..续本文上一页ok into things, and see why they have become so difficult. We have a house, we have cars, we have jobs, we have money in the bank, so why are we not happy
We should look deeply.
"In Buddhism we speak of suffering as the First Truth, the first of the Four Noble Truths. Suffering is a Noble Truth because, if we have the courage to look deeply into the nature of pain, then we will find a way that will lead us to liberation. This is why suffering is considered a Noble Truth. If you look at television with him, it is in order to forget reality. Turn off the TV, and come back to the real situation, and look with courage into the suffering. The Buddha said that with everything that happens to you, if you can identify the kind of nourishment has created that pain, at that moment you are already on the way to liberation, because nothing can survive without nourishment. Pain is the same. Suffering needs nourishment in order to continue. You have fed your pain, your suffering, you have lived in such a way that pain and suffering are possible. You have to look at why and how this pain is present. The Buddha speaks in terms of the four kinds of nourishment, and we have already talked about this last week. Sister Annabel has given a detailed talk on these four kinds of nourishment, and you can listen to the cassette.
"Of course, we have lived without mindfulness. We have made mistakes, we have created suffering in each other. We have sown suffering, pain, sorrow, anger and things like that in each other”s consciousness. Now it is true that when we look at each other, we don”t have joy and happiness any more. That is why we look at TV together. If you are seated with your husband in your living room, and if both of you are honest and trying to make an effort to recognize the causes of your difficulties, then you will see the path which leads you to well being and reconciliation. If the relationship between you and your husband is not good, if the communication between you has become impossible, that is because of mistakes in the past, and now the practice is to restore this communication which is so important. Re-establishing communication is an absolutely necessary practice. With the practice of deep listening, with the use of loving speech, we can always re-open the door that has been closed. You cannot open the door of his heart, and he cannot open the door of your heart. Communication has become impossible, so we have to do something to restore that communication.
"Nowadays, there are ways to communicate which are very sophisticated: we have e-mail, faxes, telephones, and satellites. We need only a few seconds to get in contact with people who live very far from here, but true communication has become very difficult.. The practice of communication is a practice for everyone, in the family, in society, and in international community, even within ourselves. Communication has become difficult, because between you and yourself there is a lack of communication. Maybe communication has become impossible between you and your body, between you and your feelings, between you and your perceptions.
"Each one of us is made up of elements called skandhas. First, we have the physical body, which is called form, then the feelings, then the perceptions, and then the mental formations, and last, deep consciousness. These five elements, the five skandhas, form our territory. This territory is very large, immense. If each one of us is a king or a queen, ruling over this territory, but we are not very responsible kings or queens, there are things happening in this territory that we cannot control. There are conflicts, there is war in our territory. You cannot survey your territory, you do not have the capacity to allow peace and harmony to be in your t…
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