Morning everyone!
Hey everybody,
It's Judy Cohen and this is Wake Up Call 503.
And so we've been looking at the Four Noble Truths,
Which is this foundational teaching of mindfulness.
And last week,
Talking about the First Noble Truth,
The Truth of Dukkha,
Or suffering,
Which is the truth that this being human includes difficulty and hard times.
You know,
We're all riding in this wagon of life and the wheels aren't perfectly round,
They're not true,
And so it's this bumpy ride,
Right?
So the Second Noble Truth,
There's four of them,
The Four Noble Truths,
The Second Noble Truth is the truth of what causes this,
What causes suffering.
And for me,
It's easy to get tripped up because if I think about that there's inherent suffering in life,
It seems like human life itself must be the cause of suffering,
Right?
But maybe it's easier if we work with a set of words we're familiar with in the law of pain and suffering.
And if we do that,
We could say that the First Noble Truth is that there's pain in life.
And the Second Noble Truth is that suffering happens when we think or we act as if the pain shouldn't be part of life,
Right?
When we not only desire good things,
But grasp hold of them,
Even when we know they're transient and can't provide lasting happiness,
Or when we not only want to do a little better each day at whatever we can,
But we grasp or we hold on to a sense of needing to become better at everything or different from who we are,
Even though we know we're already doing our best.
Or when we not only want change,
But we grasp or hold on to ideas of how other people should act or of how the world should be or of where the world must be going,
Right?
So let's take those in reverse order.
But before that,
One thing,
All of this is different from wanting and working hard for change,
Right?
We may all wish that the world was more just,
More fair,
More equitable.
We probably all do wish that.
And everyone wants to get well when they're sick or to earn money to support themselves and their family.
But these wishes,
These desires,
They're born of wholesome intentions,
Right?
To make the larger world and our own personal worlds a little better.
So those are not the causes of suffering.
And I'd say the same for the work of the law.
If I have a desire to help people who are accused or to keep people safe,
Or to help someone realize a business goal that doesn't cause anyone harm,
Then those forms of desire won't lead to suffering either.
And for me,
This is kind of the heart of the second noble truth,
The truth of the cause of suffering,
That it's unwholesome desire that causes suffering,
Not wanting and working towards wholesome things.
So meaning,
You know,
Here in the cart,
We're just bumping along.
And I may have wholesome desires to help somebody who's in peril,
To do my part to address climate collapse,
To preserve democracy,
To be as equanimous as possible in this very tumultuous moment,
Right?
But if what's happening is I want this moment right now to already be different than it is,
Or if the people I come across think differently than I do,
And I want them to think differently,
I want them to think the way I do,
Or if I get frustrated or impatient or angry,
Because I want things or people to be a certain way,
And they're just not right now,
That kind of desire is a recipe for suffering.
And so I just want to sort of frame that as one kind of desire,
The desire for the world,
And for our lives,
And for our children's lives,
And for our friends' lives,
And family's lives to be different than they actually are,
Right?
And embedded in that desire is another unwholesome desire that leads to suffering,
Which is the desire for other people to see that things the way I do,
Right?
So I had a friend call,
I got a text,
Can I do a lifeline call,
Right?
And they were so angry with their partner,
And it turns out that their partner and they have very opposite views on things like vaccines,
And executive power,
And the partner isn't willing to make space for any views other than their own,
And is instead saying,
This is not a view,
This is the truth.
And that looks to me like a reflection of society right now,
Right?
We're divided,
But it's not only that we're divided,
It's that we're divided,
And we're holding so tightly to our own views,
That we believe that those are the truth,
The one truth,
And we're dismissing other views,
And also the people who have them.
And we're not only dismissing them,
We're calling them false,
We're calling them liars.
And you know,
I'm not saying,
I'm not saying this from some lofty place,
Right?
I'm 100% guilty of this too.
And also of the sort of the disdain and the pity that come along with it,
Of looking at other people and thinking,
Oh,
If only they understood,
Right?
And so grasping and clinging to our points of view,
Calling them truth,
And calling the opposites false,
You know,
Not keeping our hearts open,
This,
I feel like this is another big cause of suffering.
And then moving through the things that I named,
It's not just the views of other people and events,
It's also our views of ourselves and how fixed those can get,
Right?
So I want to know myself and be seen as all these things,
As a lawyer,
As a law professor,
As a Jew,
As a Buddhist,
As a yogi,
As a woman,
As a part of,
You know,
All these things,
As a progressive,
As a mom,
So many things.
And then to be not seen as any of those things is to feel diminished,
Right?
So there's this suffering and holding onto this view of myself.
And then when someone else doesn't see it the way I do,
Feeling diminished.
And then I also want to become better,
More thoughtful,
More mindful,
More equanimous,
Wiser,
You know,
In better shape,
Taller.
And I love one teacher,
I can't remember who it was,
I would tell you if I did,
Called this wanting to upgrade our incarnation.
And isn't that perfect?
Right?
Because we just,
Here we are,
Right?
So all of that kind of desire and grasping,
It also causes a lot of suffering.
And then lastly,
The suffering of what's called sense desire,
Very familiar to all of us,
Of wanting to be surrounded by or infused with pleasant sights and sounds and tastes and smells and sensations and states of mind,
Right?
So the desire for ice cream after dinner,
Or for a drink or for a new sweater or car,
Or the desire to be happy,
Any one of these is not a big deal.
But,
And especially if we're mindful,
And we notice,
Oh,
Desire is arising,
Oh,
Okay,
Is tonight a good night for ice cream or not?
Right?
But when the desire begins to hound us,
As in the mind that wants ice cream every night,
Or the mind that can't rest until I've scoured the internet for the very best electric car,
Right?
Or if someone is swiping endlessly for the very best partner,
Right?
That wanting mind,
That persistently wanting mind,
Wanting sense desire,
Wanting things to feel good,
When we know that they're transient,
Right?
Is another classical cause of dukkha,
Right?
Because we know all these things just come and go.
We know that,
But we forget.
So we think if we can just surround ourselves,
Then we will feel better.
So in the mindfulness texts,
I know I'm a little over on the talking part,
But there are these wonderful stories,
And every single one of them is used to illustrate a point.
I'm going to share my current best story of desire that causes suffering.
So I was out on my standup paddleboard with my friend Jen on her board,
And I had Oliver the puppy in his little life vest on my board.
And he was happy,
Sniffing the air,
Dipping his muzzle in the lake for a drink,
Having a great time.
But then Jen paddled closer,
And Ollie,
He either saw her or he smelled her.
I don't know which sense desire was at work for him.
And he just began to whine incessantly,
Trying to hop onto her board.
And so we got close enough for him to hop over.
And the minute he got on Jen's board,
He started whining and crying to get back onto my board.
And he just kept going back,
And then he'd cry,
And then he'd go to the other one,
And then he'd cry.
And that was how it went with Ollie.
And it was perfect,
Right?
It was just that desire of really believing that if we only have that other thing,
Then everything will be fine,
Right?
So we can see desire,
We can see craving,
The causes of suffering,
And how they cause suffering.
And that's the second noble truth.
Okay,
So let's sit.
So finding your posture for stillness right now,
And settling in,
Finding your home base,
Your refuge,
Whether that's the breath,
Or whether that's the sound in your environment,
And just beginning to invite the mind to settle,
Following the breath or following the arising and passing of sounds.
And you can play with this this second noble truth.
You can see whether there's any kind of grasping,
Happening,
Wanting this moment to be different,
Wanting the mind to be more settled than it is,
Wanting the body to be more comfortable than it is,
Wanting the meditation to be finished or to go on longer,
Anything that might be taking you away from just being present with whatever is here,
Just to get a kind of felt sense,
Oh,
This is what desire and grasping and clinging feel like.
And if the mind wanders,
Just coming back to your home base,
Your refuge,
And continuing this investigation.
And one more component,
If you turn the corners of the mouth up into a smile,
And really just enjoy this investigation,
Enjoy the practice,
You know,
No striving,
No no goal,
Just just being here and noticing,
And the gladness of getting to do that with each other.
And then just before the bell,
Maybe finding some intention to take that gladness with you into your day,
That gladness of being able to be present and mindful and notice when desire is happening and decide whether that's a wholesome thing to have right in that moment,
Or whether to let it go.
Thanks,
Everybody.
Take care.
Be well today.
