Hi.
I wrote about my view on the first of the Four Noble Truths on the last blog and will continue to examine the process defined by the truths in today's blog.
To refresh. Dukkha means the process of transience. Everything we can experience changes. The only way to experience anything is inside the process of changes itself. The first truth points directly to accepting and living a life than moves and thinks with transience itself. We suffer by attempting to exist with change by describing it from a static viewpoint.
The Second idea is embodied in the Pali words Samudaya Sacca. Samudaya has been translated to mean origin or source. Other meanings are whole, combination, or junction. Sacca has been translated as meaning truth or reality.
So in the classical sense the two truths are Life is Suffering and the second is translated into the Truth of Suffering with an addendum such as attachment, greed, or whatever static process we happen to be examining. Makes sense and has been used for a long time to explain the "truths."
I interpret it somewhat differently. Dukkha is the reality of transience. Samudaya Sacca refers to the entire truth or source of truth and is pointing to the fact that suffering occurs when we live outside of transience. The truth lies in the gestalt. (Samudaya Sacca) In other words we need to embrace transience entirely or we continue to suffer. Or to put it another way we suffer through RESISTING CHANGE. Resistance most often takes the form of attachment by bringing into our control or by preserving our stasis by pushing away. By attachment we mean being attached to anything at all. So the first and second truth say that TRANSIENCE IS ALL AND RESISTANCE TO TRANSIENCE (VIA ATTACHMENT) BECOMES THE SOURCE OF SUFFERING.
Ending suffering means to live in transience. Suffering by living in resistance only leads to more suffering. Once this is understood we can start comprehending why attachment to anything increases our suffering. Becoming attached to something means we desire to "have" this object someplace in space and time. Transience says that isn't possible. Every single things changes into something different than the object to which we first attached ourselves. So we suffer. We are not living in reality but in denial of reality.
We identify with this using the image of trying to grasp water with our hands or wanting to hold onto a sunset or the full moon. Or wanting a relationship to peak and never change. Or going back to family dynamics that no longer exist. We want to return to a vacation spot we had our best vacation. Useless except for learning and all will result in suffering.
If we live in transience it allows us to savor the moment and let go. Notice that nowhere am I suggesting that we some how avoid the moment. Experiencing the moment is life. Staying in a place of not experiencing is suffering.
So much of spiritual and most religious paths spend inordinate amounts of time finding ways and methods of "removing" what have been labeled as "negative" processing. Entire systems are dedicated to things like "not getting mad" or "use this system and you will experience constant happiness" types of messages. Now some of these might work for a second. But because of the nature of change they will not be a "permanent" solution. However when anything arises, if you experience it knowing it will change, you will find yourself reacting differently to the experience.
An example: You have anger and your reaction to the anger is extreme. Anger much like any emotional structure, if embraced, will peak and diminish quickly. Like getting cut off by another driver and five minutes later you are no longer paying attention to the incident and are no longer angry. Instead of resisting the anger and telling ourselves "I will not get angry" it's better to simply be angry in transience. Which means to have the anger, let it cycle quickly, knowing that it will, and move on without reacting outside the experience. Reacting only increases your suffering. Getting angry is not suffering, reacting to the attachment of being angry is suffering.
Why am I pointing this our? Because focusing on the anger and trying to develop a lifestyle that says "I won't get angry" or "I am not angry" doesn't work. Never has never will. Being angry fully and embracing the anger in transience does work. The anger comes and goes. There is no need to "do" anything with it. I have never been able to change pure emotional structure as it happens.
The same thing works for being happy. Embrace being happy when you are happy. Have insane happiness but live in transience. You will find your self cycling through the happiness without going through the suffering of trying to hang on to the happiness. You know you cannot so you don't even try. Any emotional state can be approached the same way. Any experience is cycled the same way.
If we live in transience all experience becomes precious by the contact with the event itself.
We can see how life changing embracing the process of the Noble Truths can be. I am going to continue to explore the Truths in the next blog.
I am grateful to our community and am looking forward to hearing from everyone. Input is always welcome.
Sincerely
Bryan S. Wagner
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