Dharma Talk Summary - Suffering is Optional

July 4, 2010

Talk Given by Hae Doh Sunim

16 Minutes

Dhammapada Reading: Chapter 16 "Pleasing"

Engaging himself in what is unfit

and not engaging in what is fitting,

having abandoned the goal,

the person who grasps after what is pleasing

envies the person who applies himself.

Do not be attached to what is pleasing,

and never to that which is unpleasing.

Not seeing what is pleasing is painful,

as is seeing the unpleasing.

For this reason, you should not make things pleasing;

for the absence of what is pleasing is troubling.

There are no bonds for those people

for whom there is no notion of pleasing and unpleasing.

Sorrow springs from what is pleasing.

Fear springs from what is pleasing.

For the person freed from what is pleasing

there is no sorrow. From where could fear emerge?

Sorrow springs from liking.

Fear springs from liking.

For the person freed from liking

there is no sorrow. From where could fear emerge?

Sorrow springs from attachment.

Fear springs from attachment.

For the person freed from attachment

there is no sorrow. From where could fear emerge?

Sorrow springs from sensual pleasure.

Fear springs from sensual pleasure.

For the person freed from sensual pleasure

there is no sorrow. From where could fear emerge?

Sorrow springs from craving.

Fear springs from craving.

For the person freed from craving

there is no sorrow. From where could fear emerge?

People hold dear the person

who is endowed with virtue and vision,

established in the teaching,

truthful in speech,

and who does the work that is his.

The person who would bring forth

a desire for the nameless, mind clear,

thought not enmeshed in sensual pleasures,

is called "one who is streaming upward."

Long absent, a person returns safely from afar.

Relatives, friends, and companions

joyously greet the one who has returned.

In the same way, just deserts receive

the person who has created value

and passed from this world to the world beyond,

as relatives receive a loved one who has returned.

A old man decided to go out for a walk one day, went out into the woods near his home and this frog jumps out in front of him on the path. He looks down and says, "Wow." Then all of a sudden he hears this voice. "HEY! Hey up there!" He looks down and it's the frog the voice is coming from. "Hey mister! If you just pick me up and give me a kiss I'll turn into a beautiful woman and we can make love all day and all night long!"

"Really?" says the old man. He bends over, picks up the frog, but rather than giving it a kiss he puts the frog in his pocket and continues walking along the path.

"HEY! HEY! I don't think you heard me! If you just give me a kiss I'll turn into a beautiful woman and we can make love all day!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I heard you. But at my age I rather have a talking frog."

I'll tell you, when I was younger I couldn't of appreciated that story, but being older now I can understand where he's coming from.

I went to the chiropractor for the first time in 8 years. My back hasn't been doing well, especially since the recent clergy protocol retreat. The chiropractor took X-rays and as soon as I saw them I was surprised and the chiropractor said, "I don't know if I can help you." When the chiropractor says they may not be able to help you, you may be in trouble.

It's tough getting old. When you're T'ajin's age and young, you can stay up all night and get up and go the next day, boy, that just fell by the wayside for me years ago.

People ask what is Buddhism all about? It's really about the three marks of existence:

• Impermanence
• Suffering
• No-Self

After Buddha became enlightened he went to give his first teaching, his first talk to five of his former ascetic monk friends. This is what he said,

" Now this Bhikkhus, is the noble truth of Suffering. Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering. Union with what is displeasing is suffering. Separation from what is pleasing is suffering. Not to get what one wants is suffering. In brief, the five aggregates (skandhas) subject to clinging are suffering (form, feeling, thought, impulse, consciousness). "

The first four; birth, aging, illness, and death, any organism that has a central nervous system is going to experience and realize pain. People always exclaim, "I'm in pain! I'm suffering!" But I want to differentiate between pain and suffering.

Pain serves a useful biological function. It warns us when we're in trouble. With suffering, there is an emotional component that comes with it. The Buddha said, I can't teach you how to eliminate pain, the stuff that really hurts, the physical pain, but I can help you with the emotional element. How did he do that? He offered the eightfold path. RIght Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood….etc. You do less harm to others and the less harm that happens to you.

It's not easy getting older. I don't necessarily want to go back to being 18 but I sure wish my body worked better than it does now at 63. But it doesn't but I have to try and accept it.

There's a story about an old Zen monk at a monastery. Nothing phased him. The young monks thought there had to be something to phase him. It was the old monk's turn to take the tea to the Dharma room in the morning, around 3:30 AM when monks usually wake up, so it was dark in the temple. The young monks hid in the hallway and when the old monk walked by with the tea the young monks jumped out and screamed trying to startle the old monk. The old monk just keeps walking on, and sets the tea cups down on the table around the corner, and then starts breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath and calm himself down. Later the Zen teacher says, "See, it's not that you don't have emotions, it's that you learn how to control them. Learn how to be with them. There is nothing wrong with emotions but it's how you keep them in check."

Pain may be a given. Suffering is optional.