..续本文上一页o all we have to do is to give up our craving. For example, we are already full from a meal but still crave for more, especially when we see some tantalizing dish on an advertisement. The mind wants to run to the refrigerator to grab some more food. If we are mindful of our thoughts we could tell the mind that we have just finished eating. If we eat again, we would get fat and gain weight, the cholesterol would be higher, the blood pressure would increase, and we would die sooner. This thought would stop us and put a brake on our craving. When the craving has been eliminated, the mind would become calm and peaceful.
In Buddhism this is wisdom. All things in this world are impermanent and bring suffering or stress. Don”t be attached to visible objects, sounds, aromas, flavors, tactile sensations, wealth, status, praise, and sensual pleasures that we treasure so much. When we acquire wealth we feel so happy. But in the eyes of the wise they are the source of unhappiness if they are more than what is needed for our existence. When we have more than we need they become a mental liability causing restlessness and anxiety, driving us to spend and spend, and to acquire more and more, locking us in this vicious circle of acquisition and spending, never ever find peace of mind and contentment.
Don”t ever think that wealth, status, praise, and sensual pleasures can bring true happiness, because it”s transient, it comes and goes. When we get rich, we feel happy. When we become poor, we are unhappy. When all the money is gone, there could be no greater suffering. But if we, like monks, were used to living without money, we would not suffer. Life can go on with just having enough to eat each day. Use your head and come to the realization that true happiness comes from contentment, no more greed, hatred, delusion, no more craving for sensuality, for becoming, and for not-becoming, no more craving to become a lieutenant, a general, a director, a Miss Universe. If we want them, we would have to go after them. If we don”t, we could stay put and be truly happy.
The origin of all sufferings or stresses is the three cravings. To get rid of them, we must use wisdom or panna in order to make us realize that they don”t give us true happiness. True happiness is in the mind, the mind that has quelled all the cravings. If we possess the five spiritual powers namely, faith, exertion, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom, we would have the tools to eliminate the kilesa and vanquish suffering or stress from our mind. Please develop these five spiritual powers as much as you possibly can then true happiness would eventually be your possession.
《The Five Spiritual Powers》全文阅读结束。