The Budhha Birth   The Place Buddha Birth

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          Getting and being represent a form of desire, namely the desire not tolet the thing that one is in
the process of getting or being disappear or slip away.       Suffering arises from desire to have and desire to be, in short, from desire; and desire arises from failure to realize that all things are inherently undesirable.    The false idea that things are desirable is present as am instinct right from
babyhood and is the cause of desire.       Consequent on the desire there come about results of one
sort or another, which may or may not accord with the desire.    If the desire result is obtained, there
will arise a still greater desire.    If desired result is not obtained, there is bound to follow a struggling
and striving until one way or another it is obtained.     Keeping this up results in the vicious circle.
     Action (karma) ->result -> action ->result -> which is known as the Wheel of Samsara.    Now 
this word samsara is not to be taken as referring to an endless cycle of one physical existence after
another.   In point of fact it refers to a vicious circle of three events:
      Desire ->action in keeping with the desire -> effect resulting from that action -> inability to stop
desiring ->having to desire once more -> action once again -> another effect -> further augmenting
of desire -> and so on endlessly.    The Buddha called this the  "Wheel" of samsara because it is an
endless cycling on, a rolling on.     It is because of this very circle that we are obliged to endure sufering and torment.    To succeed in breaking loose from this vicious circle to attain freedom from
all forms of suffering, in other words  Nirvana.       Regardless of whether a person is a pauper or a
millionaire, a king or an emperor, a celestial being or a god, or anything at all, as long as he is caught
up in this vicious circle, he is obliged to experience suffering and torment of one kind or another, in
keeping with this desire.     We can say then that this wheel of samsara is well and truly overloaded
with suffering.    For the rectifying of this situation morality is quite inadequate.     To resolve the problem we have to depend on the highest principles of  Dhamma.
      We have seen that suffering has its origins in desire, which is just what the Buddha set out in the
Second Noble Truth.       Now there are three kinds of desire.        The first kind is sensual desire, desiring and finding pleasure, or tactful objects.    The second kind is desire for becoming, desire to
be this or that according to what one wants.       The third kind is desire not to become, desire not to be this or that.   That there are just three kinds of desire is an absolute rule.      Anyone is defied to
challenge this rlue, and demonstrate the existence of a kind of desire other than these three.
  Anyone can observe that wherever there is desire, there distress is too; and when we are forced to act on a desire, we are bound to suffer again in accordance with the action.   Having got rsult, we are unable to put an end to our desire, so we carry
right on desiring.    The reason we are obliged to continue experiencing distress is that we are not yet
free from desire, but are still slaves to it.    Thus is can be said that an evil man does not evil because
he desires to do evil, and experiences the kind of suffering appropriate to the nature of an evil man,
and that a good man desires to do good, and so is bound to experience another kind of suffering, a
 kind appropriate to the nature of a good man.     But don't understand this as teaching us to give up doing good.    It is simply teaching us to realize that there exist degrees of suffering so fine that the average man cannot detect them.    We have to act on the Buddha's advice: if we are to break free from suffering completely, simply doing good is not sufficient.    It is necessary to do things beyond and above the doing of good, thing that will serve to free the mind from the condition of serfdom and slavery to desire of any kind.    This is the quintessence of the Buddha's teaching.   It cannot be bettered or equalled be any other religion in the world, so ought to be carefully remembered.   To
succeed  in overcoming these three forms of desire is to attain complete liberation from suffering.
     How can we eliminate desire, extinguish it, cut it out at its roots, and put an end to it for good?.
The answer to this is simply; observe and take note of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness (suffering),
and non-self hood until we come to see that there is nothing worth desiring.     What is there worth
getting or being?.    What is there such that when a person has got it or become it, it tails to give rise
to some kind of suffering?.    Ask yourself this question:  What is there that you can get or be that
will not bring distress and anxiety?.    Think it over.   Does having a wife and children lead to light-heartedness and freedom or does not it bring all sorts of responsibilities?.    Is the gaining of high position and tittle the gaining of peace and calm or is it the gaining of heavy obligation?.   Looking at things in this way, we readily see that these things alway bring only burden and responsi-
bility.    And why?.   Everything whatsoever is a burden simply by virtue of its characteristics of im-
permanence, unsatisfactoriness, and non-self-hood.    Having got something, we have to see to it that it is stays with us, is as we wish it to be, or is of benefit to us.    But that thing is by nature imper
manent, unsatisfactory, and nobody's property.     It cannot conform to the aims and objectives of
anyone.    It will only change as is its nature.    All our efforts, then, are an attempt to oppose and
withstand the law of change; and life, as an attempt to make things conform to our wishes, is fraught with difficulty and suffering. 
      There exists a technique for coming to realize that nothing at all is worth getting or being.   It consists in examining things deeply enough to disover that in the presence of craving one has feelings of a certain kind towards getting and being; and that when desire has given way completely
to insight into the true nature of things, one's attitude towards getting and being is rather different.
As an easy example let us consider eating.    One man's accompanied by craving and desire for deli-
cious testes, must have certain features that distinquish it from another man's eating, which is accom
panied not by desire, but by clear comprehension, or insight into the true nature of things.    Their eating manners must differ, their feelings while eating must differ, and so must the results arising from their eating
  Now what we have we have to realize is that one can still eat 
food even though one lacks all craving for delicious tastes.    The Buddha and Arahants, individuals
devoid of craving were still able to do things and be things.        They were still able to do work, far
more in fact than any of us can with all our desires.     What was the power by virtue of which they
did it?.        What corresponded to the power of craving, of desiring to be this or that, by virtue of which we do things?.    The answer is that they did not it by the power of insight, clear and thorough
knowledge of what  is what or the true nature of things.    We by contrast are motivated by desire, 
with the result that we are unlike them, continually subject to suffering.    They did not desire to get
or posses anything and as a result others were benefitted thanks to their benevolence.    Their wisdom told them to make it known rather than remain indifferent, and so they were able to pass the
teaching on to us.
      Freedom from craving brings many incidental benefits.      A body-and-mind freed from craving
can look for and partake of food motivated by intelligent discrimination and not, as before, by desire.         If we wish to break free from suffering, following the footsteps of the Buddha and the arahants, then we must train ourselves to act on discrimination rather than on craving.    If you are a
student, then learn how to distinguish right from wrong, good from bad, and satisfy yourself that that
job is the best thing for you to be doing, and of benefit to all concerned.    Then do it well, and with
all the coolness and equanimity your insight provides.    If, in doing something, we are motivated by
desire, then we worry while doing it and we worry when we have finished, but if we do it with the
quifing power of discrimination, we shall not beworried at all.    This is the difference it makes.
       It is essential, then, that we be always aware that, in reality, all things are impermanent, unsatis-
factory, and not selves, that is, that they are not worth getting or being.         If we are to become involved in them, then let us do so with discrimination, and our actions will not be contaminated with desire.    If we act wisely, we shall be free of suffering right from beginning to end.    The mind
will not blindly grasp and cling at things as worth getting and being.       We shall be sure to act with
wakefulness, and be able to proceed in accordance with tradition and custorm, or in accordance with the law. For example, though we may own land and property, we need not necessarity have any greedy feelings about them.    We need not cling to those things to the extent that they become
a burden, weighing down and tormenting the mind.     The law is bound to see to it that piece of land
remains in our possession.     We don't need to suffer worry and anxiety about it.     It is'nt going to
slp through our fingers and dissappear.     Even if someone comes along and snahes it from us, we can surely still resist and protect it intelligently.     We can resist without becoming angry, without
letting ourselves become heated with the flame of hatred.     We can depend on the law and do our
resisting without any need to experience suffering.    Certaily we ought to watch over our property,
but if it should in fact stip out of  our grip, then becoming emotional about it won't help matters at all.    All things are impermanent perpetually changing.     Realizing this, we need not become upset
about anything.
 
 

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( May,  15,  2008 )