The Four Noble Truths - Buddhism

[HuongNhien]

When I started seriously studying Buddhism, attachment was one of the concepts that was very difficult for me to grasp. I have a husband and children, I’m attached, that’s the way it is. How can you possibly love someone without attachment?

As I started looking at the marriage concept I realized the many stressors that are present in the traditional view of marriage. We enter into this for life, no matter how easy or hard, we have made the ultimate commitment to be there for each other until death. Wow!

What if he (or I) find someone else, wake up one morning and just want to be free, grow to hate each other, one has a long term illness that the other simply can’t be a part of? If you think of the immeasurable situations that plague and are the downfall of modern marriage, you start to get the idea of how attachments cause suffering.

Once you understand the Doctrine of Impermanence the whole thing gets much easier.

This life (illusion) is in constant flux and change is more constant than we realize. Think back to what you consider the “good old days” and think of how short a period your wistful smile covers. It’s hard for me to remember stretches of time that last longer than a year (if that) before some change comes and alters the experience and the “good old days” are gone.

I can love you, experience happiness, joy, lust and every other human emotion and I know that these experiences are illusions, they will not last. There will always be an end to my happiness, sadness, joy, confusion…… I do not need to cling to them, more experiences are going to happen. But doesn't mean that I don't thoroughly enjoy or suffer through them, it helps to be more mindful of exactly what is happening . It helps intensify your experiences and allows you to appreciate on a richer level.

The thing that really appeals to me about Buddhism is that you are asked to question all teachings, don’t believe anything until you have proven to yourself in some way that they make sense and you can believe them.

Take responsibility for your actions. You have free will, you will decide for yourself how to live your life and how you will treat others. You get what you actually deserve, not what you think you deserve, but what your actions dictate. There is just too much to learn and experience to only have one lifetime. Think of how finite and constricting that feels. There is no way I could do all I want to do in only one chance.

But not to forget my lesson in attachment:

I used to wear two diamond rings all the time, they were a part of me, sort of like a mustache or glasses, just part of my physical presentation. My daughter used to joke about me leaving them to her after I’m gone, or I would kid her and tell her she could have them when she pried them out of my cold dead hands, just the usual, light-hearted banter.

I thought about it one day after we were discussing them and I realized we were making them a symbol of my death. She doesn’t share my views and I wondered how much enjoyment she would get out of finally having them knowing I had to die for her to get them. The next time I saw her, she gently took them off my fingers and put them on hers. I looked at her and told her they looked great on her and she should keep and enjoy them as much as I did.

At that moment, I realized that giving them away was an extremely freeing gesture. I have since given away several other pieces that I never thought I would part with, I realized that they just aren’t that important. The quality of my life and my essence doesn’t depend on “things".

The main philosophy of Zen is just letting go. So very much of what we experience on a day to day basis, really doesn’t matter. Even my original 10 Commandments were transformed into 5 Precepts which are very easy for me to keep, no killing (if you take the concept of ahimsa-non violence it can encompass everything from actual killing to having kinder intentions towards others), no stealing, no improper sex, no lies or harmful speech, and no intoxication.

I really like keeping it simple.

[fireONtheMNT]

Interesting stuff celtaur, I would comment that the 3rd noble truth is import too. The path to the cessation of suffering is possible, i.e. nirvana, the middle way, and the 8 fold path help us to get to nirvana. The extinguishing of the ego. What is ego - ego is the not self that we have built lifetime upon life time as we have out-pictured in wrong thoughts, words and deeds, and in innumerable ways where we have chosen darkness instead of light.

Just some thoughts as I meditate on the 3rd noble truth.