..續本文上一頁complete, unchanging, completely satisfying, very simple, and really blissful.
It”s great to be able to reflect on the Jhanas. First Jhana is so much less than you had before. You”ve given up so much. There”s hardly anything of existence left, just this small little blip called First Jhana. You enter into Second Jhana, and there”s only half a blip left. You”re hardly there, and you can hardly say that you exist. You”re not doing anything. You”re like a rock, stable, still. There”s nothing much going on because you”ve given up so much. There”s just this last little vestige of consciousness remaining. You find that”s the most blissful experience so far. When you get into Third Jhana you”ve given up even more. You really get into this giving up business. You really get off on it. You really get off on renunciation (nekkhamma). You can”t wait to give up more: "How much more can I give up
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You realise this is the path to liberation from suffering - letting go. You understand why - because deep down there is no one in here. When there is no owner, your possessions are free for anyone to take. When there is no owner nature can go right ahead and take your happiness and give you suffering, because you know it”s going to take your suffering and give you happiness later on. These things don”t belong to you.
All of our joys and depressions, our wisdom and craziness, don”t belong to anybody - it”s all just nature. That”s all there is. So we can let go and learn to live with it, because we know it”s going to change. Every time we get down, we know we”re going to get up again soon. Every time we get up, we know we”re going to get down again. It”s just the nature of us. That”s why we can smile when we”re down because we know it”s not going to last. That”s why we can be peaceful when we”re up because we know that”s not going to last either.
This is how to deal with suffering and to learn to let go of things - understanding that the more you give up, the more happiness you have. It takes time though; you”ve got to give yourself time to be able to do these things, you have to be patient. It”s a natural process and each one of you already has enough of a start. You”ve experienced enough suffering in this world; so don”t go looking for happiness in the wrong places, otherwise you will just find more suffering. Don”t be like the mangy dog. Just sit down and stay in one place, and watch the suffering just disappear all by itself without you doing anything. The best thing to do when you go through difficulties as a monk, as a nun, or as an anagarika, is just to stay still and not move.
Do as the Lord Buddha in the Bhayabherava Sutta (MN,4). If he was walking and fear came, he would carry on walking until the fear left and only then would he change to another posture. If he was sitting he wouldn”t get up, he would just stay there until the fear subsided. If he was lying or standing, it was the same. Let it be the same when you get any suffering in your life. Don”t change your position. What I am talking about here is don”t do anything different, just carry on, and I guarantee whatever suffering you experience will just disappear. You”ll find that suffering has got nothing to do with how you try and manipulate it. It”s got nothing to do with the monastery, with your body, with your health, with your age, or with whatever. That”s just what suffering does, it comes and goes all by itself.
Whatever you are, whatever you do, it”s the nature of suffering - it just comes when it wants to. Uninvited it comes, and it leaves without permission. It will go when it wants to go, not when you want it to go. In fact, the more you want it to go, the longer it will stay. It”s perverse like that. Actually, if you invite it in and allow it to stay, it can”t stand yo…
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