So we're exploring the three characteristics of life,
Of all of life.
Impermanence,
The constant,
Continuous arising and passing,
That when we tune into can be a doorway to freedom.
Nothing to hold onto so we can let go.
And today we're looking at dissatisfaction,
And next week we'll get into the not-self component of this characteristic.
These three characteristics are so central to the Buddha's teaching,
As central as the Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.
And it's useful to be able to discern these qualities,
All of these,
You can experience directly.
So if I say at any point,
Understand the nature of things,
What I mean is directly perceive these three characteristics.
It's been said that to perceive them thoroughly and directly is awakening.
That's a powerful,
Powerful statement.
So we looked at impermanence,
And it's not one and done.
Continue to see the arising and passing,
Arising and passing.
So much change has occurred since the last time we met.
Day to night,
Shifting temperatures,
Falling leaves,
Moods come and go.
Feelings and thoughts arise and pass.
Items have been added to your to-do list,
And items have been checked off.
Changing,
Changing,
Changing,
All the time.
And today we'll explore the characteristic of dissatisfaction.
At its worst,
It's suffering.
But daily,
It presents kind of as an uneasiness or dissatisfying.
There's dissatisfaction that happens throughout the day,
Stress.
The Pali word is dukkha.
And although it's been translated in the ways I've just described,
I don't think English can capture its nuances.
There are two major aspects to the Buddhist teaching on dukkha.
The first and the most famous being that the implications of having been born,
Which entails having a body that can experience physical pain and sickness and aging and death,
As well as all the interpersonal conflicts,
The personal losses,
Fear,
Grief,
And sorrow.
So all these are aspects of being born,
And they have great significance throughout our lives.
And the second aspect of dukkha is kind of the key for insight practice.
And that's the painful tension that comes from taking in sense data,
Feelings,
Emotions,
Thoughts,
And misinterpreting those sensations that cause us to habitually create the illusion of a permanent individual separate self.
The I am-ness.
I am this emotion.
I am this thought.
This is my view.
These are my feelings.
So the second characteristic relates to the third.
We are caught up in this habit of assuming that there is this controller within us called I.
And this seemingly permanent thing called me is continually attempting to maintain the illusion of a separate self in an impermanent world.
So this takes a lot of propping up.
I am this.
I am that.
I am.
I am.
I am.
Our whole world is involved in this propping up of this illusion as separate,
Making it really hard for us to take in this fundamental suffering caused by continually trying to prop up an independent self.
It's the illusion of duality.
And the illusion of duality is inherently painful.
In fact,
You could say that the illusion of duality is the fundamental suffering of humanity.
And it can be hard to open to that quality of dissatisfaction because it takes a certain amount of courage and a certain amount of honesty.
Retreating is a helpful container to get closer to this quality of dukkha.
You know,
It feels like in my body,
Like a hard nut right in the center of my chest.
And it's so old,
This quality of separate,
That when my teacher guided us during a meditation and dropped in the words,
Let go,
I felt that little nut of separate self tighten its grip.
Tighten its grip.
So cool to see this.
I would venture to guess that this fundamental experience of dukkha,
The continual propping up of a separate independent self,
I wouldn't be surprised if this contributes to depression,
To autoimmune disease,
To all the ways the body is not functioning optimally.
It seems so obvious that this could happen.
The body truly keeps the score.
So this practice,
Practicing with this characteristic of dukkha,
For us,
It's to get closer to it.
To bring the quality of dissatisfaction closer in.
That's what the practice is asking you to do.
The tendency is to get rid of the discomfort and the dissatisfaction.
But the practice of insight is a full pivot.
What's in the way is the way.
