Tag Archives: Four Noble Truths

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ceasing the conditional

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Waiting patiently has never been my strong suit.  After I laid down the larger viridian circle, I panicked at the tone which to my eyes ground into the neighbouring sap green with the ear-splitting sound of colliding metal.  Luckily, I was distracted away before I could “fix” anything and when I returned the wide swath of eye-ache had softened.

The capacity to simply pause or to attend without acting – wu wei – is a tough skill to cultivate.  I’m starting to see, however, that it is the heart and soul of the Third Turning of Wheel in practising the Second Noble Truth.  To realize the truth of the cause of my suffering requires me to step back from the sensations that drive me to act impetuously.  It’s a hypnotic process and I can really feel it in my breath.  Well, I can feel that I’m holding my breath as I fall into a desperation to “get it over with.”  The Second Noble Truth however is not just a recognition and clarification of what causes and sustains suffering, it is also the first step to the breaking the links of the damaging cycles.

Thich Nhat Hanh says that the Third Turning of the Wheel can be summarized as “When I’m hungry, I eat.  When tired, I sleep.”  Practice is not just the recognition and knowing of the roots of my suffering but also cultivation of the appropriate response.  Hungry -> eat.  Tired -> sleep.  These are good psychological tactics; we only ever restrain a bad habit but it helps to have a good one to fill the space left behind.  I can tell when I’m hungry or when I’m tired… mostly.  And usually “cranky” points to hungry or tired anyway.

The tough practice is with the more fine-grained sensations that underlie “disappointment,” “uncertainty,”  “loss of faith,” or the Big One, “breakdown of belief systems.”   Usually it goes something like “when I’m disappointed, I shut down.”  Or it may be “when I’m uncertain, I push your buttons.”  Or “when I lose faith, I wipe the hard drive clean.”  And this Big One: “When my belief systems breakdown, I want you to fix it.”

Realization of the cause and maintenance of suffering is in the willingness to wait in that space between “I am <fill in the blank>” and “I <fill in the blank>.”  But I want to push it further (No!  Really?).

Cease the conditional.

“I am disappointed.”

“I am shut down.”

“I am uncertain.”

“I am pushing your buttons.”

“I am losing faith.”

“I am wiping the hard drive clean.”

“I am feeling a breakdown of my belief systems.”

“I am wanting you to fix it.”

“I have laid down a swath of viridian.”  “I am walking away.”

Let’s see if that works.

Thank you for practising,

Genju

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the right to suffer

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Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before:

‘This is the noble truth of stress.’

Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before:

‘This noble truth of stress is to be comprehended.’

Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things never heard before:

‘ This noble truth of stress has been comprehended.’

Samyutta Nikaya 56, transl by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Access to Insight

Thich Nhat Hanh writes in The Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings that having recognized and dug into the roots of what comprises our suffering, we see the effects of an honest inquiry.  This is the third turning of the wheel for the First Noble Truth.  Willing to face our suffering, “we realize we have stopped running away from our pain.”  This brings me back to the idea of diversified equanimity and unified equanimity from a previous post.  Recognizing that dukkha is present and taking ownership of how it is brought into being are tough steps.  So much easier to divert and diversify attention, to blur intention and just plain take that “not me” attitude.  I often think that if I can package the mileage I put into avoiding suffering, I would be an Olympian runner.  Or at the very least a good character for a Monty Python skit.

I like the picture of my neighbour ploughing the fields.  It’s been a tough and busy year for him.  Equipment has broken, weather has been inclement, life has flooded in with all its uncertainty.  The picture is taken just after Christmas Day.  The combine rolled up and down the cornfield you see and then off into the back fields, starting at dawn and ending close to midnight.  I watched his family drive the truck behind the combine giving traffic warning lights to avoid him on the rural roads.  When he stopped during the day so we could move the car out of his path, he laughed and said, “Great day!”  Equanimity unified.  There was a job to do and this was the time to do it.  I’m sure he has his moments, but I can’t imagine him taking the Why me? Not me! attitude to whatever dukkha comes his way.  Ultimately, I suppose, he doesn’t have the luxury of running away from his suffering because that ripples out into the suffering of many other beings.

To comprehend the third turning is to become intimate with the nature of suffering.  I have to let go of the tendency to dramatize or adulate events and people because they are not the heart of the teaching.  A dear dharma teacher said once, “You have the right to suffer.  But you do not have the right not to practice.”   The three turnings of the First Noble Truth teach a profound truth to me.  They say there’s no fast train/jet flight ticket out of whatever mess my choices get me into.  The more I divert, distract, and dissimulate, the less I practice.  And in the end, I’m not the only one who suffers.

Thank you for practising,

Genju