What I learned today is something that Iād be unable to put better than reddit user /u/trevorturtle already has in his postĀ Buddhism Basics: What most people don't know. Hereās what they had to say:
Do you know how Gotema the Buddha became so famous?
He didnāt just tell people to be good, to treat others the way you wanted to be treated like many other saints and sages. Gotema the Buddha became famous because he taught a technique that helps you become a better person.
The point of the technique is simple: to come out of suffering.
Note: suffering is not the same as pain.
Pain is physical unpleasantness like stubbing your toe. It exists in the body.
Suffering, on the other hand, exists entirely in the mind. Itās when we get mad that we stubbed our toe. Itās not just that our toe hurts, weāre also pissed off at whoever left that chair there.
The Buddha said that there are three reasons for suffering:
Ignorance (not knowing how to come out of it)
In the above example, we have physical discomfort (pain) and we react with aversion (anger, hatred).
But on the other side of the spectrum, pleasure leads to suffering just the same. The difference is the suffering occurs in its absence. This is the root of all addictions, itās the suffering behind boredom.
In both cases the same thing is going on: something unwanted is happening and we are reacting (either with either craving or aversion).
Everything that we experience, we experience through the five senses of the body. When we experience something that is unpleasant: be it a sight, a smell, a taste, a feeling or a sound, the natural reaction of the mind is to have aversion to the unpleasantness (I hate this, get it away!, etc.). On the other hand, when we experience a pleasant sensation, the natural reaction of the mind is clinging to the sensation (Oh, this is so nice! Stay forever!) and when it leaves, the mind reacts with craving.
For example, craving is what makes drugs/sex/gambling so addictive to certain people. You do an activity and have powerful pleasant sensations (i.e. youāre high as a kite, your genitals feel real nice, or you just won some money). Eventually, the endorphins fade and so do the pleasant sensations. Whatās left is the memory of the pleasant sensations and the craving to have them back. This craving is whatās most dangerous.
So the first step to coming out of suffering is to recognize that unwanted things do not cause suffering. The solution is not to stop unwanted things from happening, that is impossible. The problem is reacting to unwanted things with craving and aversion. Therefore, the solution is to stop reacting.
The big question is, how do we stop reacting with craving or aversion when unwanted things happen?
Here enters the technique. Itās called Vipassana. It means to see the world the way it really is, not the way you would like it to be. The way it actually is.
When an unwanted thing happens, as was mentioned earlier, you will experience it through one or many senses on the body. Buddhists also believe that the mind is a sense, hence you can experience unpleasant sensations just by thinking about certain things in certain ways (like reliving an unpleasant experience in your mind).
For example, you feel pain in your body. The natural reaction of the mind is to feel aversion, to try and run away from the pain, get rid of it, hate it.
With Vipassana, we learn to break this cycle of pain > reaction, by simply feeling the pain. The mind will hate this. But the only way to stop reacting to sensation is to observe it. The way we observe sensation is to just use that sense to truly feel it.
If you feel anxious, feel it. What does it feel like? Feel how it affects your heart, feel whatās happening in your gut, feel where that sensation is strongest and weakest, notice what it does to your breath.
By simply noticing (or observing) the different symptoms of these unpleasant sensations, instead of trying to run away from them or ignore them, you will start to break down the conditioned reflex of the mind to have aversion to pain and crave pleasure.
On the other side of the equation, be aware of the next time you feel bored. The natural reaction of the mind when bored is to crave pleasure, some sort of stimulation. Some people will go on reddit, turn the TV, check social media or email, or eat, and many do some or all of the above.
Next time you feel bored, just notice what is happening. Observe how you naturally crave for something different than what you are currently experiencing. Sit with that feeling, focus on it. Notice the state of your mind. Just feel the boredom. Be the boredom. Itās totally fine, you donāt need to change it.
When you start observing unpleasant sensations, youāll start to notice something: the simple act of feeling anxiety, will slowly help you feel less anxious. By feeling the boredom, you will slowly start to feel less bored.
The more you practice this form of meditation, the better you will get at it. These unpleasant feelings will come on weaker and they will subside sooner.
By feeling emotions, we are no longer slaves to them. An angry person can either let the anger take control of him or he can to his best to observe how the anger is affecting his body.
When asked what Enlightenment is, the Buddha simply responded with, āIt is the end of suffering.ā You will likely hear all kinds of wonderful words used to express how amazing it is to be enlightened or peak states like satori, nirvana, nirodha, etc.
But the Buddha was not interested in painting a rosy picture of the positives. He simply focused on removing the negatives and let the positives come as they may.
So what exactly did the Buddha mean when he said Enlightenment is the end of suffering? He meant itās when you reach the stage where you no longer react to anything. You consciously act in every moment. You feel no anger or aversion in the presence of excruciating pain or loss. You feel no cravings. You are at peace, always, and nothing can shake it.
Buddhists believe that this path is one that takes many lifetimes. But the improvement of our lives from taking just one step forward on the path is worth it. And once you take that first step, the second is becomes much easier, and so on and so forth.
TL;DR: just feel pain, don't ignore it or react to it.
Hereās the link to that post:
Buddhism Basics: What most people don't know
Big thanks to the knowledge of /u/trevorturtle!
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