"Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for attachments to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities."
~ His Holiness The Dalai Lama~
Suffering is the ultimate lead to depression, the reason behind why an individual cannot find happiness. The Buddha stated, "You lose what you cling on to."
The Buddha's first teaching about Dharma was the 4 Noble Truths:
1. The truth of suffering
2. The truth of the origin of suffering
3. The truth of cessation of suffering
4. The truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering.
**Reference: "In My Own Words An Introduction To My Teachings And Philosphy." His Holiness The Dalai Lama. Edited by Rajiv Mehrotra. Hay House, Inc. 2011.
The Pali Word for Suffering is Dukkha. Why do we suffer? What causes suffering? How do we end suffering? How do we stay on the path of not suffering?
We suffer because of attachment, anger, anxiety, desire and disappointment.
We suffer when we cling on to something or even a person and then one day have to lose that material wealth and that person, since life is constantly changing. When we are not serene and patient we lose our temper during stressful situations and that can make us suffer. When we worry about the future and dwell over the past we get anxiety and suffer. When we desire something and don't receive it in return it leads to disappointment which leads us to suffer. The pattern goes on and on!
If we can recognize what is causing us to suffer in life, whether it is attachment, worrisome, anger or disappointment we can slowly begin to eliminate the cause root of our suffering.
Somewhere along our lives we all can become victims of suffering and let our lives slip away in the wrong direction that can put us behind in life. I would like to mention after many years I have realized there is no such thing as wasted time, its only lost time! Don't forget that!
When we can recognize that we are suffering or just simply don't want to become victims of suffering, one should practice the Art of Metta. There is a way to end the suffering of anxiety, anger, disappointment that one may be carrying inside them. Now some of you are probably wondering what is Metta? And maybe some of you are like "Yes I know What Metta is!"
Metta is the Pali word for Loving-Kindness. The Tibet Buddhist traditions teach the essence of how and why we should practice Metta. In simple laymen's words Metta is the practice of giving kindness and love to yourself and to others. Often it is hard to give love and kindness to our selves. If you can think about the root of your suffering perhaps it could be an anxiety provoking situation, a person that may come across as your enemy, or even something or someone that you may be attached to and be afraid of letting them go, give love and kindness to that suffering.
When you convert suffering to happiness that is filled with love, then there is no enemy within you and no one from the outside world can hurt you. It's like what I mentioned in my previous posts, If the Divine source of the Universe is for you then who can ever be against you?? The more you practice on meditating and giving love and kindness to others, to your your enemies, and to the the root cause of your suffering, soon the enemies will become our friends, the suffering ends and slowly our life begins to flow in effortless ease.
.jpg)
So the next question that arises is, how do you practice Metta? It's very simple. Every morning before you start your day give Metta (Loving-Kindness) to others and your self. You can start off by saying:
When you convert suffering to happiness that is filled with love, then there is no enemy within you and no one from the outside world can hurt you. It's like what I mentioned in my previous posts, If the Divine source of the Universe is for you then who can ever be against you?? The more you practice on meditating and giving love and kindness to others, to your your enemies, and to the the root cause of your suffering, soon the enemies will become our friends, the suffering ends and slowly our life begins to flow in effortless ease.
.jpg)
So the next question that arises is, how do you practice Metta? It's very simple. Every morning before you start your day give Metta (Loving-Kindness) to others and your self. You can start off by saying:
May all Beings be happy.
May all Beings be healthy.
May all Beings be free from danger.
May all beings live at ease.
If there is a person that you have had a difficult time with or maybe a person that may come across as your enemy or even a person that you have trouble letting go of, say there name and repeat :
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from danger.
May you live at ease.
Lastly don't forget to meditate on yourself and offer Metta to yourself. You can do this be repeating:
May I be Happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be free from Danger.
May I live it at ease.
From my own personal experience with practicing Metta I find that,
1. I am Able to fall asleep a lot easier!
2. Wake up in the morning filled with energy!
3. More concentrated and focused through out the day!
4. Importantly, carry this sense of peace inside me!
5. More aware of the small things in life that are just as important and beautiful!
If every day for 5-10 minutes if we offer Loving kindness to others and ourselves slowly we only begin to see everyone as one and love them just as they are. When we cultivate how to love our selves and fulfill our own needs we begin to see peace in others and accept everything as it is. Remember life is always changing that is inevitable. When you begin to practice Metta, everything in the Universe begins to favor you because there is no enemy within you.
In Metta.
Love. Peace. Harmony.
Dr. Sania A.
No comments:
Post a Comment