..续本文上一页of spiritual purity.
Finally the fifth and last of the spiritual powers that will assist us in our spiritual advancement is wisdom or panna. To have wisdom is to be wise as opposed to being ignorant. The difference between the wise and the ignorant is that the ignorant become street sweepers and dish washers, while the wise get better jobs, working in air-conditioned offices, giving orders. This is because they are educated, smart and knowledgeable. They know what should be done and what should not be done. Those who don”t know how to type, for example, will have to wash dishes, mow the lawn, or sweep the streets instead, because this kind of work does not need a lot of knowledge or wisdom. To be able to work in a specialized field, one has to be capable and knowledgeable.
In Buddhism however, the emphasis is on knowing about suffering or dukkha, about the four noble truths or ariya-sacca namely, suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path of practice leading to the cessation of suffering. Usually when we are unhappy we don”t know what causes it. But one who possesses wisdom or panna will know right away that the mind is on fire. Right now as we sit here quite comfortably, if someone does something that bothers us, we can no longer remain calm. If we don”t have wisdom, we will not know that we are suffering. If we have wisdom acquired from regularly listening to Dhamma talks, we will know that when we feel ill at ease, we are suffering.
Mental suffering or stress has its origin, not from the external but from within the mind itself. Its causes are the three cravings or tanha namely, craving for sensuality, for becoming, and for not-becoming. Craving for sensuality is our lust for visible objects, sounds, aromas, flavors and tactile sensations, such as beautiful clothes and other material objects. When we lust for them it would stir up restlessness right away. When we see advertisements on the television for some products with tantalizing offers and the telephone number to call, we would immediately make that call. We could not remain still because the mind has been set on fire. It”s now afflicted with suffering.
Craving or lust for becoming is another form of suffering or stress. If we think that there is a possibility for us to become a prime minister, we would not be able to remain indifferent. We would have to go out campaigning for votes. We couldn”t just stay at home and let it all happen by itself. On the other hand, if we have no desire to become a prime minister, we could sit back and do nothing and be spared the suffering or stress that come with the race. We would be happy from our contentment
Suffering or stress occurs in the mind. Its origin, the three cravings, also comes from the mind. If we have no craving, we wouldn”t be afflicted with suffering or stress. When we are full from a meal, we couldn”t take another bite, even if it”s our favorite dish. That”s because we don”t have any craving for food. But if we were hungry because we haven”t eaten for a day or two, we would devour even plain rice and a banana, let alone our favorite dish, because of our lust for food. When we are restless we are being consumed by stress. If we can stay put, we would be happy. Suffering or stress is therefore in the mind. The origin of suffering is also in the mind. Stress or suffering has to be quelled in the mind. The tool to achieve this is also in the mind namely magga or the path of practice leading to the cessation of suffering. What is magga
Mindfulness and wisdom or sati and panna as mentioned before are the components of magga along with faith, exertion and samadhi. We just have to realize that our craving causes our suffering or stress. Once we d…
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