Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The Buddha was right!

All of us reach a certain point in our lives where we feel that life has taken a very wrong turn on us. Try as we might, we don't seem to be able to solve the problems or be able to come out of the suffering. 

In our desperation, we turn to family... all of us do... and yet even they seem to be not able o do anything. We turn to God... all of us do... and yet mostly we find that God still continues testing us. And we ask him "Why me?". 

But what we don't realise is that the most of the time the solutions will be right in front of our eyes. God would have already shown it to us. Only, we choose NOT TO SEE! 

Here is where I bring in The Buddha. Almost 3000 years ago the Buddha taught us:

The Cause of suffering: People live in a sea of suffering because of ignorance and greed. They are ignorant of the Law of Karma and are greedy for the wrong kind of pleasures. They do things that are harmful to their bodies and peace of mind, so they can not be satisfied or enjoy life. 

For example, once children have had a taste of candy, they want more. When they can't have it, they get upset. Even if children get all the candy they want, they soon get tired of it and want something else. Although, they get a stomach-ache from eating too much candy, they still want more. The things people want most cause them the most suffering. 

Of course, there are basic things that all people should have, like adequate food, shelter, and clothing. Everyone deserve a good home, loving parents, and good friends. They should enjoy life and cherish their possessions without becoming greedy.

The End of sufferingTo end suffering, one must cut off greed and ignorance. This means changing one's views and living in a more natural and peaceful way. Achieve Nirvana. The Buddha said, "The extinction of desire is Nirvana." It can be experienced in this very life.

Reference:
http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/footsteps.htm

So what does this teaching mean to us? 

Simple. Most of our sufferings and sadness emanates from craving for and wanting something that will not do us any good except give short term happiness or pleasure. If only we could just let go of our unwanted desires and cravings, we will be much better off and happy. How do we know if the desire is unwanted? I believe deep inside we (I mean people with a certain level of mental maturity, mostly adults) all know that the desire is unwanted, we simply choose not to accept it and keep clinging on to it because the child in us wants his/her candy.

Believe me... It works! Im now experiencing the Power of Letting Go... And I'm Happy
:)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice blog. :) It seems like, good gnyan(enlightenment) you have got.

Anonymous said...

wats with the gyan boss?????these are things everyone knows but nobody is ready to practise cos goin the wrong way is easier than taking such an effort.good to know ur takin the effort.let me know if its workin...

Anonymous said...

cool

Unknown said...

dude!!! this is scarry man.....everything ok :)

Naveen Prashanth said...

nooooooooooooooooooooooooo wat happ ........................ ??? but neverthless good one

Anonymous said...

paradoxical ..... since you thought about it..........

Anonymous said...

dude!!!was this to impress Dr. Venkat to enroll you for the LIP course???
or were u the blessed one to be enligtened during the Singapore trip...;)
Jokes apart, a nice blog..:)

Jai agarwal said...

With due respect to your Blog.

Just a add on:-

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.

Thanks for reminding about the Valuable lessons George.