21/07/2023
𝐶𝑂𝑀𝑀𝐸𝑀𝑂𝑅𝐴𝑇𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝐹𝐼𝑅𝑆𝑇 𝑇𝑈𝑅𝑁𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝑂𝐹 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝑊𝐻𝐸𝐸𝐿 𝑂𝐹 𝐷𝐻𝐴𝑅𝑀𝐴
On 24th July, Bhutan commemorates the first sermon taught by Lord Buddha, a universe- shattering event that occurred shortly after the former Prince Siddhartha awoke to the truth under the bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India. As the Buddha – the awakened one – he then walked to Sarnath, near the city of Varanasi, where he met the five ascetics with whom he previously practiced meditation. As the ascetics had abandoned the prince for discarding his practice of austerity when he took a bowl of rice-milk porridge, they initially hesitated to talk with him. However, noticing an aura of serenity radiating from his body, they quickly changed their mind and offered him a seat. It was from that spot that he expounded the first sermon and, in so doing, turned the wheel of the Dharma. This teaching later became known as the Four Noble Truths, and it expresses the essence of the Buddha Dharma.
These are the Truths:
• The Noble Truth of Suffering
• The Noble Truth of the Causes of Suffering
• The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering
• The Noble Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering
Known as Drukpa Tshezhi in Bhutan, the occasion is traditionally commemorated by undertaking meritorious acts, such as offering butter lamps and prayers before a representation of awakened beings, or circumambulating sacred objects. In addition to these deeds, it would also serve the occasion well to contemplate the four Truths in relation to our daily lives. In this way, merit and wisdom, the two necessary components that bring Dharma practice to full accomplishment, are combined.
Let’s start with the first Truth – The Truth of Suffering. First of all, the English word ‘suffering’ is not a precise translation of the Pali term, dukkha. Although pain and suffering are included in the broader meaning of the term, it more specifically implies a sense of discontentment, discomfort, and overall lack of contentment.
Now, our instinctive response to any form of pain or discomfort is to escape and seek relief. However, the Buddha neither taught his disciples to abandon suffering, nor did he suggest that they remain in discomfort or pain. Instead, he recommended that they know suffering. Basically, he wanted people to contemplate their lives and realize that suffering and discontentment are an integral part of non-enlightened existence. When we read this teaching, we might think, “Well,yes, there are times when I suffer and feel uneasy, such as when I have a headache or a disagreement with my partner, but presently I’m relaxed and at peace. I’m enjoying the sunlight streaming in through the window of the plane and happily anticipating my arrival at my destination.” While this may be true to some extent, under analysis we will realize that even these ‘happy moments’ contain a degree of anxiety. For example, we will have expectations about our destination and the people we will meet. Maybe we even wish that the pleasant journey will not end so soon, and with these expectations and hopes, there is a certain amount of apprehension. Basically, every hope is accompanied by a shadow, fear – a fear that it will not be realized. And, no matter how subtle, this creates a sense of unease or anxiety.
Furthermore, there is the discomfort associated with change and impermanence. We cling to relationships, health and property, but all these things are compounded and so will change and eventually fall apart. As an example, think about the magazine that you are currently holding. It was not a magazine from the beginning of time and nor will it remain so forever. Instead, it came into being as the result of paper, glue, and ink joining together, but once these components wear out, the pages will fall apart and the magazine will turn to dust. Now, this reality is not only true for the magazine, but for all compounded phenomena, which means that even our most cherished possessions, such as relationships, health, and material wealth, will similarly change and disintegrate. Not accepting this reality is a cause of suffering.
In addition, compounded phenomena do not possess an inherent essence. Like a rainbow or a mirage, they can be seen, but do not truly exist.
Failing to recognize this point, we invest much time and energy in seeking material goods, only to feel disappointed when they do not satisfy our desires.
Still, our disappointment rarely causes us to question why these things are unfulfilling. Instead, we convince ourselves that our sense of dissatisfaction is due to insufficient money, property, or pleasure, and so we accelerate our efforts to accumulate more of these things. In this way, we resemble a crazy man who fails to consider the nature of oases created by mirages when they do not provide the water he seeks, but instead pushes on to the next mirage and then to the next.
Does this mean, then, that we should totally stop buying or producing goods? No, that is unnecessary – but we do need to maintain the right view. We need to understand that in the same way that illusory oases can never provide us with the means to quench our thirst, neither can material wealth offer us lasting joy and contentment.
This brings us to the second noble truth – to know
the causes of suffering. After we begin to understand
how the universe functions, we contemplate the
causes of suffering. Due to the mistaken view of
seeing ourselves and our environment as permanent
inappropriate way, which, in turn, plants the seeds for present and future suffering.
An example coined by the well-known Bhutanese lama Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche compares our ignorance and inappropriate action to that of a man who had lived his entire life in a movie theatre. As he had seen nothing other than dramas projected on the screen, he believed them to be real. He fell in love with the lead roles and was scared by the monsters. One day, however, he ventured outside the theatre. Suddenly, he realized that the movie characters were nothing more than the result of the joining together of a projector, film, screen, and electricity. He further recognized that his mistaken view had caused misguided reactions.
We are like this man. We see the world incorrectly and so act inappropriately. Similar to Don Quixote who battled windmills, thinking they were giants, we fight loss, pain, blame, and disgrace, while we struggle for gain, pleasure, praise, and fame. Through contemplation, however, we realize that what we crave and reject are actually no more real and permanent than figures in a movie. As a result, we loosen our attachments to the material world, and, by default, remove the causes of our negative action. This connects to the third noble truth – the Cessation of Suffering.
Through understanding how our mistaken view of the world causes us to indulge in inappropriate thoughts, words and deeds, we examine our responses. Continuing with the earlier example, we investigate the images projected on the screen rather than merely reacting to them.
Now, it may not be difficult to intellectually grasp how a wrong view creates suffering. However, it is neither easy to correct the view, nor to abandon the inappropriate responses to which we have become habituated. We will not, for example, leap out of bed one morning and shout, “Hey, I’ve held a wrong view my entire life. From this moment, I will see things correctly”. That isn’t going to happen, and so we need a path. This is the final Noble Truth – The Noble Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering. In this truth, the Buddha teaches a number of expedient means that lead to awakening to the truth. Put in another way, he devised methods that encourage us to leave the movie theatre and recognize that the dramas we experienced were just an illusion.
In respect to these four truths, the Buddha has been compared to a physician. The first truth is the diagnosis, the second is an explanation of the causes of the disease, and the third prescribes a remedy, while the final truth offers a comprehensive program for restoring the patient’s health.
Now, if we can infuse the meritorious deeds that we undertake on 24th July with the wisdom of these Truths, we will have commemorated Drukpa Tshezhi in the most appropriate way possible – by stepping on the path to liberation that the Buddha prescribed over 2,500 years ago in Sarnath. I wish you an auspicious Drukpa Tshezhi! ~ LAMA SHENPHEN ZANGPO
