The Four Noble Truths¹

There are two kinds of suffering: ordinary suffering and the extraordinary kind. Ordinary suffering is the suffering which is the inherent nature of conditions: standing is suffering, sitting is suffering, lying down is suffering. This is the suffering that is inherent in all conditioned phenomena. Even the Buddha experienced these things, he experienced comfort and pain, but he recognized them as conditions in nature. He knew how to overcome these ordinary, natural feelings of comfort and pain through understanding their true nature. Because he understood this ''natural suffering'' those feelings didn't upset him.

The important kind of suffering is the second kind, the suffering that creeps in from the outside, the ''extraordinary suffering.'' If we are sick we may have to get an injection from the doctor. When the needle pierces the skin there is some pain which is only natural. When the needle is withdrawn that pain disappears. This is like the ordinary kind of suffering, it's no problem, everybody experiences it. The extraordinary suffering is the suffering that arises from what we call upādāna, grasping onto things. This is like having an injection with a syringe filled with poison. This is no longer an ordinary kind of pain, it is the pain which ends in death. This is similar to the suffering which arises from grasping.

Wrong view, not knowing the impermanent nature of all conditioned things, is another kind of problem. Conditioned things are the realm of samsāra⁴. Not wanting things to change - if we think like this we must suffer. When we think that the body is ourselves or belonging to us, we are afraid when we see it change. Consider the breath: once it comes in it must go out, having gone out it must come in again. This is its nature, this is how we manage to live. Things don't function in that way. This is how conditions are but we don't realize it.

Suppose we lost something. If we thought that object was really ours, we would brood over it. If we couldn't see it as a conditioned thing faring according to the laws of nature we would experience suffering. But if you breathe in, can you live? Conditioned things must naturally change in this way. To see this is to see the Dhamma, to see aniccam, change. We live dependent on this change. When we know how things are then we can let go of them.

The practice of Dhamma is to develop an understanding of the way of things so that suffering doesn't arise. If we think wrongly we are at odds with the world, at odds with the Dhamma and with the truth. Suppose you were sick and had to go into hospital. Most people think, ''Please don't let me die, I want to get better.'' This is wrong thinking, it will lead to suffering. You have to think to yourself, ''If I recover I recover, if I die I die.'' This is right thinking, because you can't ultimately control conditions. If you think like this, whether you die or recover, you can't go wrong, you don't have to worry. Wanting to get better at all costs and afraid of the thought of dying... this is the mind which doesn't understand conditions. You should think, ''If I get better that's fine, if I don't get better that's fine.'' This way we can't go wrong, we don't have to be afraid or cry, because we have tuned ourselves in to the way things are.

Footnotes

...¹

This talk was given at the Manjushri Institute in Cumbria, U.K., in 1977

... monasteries²

At the time of printing this book (1992), there are about one hundred branch monasteries, big and small, of Wat Nong Pah Pong.

... suffering³

Dukkha: ''Suffering'' is a most inadequate translation, but it is the one most commonly found. Dukkha literally means ''intolerable,'' ''unsustainable,'' ''difficult to endure,'' and can also mean ''imperfect,'' ''unsatisfying,'' or ''incapable of providing perfect happiness.''

...samsāra⁴

Samsāra: The world of delusion.

...Attavādupādāna⁵

One of the Four Bases of Clinging: Kāmupādāna, clinging to sense objects; sīlabbatupādāna: clinging to rites and rituals; ditthupādāna: clinging to views, and attavādupādāna, clinging to the idea of self.

... one⁶

Soon after his enlightenment, the Buddha was walking on his way to Benares and was approached by a wandering ascetic, who said, ''Your features are clear, friend, your bearing serene... who is your teacher?'' The Buddha answered that there was no-one in this world who could claim to be his teacher, because he was completely self-enlightened. The ascetic could not understand his answer, and walked off, muttering, ''Well, good for you, friend, good for you.''