..续本文上一页and then it will withdraw from that state. While you are in that state, you”ll feel a sense of peace, happiness, liberation from all kinds of anxiety and worries. All emotions will disappear. Your mind will be clear like still water.
If you can do this, then you will know how to clear your mind when you feel bad. It doesn”t do you any good to worry or be saddened by things externally because you can”t do anything about it anyway. You cannot control things around you. They can make you mad, sad, worried and unhappy. With meditation you can eliminate them by concentrating on your breathing and forget about the things that upset you. You can remain peaceful and happy for a while. But you cannot remain in meditation all the time, you have to come out and face the world, face your problems and your responsibilities. You can face them calmly if you have insight, understanding the nature of things around you. They all have three common characteristics.
The first is impermanence. All things are impermanent, unstable, constantly changing. For instance, our body does not remain the same. Every second it is changing slowly. We are getting older and older all the time. If you don”t believe me, go back and look at the picture you took ten years ago of yourself, and look at yourself now, you will see that you don”t look the same. It”s the same body that has gradually evolved into what you are now. It will not remain as it is because ten years from now it will look different from what it is today. This is impermanence or change. Everything around us changes, not just people but materials things as well. When you buy something, it is brand new. After a while it becomes old and will eventually break down. When you buy a watch or a radio for example, after a few years you will have to take it to the repair shop. If it is beyond repair, you”ll have to throw it away.
You should contemplate on impermanence all the time. Tell yourself that whatever you have in your possession will not last. Once you know this you will be prepared to face the eventuality that things change from good to bad. You will not be emotionally affected. You”ll feel as if nothing has happend, because you know in advance that this will happen. Everything around you and your body is not stable, but always changing. You don”t know when you will get sick. But if you are prepared to get sick, you will not be miserable. You”ll just take some medicine or see a doctor. Whether you”ll get well or not will not bother you. You”ll tell yourself: That”s the way it is. Your mind will not be affected by the illness of the body.
The second characteristic is dukkha or suffering. Whatever you have will eventually hurt you. For example, you are single and think that having a boyfriend or a girlfriend will make you happier. But that is not the case. Because after you get married you will inevitably quarrel and get upset. Everything is like this. They will make you sad and miserable sooner or later. They don”t always make you happy. There are two sides to a story. Not just the good side, there is also the bad side. The Buddha teaches us to look at the other side of the story as well. When you know ahead of time what will happen, you will change your mind. You”ll choose to remain single when you find that the misery outweighs the happiness.
The third characteristic is anatta or not-self. There”s no self in anything. Everything is without a self, like this bouquet, this shack or your body. The Buddha says they are just the composition of the four elements: liquid, solid, gases and heat. In other words: earth, water, wind and fire. Your body comes from the food that you eat which in turn comes from the four elements. They are all elements: carbon dioxide, oxygen, hydrogen and so forth. There is…
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