Life Sux

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
rowyourboat
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Re: Life Sux

Post by rowyourboat »

Life is all good and bad and in between- (still good?) ..and then you die (still good?)...and get reborn again (still good?) ..and again (still good) ..and again and again (still good) ..a hundred million times doing the same stuff all over again (still good?)

That is why it is unsatisfactory

To have a need to stop this cycle you accept an important part of Right view (the 'forerunner' of the path factors) - Rebirth.

Without right view there will always be questions. For anyone who doesnt accept that Life Sux, the practice will be without the heartwood. Suttas say that it is suffering which leads to the search and faith in Buddha-dhamma. This is not to say that everyone must start there, but they certainly must go past that point at some point.

The Buddha said that evevry moment that arises is Dukhha. Now that is not an opinion but a statement which arises from understanding deeply the true nature of phenomena. Everyone who sees it, agrees with it. Those who havent seen it through insight practice wont agree with it. It doesnt make those who have seen it sad, it makes them wise. It is also the first step in finding a way out of it.

Mental suffering falls away when a person becomes an arahanth (sopadisesa nibbana- nibbana with residue remaining)
Everything that is unsatisfactory falls away when the aggregates dissolve at death (anupadisesa nibbana- nibbana with no residue/'pari'- nibbana- full nibbana). The fact there is this distinction should be a clue that endless rounds of samsara without suffering is not an option in the buddhist path (which is what most buddhists actually want due to clinging)).

Without entirely letting go of samsara as unsatisfactory (not having aversion towards it, but simply dropping away from it as it is empty of anything worthwhile clinging to in a neutral mind state) there is no escape from the field of perception ('the world') into nibbana.

I'm not being a stick in the mud here.

There is great happiness in being able to access states of letting go of the world.
It is a drastic measure - but you will see that it is the only permanent option. This dhamma is for the wise ..and I might add, the strong.

Don't even try to explain it to others. It's tough enough doing it for buddhist practitioners.


:jedi:
With Metta

Karuna
Mudita
& Upekkha
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Guy
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Re: Life Sux

Post by Guy »

Well said RYB!
Four types of letting go:

1) Giving; expecting nothing back in return
2) Throwing things away
3) Contentment; wanting to be here, not wanting to be anywhere else
4) "Teflon Mind"; having a mind which doesn't accumulate things

- Ajahn Brahm
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phil
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Re: Life Sux

Post by phil »

Hi all

I find that over the last ten years the impulse to see life as beautiful or glorious or to celebrate life is waning, so maybe it could be said that while the Buddha didn't say "life sux", his teaching guides us past believing "life totally rocks man." I feel very grateful for a human birth in the time of the Buddha, and strive to fulfill it, but it seems less and less easy (thankfully) to feel intoxicated about life. There is often suspicion of pleasures, a kind of sitting back from them and thinking "yes, but..." So something very fundamental happens there, I think....

..and if we think in terms of the five daily recollections that we are encouraged to make, that we are not beyond ageing, illness and death, and that we will be separated from all we love, it certainly seems true that the Buddha did not celebrate life, though that might not go down with some modern Buddhists, especially in the West. And of course the recollections could lead to a "seize the day" kind of celebrating the moment of being alive etc, which I don't think the BUddha ever did.

Metta,

Phil

p.s I write children's stories that celebrate life, so I wear two hats. I wonder if that counts as lying...no. Celebrating life is a healthy stage to go through, emotionally....
Kammalakkhano , bhikkhave, bālo, kammalakkhano pandito, apadānasobhanī paññāti
(The fool is characterized by his/her actions/the wise one is characterized by his/her actions/Wisdom shines forth in behaviour.)
(AN 3.2 Lakkhana Sutta)
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Kim OHara
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Re: Life Sux

Post by Kim OHara »

phil wrote:... I write children's stories that celebrate life, so I wear two hats. I wonder if that counts as lying...no. Celebrating life is a healthy stage to go through, emotionally....
I'd go further than that: celebrating life is *always* healthy - celebrating, and then letting go. And, in general, children do just that.
The older we get, the more likely we are to cling to past joys and the more likely we are to bring suffering on ourselves by doing so. Think about the happiest older people you know: do they spend most of their time in the present (as children do), the future or the past? Then think about the most miserable older people you know, and ask the same question.

:namaste:
Kim
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phil
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Re: Life Sux

Post by phil »

Kim O'Hara wrote:
phil wrote:... I write children's stories that celebrate life, so I wear two hats. I wonder if that counts as lying...no. Celebrating life is a healthy stage to go through, emotionally....
I'd go further than that: celebrating life is *always* healthy - celebrating, and then letting go. And, in general, children do just that.
The older we get, the more likely we are to cling to past joys and the more likely we are to bring suffering on ourselves by doing so. Think about the happiest older people you know: do they spend most of their time in the present (as children do), the future or the past? Then think about the most miserable older people you know, and ask the same question.

:namaste:
Kim
Well said, Kim. Celebrating and letting go. And an excellent question(s) at the end.

But I wonder about kids. Do they really live in the moment? Aren't they just as driven by hungers/dissatisfactions as adults are? Aren't we born with those hungers/dissatasfactions? Or do we have to relearn them with each rebirth? I guess that's not too far off topic.

Metta,

Phiil
Kammalakkhano , bhikkhave, bālo, kammalakkhano pandito, apadānasobhanī paññāti
(The fool is characterized by his/her actions/the wise one is characterized by his/her actions/Wisdom shines forth in behaviour.)
(AN 3.2 Lakkhana Sutta)
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Kim OHara
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Re: Life Sux

Post by Kim OHara »

phil wrote:...I wonder about kids. Do they really live in the moment? Aren't they just as driven by hungers/dissatisfactions as adults are? Aren't we born with those hungers/dissatasfactions? Or do we have to relearn them with each rebirth? I guess that's not too far off topic.

Metta,

Phiil
I spend a lot of time with kids between 8 and 13 and have spent a fair bit of time with younger and older children in the past. (You, as someone who writes for children, should be doing the same, I reckon. :tongue: )
And in general they really do live more in the moment than adults. When they are happy, they don't negate it by thinking of past or future problems, and when they are unhappy they are REALLY unhappy - right NOW! - until they flip out of it and forget it in a matter of seconds. It's even clearer with younger children - spend time with a toddler and you will know what I mean.
Whether that way of operating is 'better' is a complicated question. I tend to think the long-term view evolved as a useful survival tool but has brought negative consequences along with it. In Buddhist terms, I don't think you can have 'clinging' and its consequent suffering without memory and foresight ... maybe (just off the top of my head, here) the path helps us to discard the negatives without having to lose the positives.

:namaste:
Kim
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Alex123
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Re: Life Sux

Post by Alex123 »

cooran wrote:Hello Tree, all,

The Buddha never taught that "Life is suffering".

He taught that "There is suffering".

with metta
Chris
And what includes dukkha (at least on a physical level) is being alive and existing in the first place.

Dukkha is inseperable from existence.
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tiltbillings
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Re: Life Sux

Post by tiltbillings »

Alex123 wrote:
cooran wrote:Hello Tree, all,

The Buddha never taught that "Life is suffering".

He taught that "There is suffering".

with metta
Chris
And what includes dukkha (at least on a physical level) is being alive and existing in the first place.

Dukkha is inseperable from existence.
True, but not without qualifications.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Alex123
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Re: Life Sux

Post by Alex123 »

tiltbillings wrote:True, but not without qualifications.

As you know there are at least 2 categories of dukkha. Mental suffering due to kilesas and the fact of having physical body itself. It is true that an Arahant doesn't have ANY kind of mental suffering as an Arahant has no kilesas. However an Arahant, even the Buddha, can experience bodily pain (which is dukkha).

Buddha experienced plenty of illnesses even though He had none mental kilesas.
aot
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Re: Life Sux

Post by aot »

i would say life sucks but it would probably come out funny because i don't have my new false teeth.
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Su Dongpo
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Re: Life Sux

Post by Su Dongpo »

The conclusion to this thought goes some like this:

Things are bad (Life Sux),
And they're going to get worse --
Before they end.

That's me, not a quotation, but I think the sentiment is closer to that of Sartre than Buddha.

metta,
heybai
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BubbaBuddhist
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Re: Life Sux

Post by BubbaBuddhist »

Aw hell.

I have distilled all my life's experience to a very simple, moronic attitude:

The world is indeed an awful, awful place. This cannot be denied.

But life is very, very good.

Thank you Buddha. :tongue:

J
Author of Redneck Buddhism: or Will You Reincarnate as Your Own Cousin?
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Alex123
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Re: Life Sux

Post by Alex123 »

“‘The eye, friends, is suffering: it is for the full understanding of this that the holy life is lived under the Blessed One. Forms are suffering: it is for the full understanding of the m that the holy life is lived under the Blessed One. Eye-consciousness is suffering … Eye-contact is suffering … Whatever feeling arises with eye-contact as condition—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant—that too is suffering: it is for the full understanding of this that the holy life is lived under the Blessed One.

[Alex: same is said regarding other bases]

The mind is suffering … Whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition … that too is suffering: it is for the full understanding of this that the holy life is lived under the Blessed One. This, friends, is the suffering for the full understanding of which the holy life is lived under the Blessed One.’

SN36.152 (7) For What Purpose the Holy Life? BB Trans
According to the suttas, even 6 sense faculties and their objects are dukkha. It is not just clinging that makes something dukkha. Clinging certainly adds dukkha but even bare organs & their objects are dukkha. If something was permanent and inherently sukkha, then clinging to it would not be bad.



"Monks, you would do well to possess that possession, the possession of which would be constant, permanent, eternal, not subject to change, that would stay just like that for an eternity. But do you see that possession, the possession of which would be constant, permanent, eternal, not subject to change, that would stay just like that for an eternity?"

"No, lord."

"Very good, monks. I, too, do not envision a possession, the possession of which would be constant, permanent, eternal, not subject to change, that would stay just like that for an eternity.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Fault with clinging is because the object of clinging is not constant, permanent or happy. But even more important is that clinging causes rebirth which means that 6 sense bases (dukkha!) arise again & again.
And what, friends, is the noble truth of the origination of stress? The craving that makes for further becoming — accompanied by passion & delight, relishing now here & now there — i.e., craving for sensuality, craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The Blessed One said, "From an inconceivable beginning comes transmigration. A beginning point is not evident, though beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating & wandering on. What do you think, monks? Which is greater, the blood you have shed from having your heads cut off while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time, or the water in the four great oceans?"

"As we understand the Dhamma taught to us by the Blessed One, this is the greater: the blood we have shed from having our heads cut off while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time, not the water in the four great oceans."

"Excellent, monks. Excellent. It is excellent that you thus understand the Dhamma taught by me.

"This is the greater: the blood you have shed from having your heads cut off while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time, not the water in the four great oceans.

"The blood you have shed when, being cows, you had your cow-heads cut off: Long has this been greater than the water in the four great oceans.

"The blood you have shed when, being water buffaloes, you had your water buffalo-heads cut off... when, being rams, you had your ram-heads cut off... when, being goats, you had your goat-heads cut off... when, being deer, you had your deer-heads cut off... when, being chickens, you had your chicken-heads cut off... when, being pigs, you had your pig-heads cut off: Long has this been greater than the water in the four great oceans.

"The blood you have shed when, arrested as thieves plundering villages, you had your heads cut off... when, arrested as highway thieves, you had your heads cut off... when, arrested as adulterers, you had your heads cut off: Long has this been greater than the water in the four great oceans.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Kim OHara
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Re: Life Sux

Post by Kim OHara »

That's more than enough misery for now, thanks everyone.
Life is good.
:smile: :smile: :jumping: :smile: :smile:
Kim
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Su Dongpo
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Re: Life Sux

Post by Su Dongpo »

Kim O'Hara wrote:That's more than enough misery for now, thanks everyone.
Life is good.
:smile: :smile: :jumping: :smile: :smile:
Kim

Noooo!!!!

We want more misery! Give us more more more!
:rolleye:
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