Does Existence Always Bring Unhappiness?

I've been thinking about the  Four Noble Truths in Buddhism. The first of which is: Existence is unhappiness.

I can't really get my head round this: why has there to be unhappiness?  I feel that I'm mostly happy but, there again, as with most people, I've had moments of great sadness.

As often happens when we dwell on something, I started reading something - The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha with a commentary by E,A, Burtt. No idea where I got the book from but it's been in a pile for, well, several years,

Anyway, E.A Burtt writes:

"What is is that Buddha is telling the world here. First, that by the mere fact of being born under the conditions of finite existence every creature is subject to the evils of sickness, old age, and death, and to the sadness that comes when his loved ones are stricken with these ills. These inevitable occasions of unhappiness constitute the problem of life."

All very well, but how do we overcome these 'evils'. Perhaps if we truly believed in eternity, I thought, maybe that would be the answer. Eternity would mean that sickness, the deaths of loved ones and so on would be only temporary. For the sickness would be overcome and we would see our loved ones again in eternity.

E.A Burtt writes, however,

But they [those evils] would not make us unhappy were it not for the blind demandingness in our nature which leads us to ask the universe, for ourselves and those specially dear to us, more than it is ready to give. Moreover it is the same unrealistic and selfish craving which, frustrated as it inevitably becomes, moves us to act in ways that increase the unhappiness of others.

Not sure about that but, to cut a long story and waffle short, the answer to our inevitable unhappiness is treading the eight steps of the right path. These are:

1. Right understanding
2. Right purpose
3. Right speech
4. Right conduct
5. Right vocation
6. Right effort
7. Right alertness
8. Right concentration

This would ultimately lead to us no longer being subject to rebirth and we would enter Nirvana.

Okay, but Nirvana is also eternity, which is what I suggested we should perhaps believe in, to overcome those 'evils'.

But what is Nirvana?

"Nirvana is not to be conceived as sheer extinction but as the state naturally produced by the destruction of tanha - a state marked on the positive side by a sense of liberation, inward peace and strength, insight into truth, the joy of complete oneness with reality, and love toward all creatures in the universe."

I've rambled on for long enough. But does existence here on Earth have to equate to unhappiness? Surely not.

Other Recent Posts:
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Is There Such A Thing As Time?

Is there such a thing as time? Most likely we'd answer that there must be, because we can watch it tick by on our clocks, but this may not be proof that it exists.

Time is the duration between events, we measure it astronomically with reference to the sun or stars. If, however, nothing moved and there was nothing that changed would there still be time? Kant maintained it is simply something we impose on to reality in order to make the world more comprehensible.

There is so much to think about, so many questions like: Does time have a beginning and an end? Does it flow in one direction and so on. It's mysterious stuff because it can sometimes appear to be manipulated. Here's something interesting ...

Let's imagine two identical clocks, both accurate and synchronised. Now let's place one on a spaceship travelling away from earth and the other somewhere safe and sound in a secure cupboard, let's say in your office. Now when the spaceship finally returns, guess what?

The travelling clock will show that less time has elapsed than the clock sitting in the cupboard. It's true.

On a simpler level we all notice how time flies when we are having fun. It's the same period, according to our watch, but if we are waiting for something, time drags. Get engrossed in an interest and an hour can tick by in an instant.

Time is an illusion, like the rest of life. It all depends on how we see it.

Further Reading:
The Journey To Immortality
Slow Down Your Heartbeats To Live Longer
Make Something Of The Moment

The Telegram That Told Of A Death

A couple of days ago I published a post about our modern use of computers and phones. This reminded me of the contrast with a telegram I have from 1940, which I found following my mother's death.

In 1940 my mother was single and had moved to west London while her father, mother and three siblings remained in Wallsend, which is in north-east England, some 300 miles away.

Her father (my grandfather) died completely unexpectedly. He was simply getting out of bed one morning in 1940 and passed away - no reason known. The only way my mother could be informed of this was by telegram. The message from her sister briefly stated : 'Father passed away today. Wire time later Ella'.

It must have been quite a shock, but brevity was essential with telegrams as each word was expensive, plus this happened during the second world war, when money was tight.

My grandfather's death in 1940 meant I never knew him, though I've always felt a closeness to him for some reason. I've told the story previously about my link with him through the the two Buddha I have on my mantelpiece.

When in her nineties my mother had a severe stroke and had to be looked after in a Nursing Home. It was a sad and difficult time. Just before she died we managed to get her to our house. It was very emotional as she 'knew' this would be the last time she would see my home.

As we sat in our living room she looked at my Buddhas on the mantelpiece, where they had sat for many years, including all the while my mother was fit and healthy. "It's strange," she said, "My father always had a Buddha on the fireplace mantelpiece as well." I'd never known this. It seems, like me, he was interested in Buddhism.

I've strayed from the subject of telegrams and communication but isn't it amazing how we have gone from words stuck on a piece of paper, and used for emergencies, to today's technology where we can contact and see someone instantly. Wonder what another 75 years will bring?

Other Random Posts:
Remembering Our Life Prior To Us Being Born
Amazing Coincidences Discovered Through A Television Show
JK Rowling And Harry Potter Birthday Coincidence

Spiritually Influenced Awful Jokes

Sometimes we can take ourselves much too seriously. After all, we are simply fleeting glimpses being transported on a rock hurtling very fast through space. Enough said - here's some spiritually influenced humour.

A Buddhist monk leaned over to another monk and quietly asked, "Are you not thinking what I'm not thinking?"

In the beginning there was nothing and God said, "Let there be light," and there was still nothing - but you could see it a bit better.

"I had a dream that I was awake and I woke up to find myself asleep"
~ Stan Laurel
If you want to confuse God ask Him what his earliest memory is.

Whenever you are feeling blue, just remember to start breathing again.

Two friends meet on the street.
"Hello, how are you?"
The other ones replies: "I'm fine, thanks."
"And how's your son? Is he still unemployed?"
"Yes, he is. But he is meditating now."
"Meditating? What's that all about?"
"I'm not too sure, but it's better than sitting around doing nothing."

Yes, life is Sexually Transmitted.

An elderly philosophy professor gave a one question final exam, after a semester dealing with a broad range of topics.

The class was seated and ready to begin when the professor picked up his chair, plopped it on top of his desk and wrote on the board:

"Using everything we have learned this semester, prove that this chair does not exist."

Fingers flew, erasers erased, notebooks were filled in furious fashion. Some students wrote over thirty pages in one hour attempting to refute the existence of the chair.

One member of the class however, was up and finished in less than a minute.

Weeks later when the grades were posted, the rest of the group wondered how he could have got an 'A' when he had barely written anything at all.

His answer consisted of two words:

"What chair?"

Other Humour Posts:
Awful Jokes And Saucy Postcards
Humorous Letters
Funny You Should Ask God About This Problem

God Doesn't Take Sides

Photo: Mike Perry

It puzzles me at times as to why people pray to their God to help them overcome another person or community. I remember watching soccer players in the World Cup, for example, praying to win a match. And, of course, in any war conflict we tend to pray to win the battle.

Surely though, thinking like this is wrong. Why would any God favour any one person over another or any particular country over another? He wouldn't, No more than that, He couldn't.

I read the following from the Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha. It's part of something called The Rain Cloud.

Upon all I ever look

Everywhere impartially,

Without distinction of persons,

Or mind of love or hate.

I have no predilections

Nor any limitations;

Ever to all beings

I preach the Law equally;

As I preach to one person,

I preach to all.

Ever I proclaim the Law,

Engaged in naught else;

Going, coming, sitting, standing,

Never am I weary of

Pouring it copiously on the world,

Like the all-enriching rain.

On honoured and humble, high and low,

Law-keepers, and law-breakers,

Those of perfect character,

And those of imperfect,

Orthodox and heterodox,

Quick-witted and dull-witted,

Equally I rain the Law-rain

Unwearyingly.

That seems about right: everyone is equal no matter what. God doesn't take sides.

Other Buddha Posts:
21 Questions Of Life Answered By The Buddha
The Mantelpiece Buddha
Top Ten Zen Buddhist Quotes Of Taisen Deshimaru

By The Time You Read This I'll Be Someone Else And So Will You

I've often ruminated on the thought that we are many different people during one life time. We only have to look at photos to see this. Our beliefs and opinions also change as we learn from life.

A few days ago I came across an article on the Global One website about a man who spat on the face of Buddha and the next day went to ask him for forgiveness:

Buddha said, "Forgive? But I am not the same man to whom you did it. The Ganges goes on flowing, it is never the same Ganges again. Every man is a river. The man you spit upon is no longer here. I look just like him, but I am not the same, much has happened in these twenty-four hours! The river has flowed so much. So I cannot forgive you because I have no grudge against you.

And you also are new. I can see you are not the same man who came yesterday because that man was angry and he spit, whereas you are bowing at my feet, touching my feet. How can you be the same man? You are not the same man, so let us forget about it. Those two people, the man who spit and the man on whom he spit, both are no more."

It's easy to understand that we are many different people because of how our body changes - and parts of it quite quickly. Our liver, for example, is only about five months old and other bits of us are being replaced over and over, such as:

Taste buds replaced after 6 months; heart every 20 years; lungs 2-3 weeks; skin 2-4 weeks; bones every 20 years; intestines 2-3 days; red blood cells 4 months; hair 5-6 years; stomach lining 5 days and so it goes on.

So parts of us are older than others. Strangely though, the number of brain cells or neurons, which transmit impulses, stays the same. Amazingly there are as many as there are stars in our galaxy - about 100 billion. Can that be by coincidence?

Where it all gets difficult is how the mind fits into all of this. Oh, and then there is a soul or spirit to consider as well - if you believe in such a thing.

If we damage our brain this can effect our personality which means it must have also damaged our mind - and therefore the soul too?

For example in his book The Tale Of The Duelling Neurosurgeons Sam Kean tells the true story about how a family man, with an undiagnosed brain tumour, became a paedophile. But once the tumour was removed by surgery he returned to 'normal'. Brain damage can alter personalities, can make make people who were gentle become aggressive and so on.

It appears we are therefore at the mercy of our brain neurons.

If something like Alzheimer's should come our way do we recover our original mind once we move onto the next life (assuming you believe there is a next life)? And if so what particular stage of mind?

It's interesting as to how the delicate brain, mind and soul can fit together without conflict. And, of course, you have to ask who or what is doing the asking?

But, whatever, by the time you read this I'll be someone else and so will you.

Other Random Recent Posts:
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50 Things You Might Want To Know About Your Favourite Number 7

It's official (well sort of) that 7 is our favourite number.

A survey was carried out this week by the mathematician Alex Bellos. The poll was of 30,000 people and they confirmed that 7 is overwhelmingly our favourite number.

It's a little strange, but we do seem to have favourite numbers. Bellos said of this:

"When I give talks about maths and ask the audience if they have a favourite number, half stick up their hands. I suppose we are all a little bit obsessive compulsive. It's comforting to have a favourite number."

Not sure if I agree with that, but 7 does seem to pop up everywhere like ...

1. Japanese mythology talks of Shichifukujin - The Seven Gods of Fortune.

2.  There are 7 colours in a rainbow.

3. There are 7 days in a week.

4. The seven deadly sins - pride, avarice, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth.

5. Seven notes on a musical scale

6. Shakespeare's seven ages of man.

7. There are seven virtues - humility, liberality, chastity, kindness, abstinence, patience, and diligence.

8. Seven seas.

9. Seven continents.

Sinbad the Sailor

10. Sinbad the Sailor had 7 voyages.

11. There's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

12. There were 7 wonders of the ancient world.

13. If you break a mirror it is said you will have seven years bad luck.

14. According to the Talmud, the universe is made of seven Heavens.

15. The Qur'an frequently mentions the existence of seven (Samaawat), or heavens.

16. Vedic Hindu tradition tells us that the human body features seven basic chakras.

17. According to the Bible there were seven days of Creation - God rested on and sanctified the seventh day.

18. In Genesis 41 there were Seven years of plenty and seven years of famine in Pharaoh's dream.

19. The seventh son of a seventh son has magic powers, according to Irish folklore.

20. The city of Rome was built on seven hills - Palatine, Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, and Aventine.

21. Seven days of blessings - Sheva Brachot - follow a traditional Jewish wedding.

22. Seven demons were driven out of Mary Magdelene - Luke 8:2.

23. There are seven books in J.K Rowling's Harry Potter series.

24. According to Buddhism, Buddha walked 7 steps at his birth.

25. Mammals have 7 cervical vertebrae.

26. In both the Challenger and Columbia NASA space shuttle disasters, seven astronauts were killed.

27. The Seven Sisters is a series of chalk cliffs on the East Sussex coast, England.

28. There is the 'seven-year itch' when a man is said to have the urge to roam after seven years of marriage.

29. Ian Fleming decided on 007 for James Bond.

30. Seven Sages Of The Bamboo Grove.

31. 7 was considered a God number in ancient Egypt.

32. Seven is the optimum number of hours of sleep for humans, according to a US scientific study.

33. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was the seventh studio album released by heavy metal band Iron Maiden.

34. Seven is the atomic number of nitrogen.

35. Seven is the sum of any two opposite sides on a standard six-sided dice.

36. In the Harry Potter series of novels by J.K Rowling, seven is said to be the most powerfully magical number.

37. In Greek mythology, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, were the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas and the sea nymph Pleione.

38. The Secret Seven is a children's adventure book by Enid Blyton.

39. The diameter of the 45rpm format gramophone record was 7 inches.

40. Sevens is the 7th album by Country singer Garth Brooks, released in 1997.

41. Seven Dials in London's Covent Garden stands at the intersection of seven roads. Now part of a shopping area, it was a notorious slum in the 19th century, and hosted seven pubs on each of its apexes.

42. Sweet 7 is an album by Sugababes.

43. In Star Trek: Voyager, Seven of Nine (also called Seven for short) is one of the crew members.

44. Seven days of the feast of Passover (Exodus 13:3–10).

45. Jericho's walls fell on the seventh day after seven priests with seven trumpets marched around the city seven times (Joshua 6:8)

46. Netball and handball are played with teams of seven players.

47. Ancient astronomers believed there were seven planets in the solar system.

48. Seven demons were driven out of Mary Magdelene - Luke 8:2.

49. John Ruskin's The Seven Lamps of Architecture set out seven leading principles - sacrifice, truth, power, beauty, life memory and obedience.

50. The Seven Years' War (1756-63) was described by Winston Churchill as the first real world war.

Okay, I think 50 is enough! My favourite numbers are still 67 and 76.

Other Recent Posts:
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Three Dazzlingly Bright Figures As Proof Of Survival After Death
The Haunting Of The Scary Screaming Skulls

The Quotes Of The Japanese Garden In Cornwall

We made a visit to a Japanese garden at St.Mawgan in Cornwall. It was a dark, drizzly day but the Autumnal leaves were full of colour and vibrancy. These are four of the photos I snapped together with a couple of quotes.

"Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free: 

Stay centred by accepting whatever you are doing. 

This is the ultimate."

~ Zhuangzi

"Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet."

~ Thích Nhất Hạnh

The Zen Rock Garden

Other Posts:
Top Ten Zen Buddhist Quotes Of Taisen Deshimaru
The Miracle Of A Flower Could Change Our Whole Life
Death Is The Secret Of Life

How To Be A Buddha

Being a buddha means remaining serene 

in every circumstance 

and loving people

That's all

~ Giulio Cesare Ciacobbe

Other Buddha Posts:
21 Questions Of Life Answered By The Buddha
Top Ten Zen Buddhist Quotes Of Taisen Deshimaru
The Mantelpiece Buddha

The Miracle Of A Flower Could Change Our Whole Life

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.
-Buddha

Other Buddha Posts:
21 Questions Of Life Answered By The Buddha
Buddha's Pipal Leaves Lead To Egg Decapitation
Top Ten Zen Buddhist Quotes Of Taisen Deshimaru

Buddha Quote

All that we are is the result of what we have thought

~ Buddha

Posts with Quotes:
Top Ten Zen Buddhist Quotes Of Taisen Deshimaru
Life Is But A Dewdrop On The Lotus Leaf: 20 Quotes On Life
The Quotes Of John Lennon

Buddha's Pipal Leaves Lead To Egg Decapitation

Pipal leaves also known as Peepal or Bodhi Tree or even Ficus Religiosa

I mentioned a short while back that I was de-cluttering my office. It's not as easy as it seems, is it? Maybe it's just me, but I get sidetracked.

For example I picked up a book about Buddhism and, of course, opened it up and read: "Sitting under a pipal tree, in a forest near the village of Uruvela, Siddhartha deepened his analysis of reality," And this where he finally attained his Great Awakening.

"Ah," I remembered with a very minute awakening, "I just saw some pipal leaves in a fully packed, overflowing box I had looked into briefly."

So a detour to the box. I kept the pipal leaves (as in the pictures on this post) because of the link to Buddha. They are from India and came at a time when I used to publish magazines from home, including penfriend mags. I stopped doing this back in 1997, so shows how my office stuff has built up.

At the time I often exchanged my magazines for other items from countries where they had difficulties sending money to England. The pipal leaves were in lieu of payment. I received all sorts of strange things! Like the Egg Decapitator below - still in it's box!

The pipal (peepal) tree is also called the Bodhi tree - bodhi meaning wisdom or enlightened. I read on Wikipedia though that: "Not all Ficus religiosa, the Latin name, can be called a 'Bodhi tree'. A 'Bodhi tree' must be able to trace its parent to another Bodhi tree and the line goes on until the first Bodhi tree under which the Lord Gautama Buddha gained enlightenment." So a real Family Tree.

But getting back to my de-cluttering, I then came across a Christmas Card someone had also sent me from India - and on the front was a pipal leaf decorated with a hand painted Santa Claus. And above, on one of my other leaves, is what I take to be the baby Jesus.

I think my de-cluttering is really more of a memory exercise. I'll probably hang on to most of my stuff. There might well be a day when I desperately need to decapitate an egg for instance and I'll have the tool for the job. I'll just tidy up a bit instead.

Recent Random Posts:
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Top Ten Posts In May

The Fleeting Reality Of The Wayfarer

You, wayfarer in the universe

who go through life like a meteor,

make sure your fall into the void is not in vain

do not go straight from nothing to nothing

but give a meaning to your fleeting presence

in this fleeting reality

cultivating the most sublime of achievements

and the highest goal of Consciousness

which makes Matter great:

love through non-attachment.

A Buddha is inside you:

make him grow until you become

another of his incarnations.

In the eternal flow from nothing to nothing

make sure that between one nothing and the other

Consciousness and Love

take their place in the evolution

of this universe.

I'm not sure who wrote the above and I can't trace it on the Internet. I don't even know the title of the piece. I just felt I should include it in a post today, for some reason.

Other Quotes Posts:
An Ode To Coincidence Via The Lord of The Rings
Top Ten Zen Buddhist Quotes Of Taisen Deshimaru
Life Is But A Dewdrop On The Lotus Leaf: 20 Quotes On Life

The Snow Buddha

Snow is the theme for the third day running, will get back to more wordy posts next year.

This enormous Buddha snowman, sorry sculpture, is 20 meters high and 13 meters wide at the base. It took ten days to complete and if you want to see it for real - before it melts - pop along to the ice sculpture park in Xinjiang Hami, Balikun County, China.

Photos: ChinaTaiwan.org

The future lies before you, like paths of pure white snow. Be careful how you tread it, for every step will show ~ anon

Previous Two Snow Posts:
Snow Video Coincidence
The Snow That Is Only In The Mind And Our Imagination

Linked Together By Miles Of Smiles

I like to keep things simple. Why complicate anything with foreign or 'insider' words when it's not really necessary.

Not sure where I'm going with this theme but I've been thinking about how everything and everyone is all linked together and how coincidences and/or synchronicity may happen. Many give this linking together fancy names depending on beliefs, religions, the latest book they have read and so on.

This is fine but sometimes it's something almost simplistic that can get the message across. It did for me when I looked through an autograph book I had as a young child.

I've mentioned this autograph book previously and this morning I was flitting through the pages before putting it somewhere safe in my office.

My Dad's autograph and the verse he wrote, when I was seven, suddenly seemed relevant - that's it at the top of this post. Yes, it's simple, yes, it's quite well known but it does make a point about how we are all linked together and how what we do can affect others and, who knows, perhaps the whole world.

He's was right - one smile can create miles of smiles.

I remember years ago writing something along these lines but from a negative perspective. It was about how a wrong word could set off a chain reaction.

ARAB PROVERB
The spoken word is soon forgot,
By thee - but it has perished not;
In other hearts 'tis living still,
And doing work for good or ill.I did a whole story about how a boss got angry with an employee. She went home and, as she was upset, had a go at her husband ... he stormed out down the pub where he met a woman ... they had an affair ... and, before you know what had happened, thousands of lives had been touched upon - and all because of a few angry words. In my story the reaction rebounded back to the boss who set the whole thing in motion.

And watching what we say is one of the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path of: Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.

It's also a little like that saying about how the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil can set off a storm in Texas. Okay, unlikely in reality perhaps, but there's more on the Butterfly Effect on Wikipedia here if interested.

So there we go, never thought this post would end up being about this!

Change Comes From Within

Last Sunday I posted the joke: "What did Buddha say to the Hot Dog Vendor? Now comes the second thrilling instalment!

Make Me One With Everything

What did Buddha say to the Hot Dog Vendor?
Make me one with everything.
Part 2 Next Sunday!