and those that are useless, and will thus be able to give up<br />
any and all habits that are a cause for suffering.<br />
There is no use in running away from suffering nor in chasing<br />
it away; neither method is sustainable and both lead only to<br />
more stress and suffering. Simply seeing our experiences as<br />
they are, on the other hand, is the supreme method for<br />
becoming free from all suffering. This fact is easy to<br />
understand intellectually, for we must admit that if we could<br />
see clearly what wass to our benefit and what to our<br />
detriment, we would never knowingly engage in any activity<br />
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