Renunciation

by Ven. Thubten Gyatso

My last article on suffering may have been depressing, but that was only the beginning. Buddha taught that if we do not open our eyes to the reality of life we will never gain the courage to break free from our pathetic belief in the lie they told us in the nursery - that the prince and the princess would kiss and live happily ever after. We have been chasing that impossible fantasy ever since we saw the difference between boys and girls.

Our child-like faith in the world to provide us with perfect happiness is eagerly exploited by the advertising and entertainment industries. We swallow their presentations of perfect people living perfect lives with perfect possessions just as we take medicine with its bitterness disguised by sugar. Similarly, we sugar-coat the imperfections of our bodies with make-up and perfume, and our minds with a jovial manner fabricated to conceal our real thoughts and innermost worries. The universal neurosis of self-importance causes us to compete with each other and pretend, both to ourselves and to others, that we are happy because we are afraid to admit we have failed in the pursuit of happiness.

Now, before you lose heart, I must tell you that the experience of perfect happiness is possible. It is the state of mind free from superstitious beliefs about ourselves and the world. This is called nirvana.

Nirvana is not some paradise in the sky, that idea is just an extension of our superstitious belief that happiness is acquired from the outside world. Nor is the experience of nirvana created by anything. To experience nirvana is to experience the natural stillness and bliss of our minds that cannot be experienced now because our mind is always disturbed by self-cherishing, anger, and attachment. To reveal the natural and perfect beauty of our mind, we must cleanse it of disturbing attitudes by first cultivating the attitude of renunciation, letting go our mistaken belief in the world as a source of perfect happiness, and then generating the wisdom that opposes the root ignorance.

Buddha taught six general shortcomings of ordinary life, the first being the shortcoming of uncertainty - no ordinary relationship or pleasure can be trusted to remain forever. Marriage sets us up for the pain of divorce, or separation at death; the birth of a baby sets us up for the eventual parting from our dear child; experiencing any pleasure is a condition for the misery of losing that pleasure. Every situation we create for happiness brings with it the anxiety of trying to keep friends and possessions with us for as long as possible. Fighting the progress of time, however, is a losing battle and the sources of happiness slip from our fingers no matter how hard we cling to them.

The second shortcoming is dissatisfaction. Even when we temporarily acquire friends and possessions, dissatisfaction within our own mind causes us to lose interest, to see faults, and to seek something or someone better. Callously, we discard our sources of happiness, very often with later regret, but that is too late. Our dissatisfaction has ruined our lives.

The next shortcoming is having to abandon our bodies repeatedly. No matter how attractive are our bodies as humans or divine beings, they let us down, we die and are reborn with ugly bodies in horrible places. There is no essence to our bodies, nor to the pleasure we gain from them, and yet, especially in the West, we see and worship our bodies as temples of pleasure. How much time and energy have we spent in cleaning, feeding, exercising, grooming, and dressing our bodies? How much unhappiness have we experienced because our bodies have not measured up to the socially acceptable? Ultimately, it is all to no avail. Our bodies will grow ugly with age, become racked with pain, and will have to be abandoned at death, no matter how much we have cared for them. And where have all the pleasures gone, the pursuit of which has occupied our entire life, and for which we have created so much negative karma?

The fourth shortcoming is having to be reborn again and again. In this degenerate age, more and more people seek suicide as the answer to their woes, but this is no solution. Whether we want it or not, our karma forces us into a new life and, if we die with despair or anger, the next life cannot be better than this one.
Then there is the shortcoming of losing our status again and again. In life, all collections are inevitably dispersed, whatever is born will die, the high become low, and friends are parted. Human history and our own lives repeatedly illustrate the rise and fall of the mighty, and yet we still strive for power, perfection, and the impossible goal of living happily ever after.

Finally, there is the shortcoming of always being alone. We experience the pain and fear of both birth and death alone - nobody can comfort us or come with us. And the suffering of loneliness is with us throughout our life. It is impossible to share our inner experience with anyone else, no matter how close they are.

Contemplation of these six shortcomings will give us the courage to renounce our mistaken belief in the outside world as a reliable source of happiness. And it will give us the energy to meditate and light the torch of wisdom that reveals the eternal garden of bliss in our own mind.

Gyatso

This teaching is by the Venerable Thubten Gyatso (previously Dr Adrian Feldmann), an Australian monk and old friend now working in Mongolia. One of the senior students of Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche (and also Geshe Roach) he is currently teaching at the FPMT centre in Ulaan Baatar. These teachings originally appeared in his local English language newspaper in Ulaan Baatar and arereproduced with his permission.

Thanks to Diane Olander (pelmo@got.net), these teachings first appeared on the Internet on the website (www.gepeling.org) of
The Jangchub Gepel Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies,
6960 Highway 9, Felton, CA 95018, Tel: 01 (831) 335 1217
where you can find many more teachings and other interesting material.