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Namo tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammâ Sambuddhassa!
A BUDDHIST APPROACH TO DISENCHANTMENT
1
Copyright: Dhamma Group • Version:
1.2
• Website:
www.vihara.org.au
We all get sold the dream
of the ‘happy life’ from a young age. We are indoctrinated by television, books,
toys, parents, friends, educational institutions, society and culture about how
to find this ‘happiness.’ We are told that to be truly happy one has to have a good
job, a good family and all the ‘trappings’ that go with family life such as a house,
car and other such belongings. But do these things really bring happiness? Well-instructed
Buddhists take a different view.
A beautiful, kind, trustworthy
and reasonable partner is sought by all. Yet how many people end up finding their
ideal partner? Every relationship has its imperfections and incompatibilities. Even
if the match is good, there is always the problem of
changeability (anicca).
People’s ideas, needs and likings change constantly and can give rise to friction
and conflicts in relationships when these differ between the parties. Then there
is the problem of
impermanence of the physical form.
The body undergoes changes over time and ages, weakens, deteriorates and becomes
diseased, taking away all health, youthful looks and grace along with it. At the
most, there are 25-35 years of ‘happiness’ to be gained from marriage after which
one has to contend with the realities of sickness, old age and death. Almost all
only come face to face with these realities after
marriage.
No marriage would be complete without
adorable and obedient children. Children are desired, but the realities of having
children become apparent only after their arrival. From the day that children are
born, they are a source of
suffering for parents. They cry
and keep parents awake as babies and they go out and keep their parents awake as
young adults. They get sick and need to be treated, they need to be schooled, educated
and prepared for life. It’s worse when children don’t listen to parents and get
into all kinds of trouble - again it is the parents that
suffer. All in all, raising a
child is a 25-30 year life commitment fraught with difficulty, stress and struggle.
No family would be complete without
a mansion, two family cars and perhaps a boat or an investment property in addition
to the various trappings such as televisions, DVD players, a fridge, a washing machine,
computers, clothes, etc. A house that is bigger, better and has more facilities
than others’ is desired by many: ‘A house to beat all houses.’ However to get such
a house is not easy and requires a considerable monetary deposit and a commitment
of around 25-30 years of one’s life to repay the large bank loan. So much suffering
for something that will eventually be left behind. Then there are the belongings
that go out of date on the very day that they are bought. A car for example is source
of great suffering as it gets scratched,
battered, bruised, broken and in need of constant servicing over time. A similar
situation exists for all other belongings.
To support a spouse, children,
house and belongings, one needs a good job.2 The
suffering starts with the training
at an institution such as a university for several years. This is then followed
by employment as a trainee, progressing to an intermediate, senior and management
levels. In all these levels there is
suffering to be experienced in various
ways. There is about 25-35 years of struggle at various work places, working with
people that one dislikes or disagrees with, doing work that one does not wish to
do, being managed by people one does not wish to be managed by, working in a company
one does not wish to work in, etc. There is also the constant work politics that
one needs to deal with while struggling to climbing the employment ladder.
It becomes apparent from the above,
that the life of a lay person is filled with struggle,
stress and
suffering.
Yet people seek the lay life, get caught up and relish it.3 Why is this?
This is because all these things; a spouse, children, houses, cars, and other belongings,
are a source of
pleasure. They
please the six senses of
eye,
ear,
nose,
tongue,
body and
mind,
with pleasant sights (e.g. of children), pleasant sounds (e.g. their voices), pleasant
odours (e.g. their smell), pleasant flavours (e.g. food), pleasant tactile sensation
(e.g. of a touch) and pleasant ideas (e.g. thinking ‘I have these things’). This
is why lay people seek out these avenues of hidden
stress,
suffering
and unsatisfactoriness cleverly disguised as
‘happiness;’ because they also give rise
to pleasure (which is
changeable thereby causing
stress as an end
result). So people
are stuck in a maze of
suffering, holding
suffering
with both hands, while thinking they are ‘happy.’ The Lord
Buddha has warned that the
pleasures
to be gained from sensual avenues are little to none, give rise to greater
pain
(due to changeability -
anicca) and thus should be abandoned
in favour of the final goal of
Nibbana.4
Lay life is full of
suffering
but only few realize this. Incompatibilities of ideas, interests and likings between
partners can give rise to much stress and conflict.
Parents
suffer and struggle from the
day that children are born by raising, schooling and looking after them. Belongings
give little satisfaction but mostly give rise to
unsatfactoriness and
stress. There is the need to struggle and work to support
one’s family and belongings. Then there is the ultimate suffering of sickness, old
age and death, where one has to leave behind all that one has worked for 25-35 years
of one’s life including spouse, children, job, houses, cars, money and all other
belongings. So it is better to stop delaying any further, realize the danger that
one is in and work towards the final goal of the deathless
Nibbana.
May you realize the trap
that you are caught in and find the strength to attain the lasting peace of
Nibbana!
KAMA SUTTA – SENSUAL PLEASURE 5
If one, longing for sensual
pleasure,
achieves it, yes,
he's enraptured at heart.
The mortal gets what
he wants.
But if for that person
— longing, desiring —
the pleasures diminish,
he's shattered,
as if shot with an arrow.
Whoever avoids sensual
desires
— as he would, with his
foot,
the head of a snake —
goes beyond, mindful,
this attachment in the
world.
A man who is greedy
for fields, land, gold,
cattle, horses,
servants, employees,
women, relatives,
many sensual pleasures,
is overpowered with weakness
and trampled by trouble,
for pain invades him
as water, a cracked boat.
So one, always mindful,
should avoid sensual
desires.
Letting them go,
he'd cross over the flood
like one who, having
bailed out the boat,
has reached the far shore.
Notes
1. The latest version of this document can be found in
HTML format here http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=disench
and in PDF
format here http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=disenchp
2. Please note that there are
different levels in the practice of the
Dhamma.
While it is better to have a good education
and job than to not have any at all, it is imminently much
better to be free of even a good job, etc as they all ultimately bring
unsatfactoriness
and stress.
So the ultimate goal of all true Buddhists is
Nibbana.
3. Refer to
Appendix A: Delight below.
4. Refer to
Appendix B: To Potaliya below for the Lord Buddha’s warning about
sensual pleasures, or pleasures that please the
eye,
ear,
nose,
tongue,
body
and mind.
5. See
Sutta Nipata 4.1,
Kama Sutta, Sensual Pleasure here
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.4.01.than.html
Appendix A: Delight
Translated from the Pali
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
PTS: S i 107
CDB: i 200
Source:
Access to Insight edition © 1998. Transcribed from a file provided by the
translator.
Copyright:
© 1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
URL:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn04/sn04.008.than.html
For free distribution.
This work may be republished, reformatted, reprinted, and redistributed in any medium.
It is the author's wish, however, that any such republication and redistribution
be made available to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations
and other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
Translator's note:
In this discourse,
Mara and the
Buddha
are speaking different languages. By "acquisitions"
Mara means one's family and
physical possessions. The
Buddha uses the same word to
mean a sense of possession for anything — physical or mental — at all.
I have heard that on
one occasion the
Blessed One was staying near Savatthi
in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. Then
Mara the Evil
One went to
the Blessed One and recited this verse
in his presence:
Those with children
delight
because of their children.
Those with cattle
delight
because of their cows.
A person's delight
comes from acquisitions,
since a person with no
acquisitions
doesn't delight.
[The Buddha:]
Those with children
grieve
because of their children.
Those with cattle
grieve
because of their cows.
A person's
grief
comes from acquisitions,
since a person with no
acquisitions
doesn't
grieve.
Then
Mara the Evil
One — sad
& dejected at realizing, "The
Blessed One knows me; the
One Well-Gone knows me" — vanished right there.
Appendix B: To Potaliya
Translated from the Pali
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
PTS: M i 359
Source:
Access to Insight edition © 2003. Transcribed from a file provided by the
translator.
Copyright:
© 2003 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
URL:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.054x.than.html
For free distribution.
This work may be republished, reformatted, reprinted, and redistributed in any medium.
It is the author's wish, however, that any such republication and redistribution
be made available to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations
and other derivative works be clearly marked as such.
...
"Suppose a dog, overcome
with weakness & hunger, were to come across a slaughterhouse, and there a dexterous
butcher or butcher's apprentice were to fling him a chain of bones — thoroughly
scraped, without any flesh, smeared with blood. What do you think: Would the dog,
gnawing on that chain of bones — thoroughly scraped, without any flesh, smeared
with blood — appease its weakness & hunger?"
"No, lord. And why is
that? Because the chain of bones is thoroughly scraped, without any flesh, &
smeared with blood. The dog would get nothing but its share of weariness & vexation."
"In the same way, householder,
a disciple of the noble ones considers this point: 'The
Blessed One has compared sensuality
to a chain of bones, of much stress, much despair, & greater drawbacks.' Seeing
this with right discernment, as it actually is, then avoiding the equanimity coming
from multiplicity, dependent on multiplicity, he develops the equanimity coming
from singleness, dependent on singleness,1 where sustenance/clinging for the baits
of the world ceases without trace.
"Now suppose a vulture,
a kite, or a hawk, seizing a lump of flesh, were to take off, and other vultures,
kites, or hawks — following right after it — were to tear at it with their beaks
& pull at it with their claws. What do you think: If that vulture, kite, or
hawk were not quickly to drop that lump of flesh, would it meet with death from
that cause, or with death-like pain?"
"Yes, lord."
"In the same way, householder,
a disciple of the noble ones considers this point: 'The
Blessed One has compared sensuality
to a lump of flesh, of much
stress, much despair, & greater
drawbacks.' Seeing this with right discernment, as it actually is, then avoiding
the equanimity coming from multiplicity, dependent on multiplicity, he develops
the equanimity coming from singleness, dependent on singleness, where sustenance/clinging
for the baits of the world ceases without trace.
"Now suppose a man were
to come against the wind, carrying a burning grass torch. What do you think: If
he were not quickly to drop that grass torch, would he burn his hand or his arm
or some other part of his body, so that he would meet with death from that cause,
or with death-like pain?"
"Yes, lord."
"In the same way, householder,
a disciple of the noble ones considers this point: 'The
Blessed One has compared sensuality
to a grass torch, of much
stress, much despair, & greater
drawbacks.' Seeing this with right discernment, as it actually is, then avoiding
the equanimity coming from multiplicity, dependent on multiplicity, he develops
the equanimity coming from singleness, dependent on singleness, where sustenance/clinging
for the baits of the world ceases without trace.
"Now suppose there were
a pit of glowing embers, deeper than a man's height, full of embers that were neither
flaming nor smoking, and a man were to come along — loving life, hating death, loving
pleasure, abhorring pain — and two strong men, grabbing him with their arms, were
to drag him to the pit of embers. What do you think: Wouldn't the man twist his
body this way & that?"
"Yes, lord. And why is
that? Because he would realize, 'If I fall into this pit of glowing embers, I will
meet with death from that cause, or with death-like pain.'"
"In the same way, householder,
a disciple of the noble ones considers this point: 'The
Blessed One has compared sensuality
to a pit of glowing embers, of much
stress, much despair, & greater
drawbacks.' Seeing this with right discernment, as it actually is, then avoiding
the equanimity coming from multiplicity, dependent on multiplicity, he develops
the equanimity coming from singleness, dependent on singleness, where sustenance/clinging
for the baits of the world ceases without trace.
"Now suppose a man, when
dreaming, were to see delightful parks, delightful forests, delightful stretches
of land, & delightful lakes, and on awakening were to see nothing. In the same
way, householder, a disciple of the noble ones considers this point: 'The Blessed
One has compared sensuality to a dream, of much stress, much despair, & greater
drawbacks.' Seeing this with right discernment, as it actually is, then avoiding
the equanimity coming from multiplicity, dependent on multiplicity, he develops
the equanimity coming from singleness, dependent on singleness, where sustenance/clinging
for the baits of the world ceases without trace.
"Now suppose a man having
borrowed some goods — a manly carriage, fine jewels, & ear ornaments — were
to go into the market preceded & surrounded by his borrowed goods, and people
seeing him would say, 'How wealthy this man is, for this is how the wealthy enjoy
their possessions,' but the actual owners, wherever they might see him, would strip
him then & there of what is theirs. What do you think: Should the man rightly
be upset?"
"No, lord. And why is
that? The owners are stripping him of what is theirs."
"In the same way, householder,
a disciple of the noble ones considers this point: 'The
Blessed One has compared sensuality
to borrowed goods, of much
stress, much despair, & greater
drawbacks.' Seeing this with right discernment, as it actually is, then avoiding
the equanimity coming from multiplicity, dependent on multiplicity, he develops
the equanimity coming from singleness, dependent on singleness, where sustenance/clinging
for the baits of the world ceases without trace.
"Now suppose that, not
far from a village or town, there were a dense forest grove, and there in the grove
was a tree with delicious fruit, abundant fruit, but with no fruit fallen to the
ground. A man would come along, desiring fruit, looking for fruit, searching for
fruit. Plunging into the forest grove, he would see the tree... and the thought
would occur to him, 'This is a tree with delicious fruit, abundant fruit, and there
is no fruit fallen to the ground, but I know how to climb a tree. Why don't I climb
the tree, eat what I like, and fill my clothes with the fruit?' So, having climbed
the tree, he would eat what he liked and fill his clothes with the fruit. Then a
second man would come along, desiring fruit, looking for fruit, searching for fruit
and carrying a sharp axe. Plunging into the forest grove, he would see the tree...
and the thought would occur to him, 'This is a tree with delicious fruit, abundant
fruit, and there is no fruit fallen to the ground, and I don't know how to climb
a tree. Why don't I chop down this tree at the root, eat what I like, and fill my
clothes with the fruit?' So he would chop the tree at the root. What do you think:
If the first man who climbed the tree didn't quickly come down, wouldn't the falling
tree crush his hand or foot or some other part of his body, so that he would meet
with death from that cause, or with death-like pain?"
"Yes, lord."
"In the same way, householder,
a disciple of the noble ones considers this point: 'The
Blessed One has compared sensuality
to the fruits of a tree, of much
stress, much despair, & greater
drawbacks.' Seeing this with right discernment, as it actually is present, then
avoiding the equanimity coming from multiplicity, dependent on multiplicity, he
develops the equanimity coming from singleness, dependent on singleness, where sustenance/clinging
for the baits of the world ceases without trace.
Related
Suttas (Discourses)
1.
Samyutta Nikaya 4.8,
Nandana Sutta, Delight see
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn04/sn04.008.than.html
2.
Majjhima Nikaya 54,
Potaliya Sutta, To Potaliya (excerpt) see
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.054x.than.html
3.
Samyutta Nikaya 5.1,
Alavika Sutta, Sister Alavika
see
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn05/sn05.001.than.html
4.
Sutta Nipata 4.1,
Kama Sutta, Sensual Pleasure
see
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.4.01.than.html
5.
Majjhima Nikaya 22,
Alagaddupama Sutta, The Water-Snake Simile see
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.022.than.html#t-1
Related
Dhamma Articles
1. Offerings
- On making offerings to the Lord Buddha's
supreme qualities, see http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=offerings
2.
Daily Dana - On giving and generosity, see
http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=dailydana
3.
Five Precepts - Developing virtue through the five precepts, see
http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=pansil
4. Work Stress
- An analysis of stress in the work-place, see http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=workstress
5. Consequences - About being responsible for our actions (kamma) and their
consequences (vipaka), see
http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=conseq
6. Make Haste
- About the dangers of
samsara
(endless round of birth and death), see
http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=urgency
7. Delusion
- Covers the three unwholesome roots of action including delusion (moha),
see
http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=moha
8. A Buddhist Approach to Disillusionment - A Buddhist approach to seeing past the trickery and into
reality, see
http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=disill
9. Attachment
- An analysis of how attachment leads to unsatisfactoriness, see
http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=attachment
10.
One Hour of Unsatisfactoriness - The unsatisfactoriness
that can be felt within the space of an hour, see
http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=onehour
11.
A Buddhist Approach to Mental Health - A
Buddhist perspective and approach to mental health, see
http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=mentalhealth
12. Four
Noble Truths - The essence of Buddhism,
see
http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=fourtruths
13.
Noble Eightfold Path - The path for ending
stress and suffering, see
http://www.vihara.org.au/go?to=noblepath
Online Resources
1.
AccessToInsight.org here
http://www.accesstoinsight.org
2.
Mettanet.org here
http://www.mettanet.org
3.
What-Buddha-Said.net here
http://what-buddha-said.net
4.
What-Buddha-Taught.net
here http://what-buddha-taught.net
5.
SuttaReadings.net
here
http://www.suttareadings.net
6.
Buddhanet.net here
http://www.buddhanet.net
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