Tuesday, July 28, 2009

anicca, anatta, dukkha

everything changes, thoughts, people, views, circumstances ... impermanence all around. can we do something about that? no. because we're not the allmithy "I" we wish to be. we're just a conglumeration of material fitted with something called mind that thinks, cognizes, knows, remembers, etc.. always wanting - something to be or to have: to look good, to be rich, to have another nose, to have fun, to find peace, to be loved, to have food, to be happy ...

honestly, how many moments does one experience in life not wanting? including all hopes, wishes and not-wantings [aversions]. if there is such a rare moment one starts to enjoy it and wants it to last forever. what a trick.
it won't, of course, last long. pure happyness is already gone when the wish it may last occures. and sadness or anger arises. the process is the same if a tasty icecream drops, a beloved one leaves, we have to be where we don't want to be or millions are lost. only the intensity and duration of the suffering varies, not the fact that suffering is experienced.

hence we have to admitt suffering is omnipresent in our lifes.
so lets review: everything without exception is changing, falling apart, breaking, decaying, aging. thats what the Buddha ment by: sabbe anicca, all is impermanent, eternal.
we can't do anything about it because we are not an allmighty entity, we can't even tell our hair not to grow, or a cell not to die. we are very limited in our abilities. that's what is meant by: sabbe anatta, all is without self, without autocracy.
this is most irritating, unpleasent, isn't it? there is, obviously nothing to rely on, nothing to hold on. sooner or later it's all suffering, sabbe dukkha.
we may talk and dream to not have to face the suffering but be can't get out of this ...
the Buddha sais: yes, we can. more on this later.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

life is like a honey trap. so sweet so deadly. to be rid of "i" is the goal. best, to find it was never really there in the first place. good wishes to you from the damp and windy u.k.
keep up your work.

Phalañānī said...

dear budd t.c.w. ha,

thanks for the well wishes!
yes, you're right. what to do?
just work hard, walk and sit in meditation and try to be mindful even when not meditating.
luckily the Buddha had found and taught the Dhamma and we live as understanding beings in a time when the Dhamma is still available and we are so fortunate to have heard the Dhamma.
what a chance!
so, now back to the cushion.