On Vedana: From Devotion to Direct Experience
- by S. N. Goenka
Every religion teaches the importance of living a moral life, of developing mastery of the mind, of keeping the mind free from defilements. Reading about such teachings in the scriptures, a religious devotee may accept them out of great faith or out of intellectual conviction. But merely accepting these teachings will not help at all; the real benefit comes only from practice. One cannot quench a raging thirst by reading a description of the molecular structure of water. One cannot satisfy the pangs of hunger by studying a restaurant menu. One cannot be healed of the torment of sickness by reading a doctor”s prescription. Neither will perting the attention give real relief from thirst, from hunger, or from disease. In the same way, trying to forget the problems of life will not solve them, nor will it help merely to talk about the way to solve them.
Unless one takes concrete steps to their solution—that is, unless one practices Dhamma— one is bound to remain miserable. Practice, however, is not so easy; one must work hard to eliminate negativities from the mind. Far easier is to suppress them or to distract the mind, or to intoxicate it with a pleasurable object. But supression, persion, or intoxication are only temporary; when their effects wear off, the problem still remains. So long as defilements exist in its depths, the mind is not cured of the disease of suffering. Whenever we encounter an unpleasant situation we usually try to run away from it, to escape from the unwelcome reality by busying the mind elsewhere. And life provides so many kinds of entertainment to help us distract ourselves: television, cinema, fairs and circuses, or even worse, intoxicants such as alcohol and drugs. Even if one does not seek such worldly persions, the alternative is often spiritual intoxication: going to a place of worship and mindlessly repeating prayers or performing ceremonies. Doing so may not be as harmful as worldly distraction but ultimately escapism is escapism. For a time the mind remains engrossed in these persions, but sooner or later whatever problem lies concealed in its depths will again rise to the surface; and if force has been used to suppress the problem it will erupt with equal force. Diversion and suppression therefore do not eliminate suffering, they actually increase it. In fact suffering arises not outside but within us.
The cause of suffering also lies within, in the defilements and negativities of the mind. Seeking to replace unwelcome external objects with agreeable ones is a form of self-deception, a palliative rather than a real treatment of the disease. a wiser way to deal with suffering is to try to understand it properly. Someone who does so will first ask himself why he has become unhappy, and the answer will be obvious: when he encountered an unpleasant person, thing, or situation, he started generating mental aversion towards it. This aversion is in fact a form of craving: the desire to be rid of the unpleasant experience. The habit of the mind is to crave for whatever it regards as pleasant, and if instead of pleasant objects it encounters unwanted, unpleasant ones, it develops aversion. So long as the mind remains caught in the habit of craving it will also be caught in the habit of aversion, both of which are bound to make us agitated and miserable.
To understand this much intellectually is good, but to actually relieve the misery this understanding must lead us to action. We must do something to eliminate the habit of craving and aversion. Only then will we be freed from suffering. Someone may do so. may begin to practice Dhamma, but quickly becomes discouraged by the difficulties he faces. Out of a feeling of inferiority and helpless…
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