Pain and Suffering

Ajahn Jayasaro shared an interesting matrix on pain and suffering.  We all go through all forms of pain, from mental, emotional to physical. And we also face all types of pain in our lifetime, be in lousy relationships, poor health, lack of money etc. Understanding the pain, the cause of pain would be important, but accepting the pain as it is (i.e.that is is impermanent, unsatisfactory, and non-self) would be more critical.  The noble eight-fold path always starts from having the right understanding (viewpoint). That is to have the wisdom and discernment to see things as they are. By doing so, we haveaccurate perception and correct expression to exhaust past negative karma and accumulate positive karma to create a better future. Hence we can "manage" the pain to some extent. Avoid meditating on the negativity as it will only energize the pain. Instead, let us focus on the positivity to generate pain relief.  I believe that with the right understanding, we will not develop high resistance to pain (here it means struggling with pain which causes more tension which then worsens the pain even more). With less resistance to pain coupled with the right understanding to accept pain as it is, and combined with having awareness (mindfulness) to create good karma, I see no reason why we must suffer immensely. Remember it all starts with a positive mindset. As pointed out by Rae Chandran, a spiritual teacher, in his book "DNA of the Spirit Vol 2", we need not have to suffer immensely to exhaust our negative karma. Why and how ? Read the book for this new spiritual technology to change your life.       

Having a Clean Aura to Attract Good Luck

All of us look forward to attract lady luck to shine on us, to give us blessings in the form of good fortune and prosperity. Other than karmic entitlement, we can also attract good luck by keeping our subtle bodies clean with our wholesome thoughts, feelings/emotions, and actions. Another way is through proper energy hygiene, proper diet, proper sleep, proper exercises, and regular meditation. One quick method is to use the power of our mind through intention and visualisation. Here, the above diagram and the instructions is a simple way to have a clean aura so as to attract the finer things into our life. But this is only temporary and not very long lasting. Of  course using the proper techniques will ensure deeper and thorough cleansing of our aura, chakras, and meridians. To ensure that we continue to receive blessings into our lives, we need to do much more. In my opinion, I think this can be done by having the right viewpoint, maintain a positive mindset, and having a happy and optimistic outlook in life. That would then set the pace for the other things to flow and happen. To cap it all, one must have the higher faith and humbly ask for help from the Divine.   

The Ultimate Wisdom

I attended a one-day meditation retreat two weeks ago conducted by Luang Por Tiradharmmo. The key take-away lesson for me was the quotation given above by the Venerable.  From what I understood from his teachings, wisdom is not a matter of choosing and seeing what you like to see and observe. This is because it has very much to do with your likes and desires, Seeking pleasurable sensual delights and pursuing them is not wisdom because one can easily get carried away by craving and attachment. In fact, this could be a form of delusion to be misled into thinking that all good things might last forever.  This only leads to suffering and ensure a long term passport visa to samsara. So to develop wisdom, one should also see how one's mind is exposed to aversion too. Finally to see things as they really are is to see beyond the superficial. That is to see, know and realise that all things are impermanent, unsatisfactory due to their ever changing nature, and also non-self (lack of a permanent substance in there). Anyway, the concept of non-self has a deeper meaning to it which I would share on it another occasion. Just that it was interesting to note after attending a Theosophy talk on the subject of "Self and No-Self". 

The Importance of Light Quotient (LQ)

I was introduced to the concept of light quotient (LQ) by Zhang Yizhao, one of my meditation teachers at a full moon meditation session three nights ago. From what I understand, IQ and EQ are important for us to function well in today's society.  That means having good brains to learn and pick up skills, and also having excellent relationship skills to get along well with people. However, little is known about LQ. It refers to how much light energy we carry or hold in our aura. The more light energy we have, the more brilliant and radiant our aura will become.  So how do we do it ?  It probably has to do with how much divine energy downpour that goes into our crown chakra. This in turn would then depends on how thick our spiritual cord is. The thicker the cord, the stronger the connection and divine energy downpour. If we can have a bright aura, we can attract good luck and good things to happen in our lives. So how do we build and maintain a thick spiritual cord ? In Arhatic Yoga, it is by building the five pillars and practicing the virtues. In Buddhism, it is by learning and living the dharma, doing chanting and meditation.  

Self Image and Attitude

Pride is the greatest downfall of any spiritual disciple. It is highly important to know and acknowledge one's own strengths and weaknesses. By realizing his/her won capabilities and short comings, a person can develop inner confidence through a healthy self-image and good self-esteem. This will naturally be reflected in the person's attitude and behaviour.  One of my teachers used to say this, "I do not have to know how good your meditation is progressing. All I have to do is just look at your behaviour. From there, I can tell whether you have or not progressed in your spiritual practice".  The more confident a person is, the more humble a person should become. This is because he/she would be very well assured of his/her capabilities. Such people do not see the need to the envious of others nor do they have the urge to put other people down to make them look good.       

Internalizing the Teachings

While it is certainly useful to study the dharma from qualified dharma teachers and from sutta discussions, one has to know the teachings relatively well to have a certain level of understandng. But all these knowledge can just be superficial learning at best. This is what we normally call as textbook learning. To really benefit from the learning the dharma, we will have to internalize the teachings. This means making the dharma a key part of our lives. For instance by adhering closely to the precepts and/or leading your life according to the eightfold noble path. A better way to assimilate the teachings is to realise it at higher level so that it becomes a natural part of us. The key thing is to investigate the dharma through our meditation practice. If our mind is quiet enough and our body fully relaxed, chances are that we might be able to feel the soft and gentle energy flow sensation, the silence, inner peace and the bliss for us to investigate the dharma. And coupled with mindfulness, your faith and energy will help to propel you to be trully on the path towards enlightenment.                

Conventional and Ultimate Reality

What is reality to people ?  The answer depends on their different perceptions, viewpoints, beliefs, and value systems etc.  This is because what and how our mind comprehends the things out there in the world (through our five senses) is very much dependent on the conditioning processes which we live in e.g. societal, cultural, religious, political etc. They in turn affects how we feel, perceive, think and consciously be aware of our surroundings through our five senses. So how does this relates to conventional and ultimate reality ? and how does this really matter to me ? Conventional reality is mundane reality which is perceived accordingly to our normal worldy understanding of the nature of things.  But ultimate reality is having the wisdom to look beyond conventional reality. That is to know all sankaras & conditioned phenomenon are impermanent, subject to change, and non-self. By realising the three universal characteristics, we will not cling on to things and are able to let go of them without  mental suffering. Now that is equipping ourselves with the wisdom from the dharma to lead a contended and happy life.