Bhante San | The Fundamental Suchness Of Life

In this session, Bhante San and Bhante Sujatha guide you from the lived reality of dukkha to the quiet suchness of life as it truly is. You’ll begin with a grounding meditation and a traditional chant, then move into a heart-opening Dharma talk on how to meet impermanence, dissatisfaction, and uncertainty with curiosity instead of resistance.

Together, they explore what it means to be content—not because life is perfect, but because you are learning to relate to each moment with wisdom, compassion, and enoughness from within.

Transcript

You all are here with beautiful intention to find inner peace and contentment. I think that is the purpose of this trip, Coming to the temple this morning. Having that pure intention in your mind, Take a deep, Long breath and release, Let go your tiredness. Now think to yourself, I am so grateful to have this life, This time, This opportunity. Among all those people are in pain, Disappointments, Right now, In this world, Among those people I am sitting here, Trying to understand who we are, How we are. Now send your loving thoughts towards yourself, Thinking, May I be well, May I be happy, May I be peaceful. Try your best to define those three words to yourself, Because self-loving kindness practice is a progressive practice. There is no right or wrong, The way you understand it in this moment, That is the way it should be. May I be well, May I be happy, May I be peaceful. Now send your loving thoughts towards your family. Now this month all your family members come together to celebrate Christmas, Some you may like, Some you may not like. As a meditation practitioner, How you are going to deal with them, With love, Kindness and acceptance, This is the good time for you to prepare your mind how to deal with them. If you are close to them, There is no issue, If you have some challenges with them, How you are going to manage. Can you let it go or forgive them? Forgiveness is completely letting go without reservations. You can forgive, But no need to forget. Letting go whatever they did, Negative, That's their responsibility. If you are mad or upset, That is your responsibility. Let go and send your loving thoughts towards them. May all of my family members be well, Be happy, Be peaceful. Now send your loving thoughts towards whole world. May all living beings be well, Be happy, Be peaceful. Now slowly turn your attention to your breath, Which is your life. When you breathe in, Merely know I am breathing naturally. When you are breathing out, You merely know I am breathing out. Breathe in, You receive, Breathe out, You letting go. If you are distracted, Bring your attention back. If you are trying too hard, You cannot meditate, Don't try to do it, Let it happen. If you are trying to do it, It's become another job, Then you get tired and exhausted. Now observe your mind, Observe your body. Your body is relaxed, Your mind is calm, Tranquil and peaceful. Now bring your palms together close to your heart. Make a wish for yourself, Your inner journey, Your outer journey, For your family, For yourself, Or if you want to send a prayer for somebody, This is a good time to think of them. May peace be with you, May you be well, May you be happy, May you be peaceful. Thank you very much, Please open your eyes. Okay, Now we are going to do our chanting. Sammasambuddhas Namodas Bhagavato Arhato Sammasambuddhas Buddham Sarnam Gacchami Dhammam Sarnam Gacchami Sangham Sarnam Gacchami Duttyampi Buddham Sarnam Gacchami Duttyampi Dhammam Sarnam Gacchami Duttyampi Sangham Sarnam Gacchami Duttyampi Buddham Sarnam Gacchami Duttyampi Dhammam Sarnam Gacchami Duttyampi Sangham Sarnam Gacchami Anicca Vata Sankara Upadvaya Dhammino Upajjitva Nirojyanti Tesam Upasamo Sabbe Sadanta Avera Hanto Sabbe Sadanta Abhya Pajja Hanto Sabbe Sadanta Aniga Hanto Sabbe Sadanta Sukhi Atthanam Pariharanto Mano Pumbangam Adhamma Mano Sitta Manomaya Manasachepaduttena Bhasativa Karotiva Tatonam Dukkha Manveti Shankang Vavahato Padam Mano Pumbangam Adhamma Mano Sitta Manomaya Manasachepaduttena Bhasativa Karotiva Tatonam Dukkha Manveti Shayaava Anupayini Okay, Good morning everybody. Okay, Before I pass this microphone to Bante Saan, I want to say a few words. Most of you know Bante Saan. He is the one who did the Wednesday night questions and answers online. So, Bante Saan and myself, We became a monk under the same teacher. I am the first student of my teacher. Later years, He became a student under my teacher. So, When I was a student monk, He joined the monastic school. Then later I was a teacher in the monastic school. Then he was a student. And so, Now this morning I asked, How many years you are in this country? He said, Almost 20 years. So, I have some interesting things to talk about Bante Saan. It is funny. And so, I know later he is going to kill me. But anyway, I am going to say it. It is so fun to think about all those memories. So, Maybe Bill remembers a long time ago, Right after I started the Blue Lotus Temple, I went to Sri Lanka. So, Then I was extremely sick in Sri Lanka. I couldn't return, Maybe a few months. But Bill, Jason, A couple of people, They continued the meditation downstairs. So, Then I was in the hospital a few weeks. Then I was resting at my home temple. So, That time he is a teacher in the monastic school. So, I was here, Now I am visiting Sri Lanka. One afternoon I was resting in my room. He came to my window through the balcony. And he knocked the window. And then I opened, I asked, How are you? Then he said, I don't know why he came to me that day. He said, I want to make an announcement. You know, I have some news to pass. I asked, What is that? You can see we both are kind of same size, Right? And so, Then he said, You know, I am tired and exhausted. I made the decision to disrobe. He told me. You know me, I said, Really? He said, Yes. I don't know why he came to me, Instead of going to our teacher. And so, I said, Oh, It's okay. And then I was thinking, I am very good to make plans for other people too. I am a planner, Right? And that's why we have this, Right? I am a planner. Then I didn't take it seriously. I said, Okay, It's not a big deal. Then I was planning smartly in my head. I said, How about this? You come to America with me. Then I will help you to disrobe there. I will help you to disrobe there. He is very different character. He didn't even think about what I said. He is kind of, Who you are to give me this offer? Kind of like that. And so, That time I know he is anti-American. And so, He doesn't like when we are coming from America. And, You know, He is not like that. And he is very different. And so, Anyway, I said, I will give you that offer. If you want to go to America with me, I will help you after you go there. You can disrobe there. Then he didn't like it. Then I said, Don't be hurry. Take your time. And later you can come and tell me. Because I'm not leaving soon. Then after a few weeks, I think, You know, He talked to his friends and he came back to my room. And even he is not really grateful for that. He said, Okay, Maybe I will join. I said, Okay. Now I said, I make all plans. And so, However, He is lucky I applied for the visa. And I said to embassy, You know, I'm sick. Actually, I was sick. I need an assistant. Right? You know, I gave my all. At that time, I was extremely sick. And actually, You know, Embassy considered him. They issued two-year visa for him. Then he came. I was living in Crystal Lake apartment. You know, Now he is living with me. Then I know, You know, He has planned to disrobe. And it is in my head too. Before disrobe, He has to prepare his life here. Then he said, Go to school, Learn English, And all that. Then I joined. I remember first day, I took him to the MCC. And so, First day I talk. The second day when I go to the, I said, I stay back. Now you are the one going to talk. And I was very tough with them that time. So, Anyway, He did it. Then he start his education. He is doing really well. He is very committed. I don't know his family genes. They are very good with the education, Whole his family. So, I was playing smart. And so, Then he is doing really well his education. Then I purchased this building. Then he was doing Rebecca's job as office manager. During that time, He is a great help for me in the office. And working is continuing. We are not talking about the disrobing. Now he is really going his higher education. He is really good. One day, I said, Son, How about that plan? Anytime you can disrobe. Please go. Then he said, What are you talking about? You changed my, You know, How you did that. You changed my mind now. I don't want to disrobe. Now think about, Then he moves to the Blue Lotus in Florida. Now he is a deputy up there. He did the masters. Now he is getting ready for the PhD. And so, Now think about raising a child. It is not an easy job, Right? And so, Maybe he has a whole plan. I have a girlfriend. You know, Maybe I will go and marry and all those things. As a young monk, Maybe he was thinking about that. I, However, I did my magic. And I took him here. A couple of times I offered, Maybe you can leave if you want. But I knew he is not leaving. So, Now think about his serving in Florida. He is doing a great work. I am so proud of him. And so, He is one of my success journey. So, I am so grateful to him. San, Thank you so much. Now I am passing it to you. Don't kill me later. Yes, Last night he asked me to give a talk. I wasn't really prepared for it. And I feel a little nervous to talk in front of him, This world-renowned monk. And only saving grace is that I am hoping that he will not be judgmental. So, Thank you all for being here. So, You know, Including myself and Bhante Sajatha and Viola in this journey together. And I am sure you have different spiritual upbringings. And you come to the Blue Lotus looking for some kind of an answer, A meaning to our life, And to add a value to your journey. And so, That's where you are. And I hope that this space provides you that. And so, You have this amazing noble human that brings these opportunities to you. And so, I am grateful and I hope you all as well. And so, It's just a beautiful space. And the vibe that you feel when you come here. You don't want to leave. You want to stay here and practice forever. But we all have other responsibilities and do all the other things that we're supposed to do. So, In Buddhist teachings, One of the unique things about the Buddhist teachings, The path that is presented to us is that giving us the responsibility to embark it. And Bhante Sajatha is here. Other teachers are here. The Buddha was obviously there 2, 600 years ago. And they provided you the guidance. And so, It's a unique attribute that you see in the Buddhist teachings because you don't see in many other spiritual practices because you don't have really a savior. And so, You are the responsible person for your own decisions that you make. So, As we go through life, That we all encountered with certain things, Ups and downs in life. And sometimes it's good, Sometimes it's bad. And so, We all experience that. And so, This is just the part of life, Existence. And so, This is exactly what Buddha actually brought to the world. And he said that the life has a suchness. And that the message that he was trying to bring to us has an amazing quality that I think that's why people resonate with it because what he described the life, The world, The nature as is a universal phenomenon. And so, Everybody can relate to it despite of your upbringings and your color, Your job, Your social status, How you recognize yourself with religions, Spiritual paths. It really doesn't matter. And so, It hits everybody the same. And so, This concept is called, I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Buddha's teachings and stuff, And it's called Dukkha. And so, I see some people are nodding their heads. And so, D-U-K-K-H-A, Dukkha. And it's translated as suffering. Right? Some people agree with that description. Some people are not. And so, They also say it means dissatisfaction, Unsatisfactoriness, And however you want to call it. But there is this fundamental nature to life. He never said that the life is suffering. He never said that. And there is a misunderstanding, Miscommunication with the teachings. People think that Buddhism, Buddhist teachings preach that the life is suffering. So, That is a misunderstanding, Misconception, If that's what you're thinking. And he describes that life, In general, Whether it's humans, Or animals, Or the nature, Or the buildings, All these things have a fundamental nature to these things. And this is something that we can't change. So, He says, You know, When he describes it, Jati pidukkha, Jara pidukkha, Vyadi pidukkha, Maranam pidukkhang, The things that arise, Things that exist, The things that you see in the outside world, Certain things happen with these things. And it's not unique to just humans. So, That's the thing. This is not a unique thing to humans, You or me, Or just for Buddhists. It's unique to everybody. And when we have a life, And when we have these things in the world, They all come to manifest, They arise, And they come to be, Just like we did, Come to the world, And then things exist for a while, And then they pass away. So, There is upada, Meaning that things arise, Tithi, It exists for a bit, And then bhanga, It just goes away. And you experience this with everything in life, Whether it's your physical things, Whether it's your emotional things that you experience, Whether it's the trauma that you have had in life, Whether it's with your relationships at work, You know, On the road, Anywhere that you can experience these things. Things arise, They stay for a while, And they pass away. So, If this is a fundamental nature to life, Now we have to determine, And now we have to decide, If everything continues to change, And there is an end point to things, And we're finally going to lose it, How are we going to look at things in a different way, And to find the balance in this imbalanced, Imperfect world? Because the world, Whether you like it or not, It has this suchness, Right? So those who don't understand that continue to struggle to maintain something that doesn't exist. And so, He said that there is a fundamental nature to life. It's just a statement. He didn't say the world is suffering. He said that there are things in the world that it has a suchness, It has a nature to things. And then here comes the other part, And he says, And there is a reason, A cause, Behind how this dissatisfactoriness, Unsatisfaction, Unhappiness come to us. Now this is where we have the control. So that makes this path and our journey unique. So he says that there is a suchness to the world, There is a fundamental nature to life, And so if this is actually a fundamental, And if this is how the world is based on, If the world is based on this fundamental nature, So now, Whatever you are feeling in your life, The emptiness, Sadness, The pain, The aches, And everything that we see as suffering, Hard, Difficult, And all these are actually coming from living in a world that not fundamentally very stable. And so if the world is really unstable place, And how are we, I know we constantly talk about finding happiness, Right? Contentment in life. We do everything in our power to accomplish it. We go to school, We find jobs, We make money, We buy cars, We buy house, We have families, And we have vacations, And we do all these things to find contentment and happiness in life. But it seems like, When we each time try to fix this feeling of wanting to be happy or contentment from external things, It seems like that we are continuing to dig in the hole, And we just keep going into this darkness where we feel like that it's a never-ending goal, That we never get there. You try every day, Wake up early every morning, Do the same thing, Or you do different things. You change your jobs, You change your car, You change your house, You change your estate. You don't like cold, And you go somewhere and live somewhere, And hoping somehow it will just fix the problem. And if that's true, America has to be one of the happiest countries. But we are not. And we are not even halfway there. So where is the problem? And so this is where the Buddha finally answered. And he said that the world has this suchness, This nature, And now how we see it is on our interpretation. And we have senses, Eyes, Nose, Tongue, And our body, Right? And then there is the outside world, And we gather information, And we put it into our brain, And we create a reality. And the reality that we create, Each moment, We call it my or mine, And we give it a name, And we try to hold on to it. And the problem is, What we are trying to hold on to is that something that constantly in a flux. They arise, They stay for a while, And they pass away. And even the time that it stays still for a minute, It still continues to change. Because we are so gung-ho about like keeping it, Holding on to it, We don't see these simple changes that happen in life. And so every time when we see something, We try to hold on to it, Attach to it, We create a relationship with it, And we call it my or mine, Ours. And so this is just an interpretation that just everyday that the nature creates for us. Because we have this, We can't forget in this journey, These physical things that happen in our brain. It's such a tricky thing. You know how tricky our brain is? I don't think you have, Anybody hopefully know. You probably have, How the scientists learn about this is that you probably all have heard about phantom pain, Right? When somebody cuts their leg, Because if you had your leg for 20 years, You've been walking on it, And then once you lose it, Your brain still thinks your actually leg is there, And the pain is there. And so when we continue to create these things in our head, It just becomes our own reality. And so we think somehow that these things that we see, The information that we get from outside, As real, Which is really not. They come together from these different things, When these different things come together. And when these things fall apart, Those things just go away. So the world that we see outside, Including ourselves, Because we are part of this world, Is just made out of these so many different things, And it has this suchness that I was describing. And once anything comes together with so many different things, Their nature is they continue to change, And then finally, For our own eye, That it just goes away, It dies. Not really, But it just, From an energy point of view, That it just changes, Transforms to be something else. So Buddha said, Hence, This thing called suffering, That the dissatisfaction, The anxiety we produce these things, The suffering that we create for, He noticed this for himself, Is actually he saw as, Oh, This is my actually interpretation. And somehow, If I can manage to, I don't want to use the get rid of it, Because then you will try to get rid of it, Because this is how our mind works. If we can manage to observe it, Monitor it, And now you have the ability to maintain what you want to maintain in life. And this is such a struggle, A difficult thing, Because our brains are just designed to survive in the world. It does everything to survive. So in this journey, The happiness that you want, The contentment you want, Is something that you are pursuing. Your brain really doesn't care. It's just trying to keep you alive. So you can procreate, The world can move forward. And everything else we just plug into life, And we think that I should be happy, I should be content, And I like to disappoint you saying, But the nature doesn't care. It really doesn't. It just wants you to survive, So the world continues to exist. So the people like the Jesus, The Buddha, And they thought, Well, There is a life a little bit, It has a little bit more meaning to it, And so they gave a different interpretation to these things, And found different paths to improve the quality of life. And so, What we can do, That's why I started saying that, The Buddhist path is giving people a different kind of worldview, And it says, So if you actually want to be happy and content in life, And you have the ability to make it what you want, But you have to understand this fundamental nature that life has, That is something never going to change. So what can we change? You can change your response. You can change your reactions. And once you change your reactions, That allows you to find that contentment, The happiness that you're looking for. And I believe, I think, Buddha, Or someone, Or enlightened people, Those who actually kind of like nailed this down, And moment to moment they were able to observe it, And step outside from when you create these attachments, These misunderstandings about the world, Continue to monitor themselves, And say like, I see what's happening, And I'm going to step out, And I am choosing whether to react or to respond to it. But right now, What happens is, Everything that comes through our mind, We process it, And we don't even respond, We react. Whether it's on the road, At home, And this is where anger comes, This is where the frustration comes, This is where the anxiety comes, This is where the depression happens, And all these things are because of our reactive nature to things. So if we can learn to respond to things, Then we can improve our way of managing stresses. And I always tell people, Just a simple example, You see an extra charge on your credit card, You see the charge on your bill, You get so mad. I was going to say a different word. So with that madness, Not madness, With that anger, You pick up the phone, Call somebody who has no idea, Probably came to work that day having a horrible argument at home, And now you are someone calling someone in India from here, With this whole frustration and yelling on top of your lung, I want this to fix, I want to talk to your manager. So you're causing a lot of anxiety for yourself, You're causing a lot of anxiety for the other person, And you probably will accomplish the goal of actually getting eliminated, Fixing the problem. But here is the thing, What makes your life better. You can do the same thing. Before you pick up the phone, I see your charge, I'm going to take a deep breath, I'm going to call the person, Be nice to the person, And I'm going to get it resolved. And he mentioned the word intention in the meditation. Now you are making a choice, A decision, To be in control of your emotions, Your anger, Your frustrations, You're not anxious, This does not add to your frustrations, You're not messing with your brain, You're not messing with your heart, You're not messing with your cortisol levels, So your physical health is good, Your mental health is good, World is a peaceful place, See? Achieving peace is not that bad. There are so many calls like that happening in the world. So it sounds like this idea presented to us, Suffering, As a spiritual concept, That we have to close our eyes and sit somewhere, And just get enlightened, And if we did that, We will forever be happy and content in life, Is a misguided interpretation that's sold to us, I think. And this is an ongoing. . . If you disagree with me, That's fine. But I think this is where the Buddhist teachings are unique. It gives you the tools, It gives you the responsibility for your own actions, And it says that there is a fundamental nature to life, When it comes to anything, Whether it's relationship, Your health, Whatever it is, You struggle with at work, At home, And all these things that we see outside, These are just stories that we create from the information that we get, And then we create our own worldview about things, And so we can actually change it. And when we don't see it, This is where the Buddha used the word avijja, Which is that we really don't have the knowledge, The skills, To kind of see this. And if we are able to see it, We can actually daily manage this. Daily, We can observe these as things happening. So this is where the mindfulness comes into play. And every day, When you train your mind, When you practice mindfulness, When you practice loving-kindness, You are actually training your mind, You are training your brain, Not to be reactive, But to respond. So, You are your own savior. If you are someone that actually deals with so many problems, I don't know, Your life probably, If we were to listen to all of your life stories, You probably have interesting things to share. We are, You know, A bunch of so many problems, So many things. And we can change the trajectory of this. And we can change the outcome of it by changing the way we look at things, How we view things, Changing our interpretations. Now, Why people don't like it, And why people walk away this path, Is that it's constant. Rather than doing the work, We like someone to fix it. So you go to a doctor and tell them to give you a pill. Right? And we like the instant gratification. If Bhante Sujato opened a, I don't know, A fast drive-through enlightened program, I'm sure you will all end up with your credit cards, Because we like quick fixes. So you have to be patient with yourself, Give yourself a chance, And there is a suchness, There is a fundamental nature to life that we cannot change, But we can change how we respond to it. And it's something that we have to work on every day, And I hope you are thinking about new resolutions, New year coming up, And I hope that you will make a resolution for your new year to improve your reactivity, And to improve the suffering that you experience in life. So, How awesome he is, Right? We call the awesome son. That's his last name. So now, Are you happy because he didn't disrobe? Right? You know, So now think about what I did. I play smart. So now he's here, And he's doing a great job. Thank you so much. It's a great talk.