So good morning.
We are exploring the Four Noble Truths.
And no matter what lineage of the Buddhist tradition you practice in all the countries that it's gone to,
They all rest on the Four Noble Truths.
Even though they have different practices and appearances,
The rituals may be different,
They all believe and derive their teachings from these Four Noble Truths.
And last week I introduced to you the first two of what are known as these Four Noble Truths.
And the first is that there is dukkha.
So what does dukkha mean?
Dissatisfaction,
Right?
There is dissatisfaction,
Contention with this moment.
And what causes this dissatisfaction?
Clinging,
Wanting it to be otherwise,
Holding on to an idea,
A thought,
A perception.
So today we'll look at how this dissatisfaction can come to an end.
It can lessen.
We can learn to eventually let go of how we're holding all of our experiences in this life,
And truly find freedom by letting the river of life flow,
And flow with it.
The Buddha said,
I teach one thing and one thing only,
Suffering and the end of suffering.
And we all know a lot about suffering,
But we're not so familiar with its end.
So we looked at the truth of suffering last week,
Like understanding that it's universal,
It's all of us.
And we experience this dukkha as the nervous system kind of registering its existence.
You know,
It's a little shaky,
This existence,
And there's some anxiety in our nervous system,
Whether we're conscious of it or not.
And it's caused because we're holding on to something.
It's caused by grasping,
By wanting and desiring.
We're banking on that our happiness is in getting something that isn't right here.
That's other than what is right here right now.
It's the if only mind.
And here's the rub.
When we get that thing that we want,
Our satisfaction is very temporary.
And I don't think you can take my word for this.
I think you need to experience this and see this for yourself.
There is nothing outside of ourselves,
Nothing,
No person,
No idea,
Nothing that will bring us lasting happiness.
And I think we just have to learn this one on our own.
I had to learn this on my own.
We have to see for ourselves.
So the perpetually wanting mind,
You know,
When does it stop?
How does it stop?
Is it possible?
Yes,
Yes,
It is.
The third noble truth is about opening our grasping hand.
And that takes a little bit of awareness.
You know,
To begin to see when you're grasping,
When you're holding on,
You know,
Just to ask the question,
It takes some effort,
Not a lot.
Just the same presence of mind that has you come back to your breath when you're lost in thought,
In meditation practice.
Like,
Where am I clinging?
You know,
Asking that question.
This is how the third noble truth is practiced.
Because when we can see it,
When we can open our hand,
The hand that's grasping,
It's possible to be free.
It's possible to live without pain,
Without oppression.
It can all come to an end.
So we pay attention with awareness.
Like,
This is our practice.
And the fourth noble truth is that path.
It's a way where we begin to see what the mind is doing.
And when we see what the mind is doing,
What it's spinning,
The thoughts,
The perceptions,
Where am I holding,
Like asking that question,
We learn to let go.
As we develop a daily practice of awareness,
We begin to see more regularly how we experience our life unfolding.
And we see this in our meditation practice,
How quickly things arise and pass away.
You know,
We begin to see that everything throughout the day is also just arising and is known to us through our sense doors.
You know,
The sense doors of sight and sound,
Feeling,
Perception,
Ideas.
You know,
These are the sense doors and experience arises within them and lasts sometimes for moments,
Sometimes longer,
And then disappears.
Like nothing,
Nothing we experience lasts.
And when our insight is developed and we're seeing in a way where we don't hold on so tightly,
Like the way,
Say sound arises.
We're not holding on to that sound.
It arises and passes.
And this insight into impermanence,
It helps us release our grip on anything that appears in our life.
So the fourth noble truth is really,
Here's how,
You know,
The medicine.
Letting go of our clinging,
Our wanting is not easy.
So the eightfold path is kind of like a map.
The path is described as steps,
But they are also in some way what we become.
So the eight steps are wise view,
Wise intention,
Wise speech,
Wise action,
Wise livelihood,
Wise effort,
Wise mindfulness,
And wise concentration.
And just to say,
This is not linear.
I'll bring them to you in this order,
But a practitioner doesn't complete before moving on to another.
It's more like a spiral and continually in this spiral returning to the beginning with greater depth and understanding.
I think that's the most remarkable thing about this practice is that I've practiced this myself many,
Many times.
And each time I return with greater understanding.
So that's what we'll do in these next weeks together,
This path of awareness that I offer.
So I'd like to close with these words from the Thai forest master Ajahn Chah.
He said,
If you can let go a little,
You'll have a little peace.
If you can let go a lot,
You'll have a lot of peace.
If you can let go absolutely,
You'll have absolute peace and tranquility.
So thank you for your attention and your consideration.
