Immiserable at all

To a true Bodhisattva, neither place is suffering nor place isn’t miserable. Because they know clearly the cause of suffering. Once we understand the cause of suffering, we will not think that is suffering. For example, I often say to people who meditate with me that feeling numbled in legs while sitting in meditation is course of nature. This is inevitable, indispensable to one who enters into meditation. Rare are they who meditate without feeling insensible in legs. If you feel weary in legs while you meditate, you get up. As a result, you never feel the joy when legs aren’t tired! Therefore I recommend pupils to bear pain if possible. Then pains in legs will not “real pain”. You just hold body and legs firmly. Some time later when pain passed, you will not feel pain. On the contrary, you will be at ease, pleasant.

If you want to try that feeling, you must overcome the extremely painful sensation of body. Many people bear sorrow and tiring well. Although they live in very severe environment, they are still relaxed. As Mr. Nhan Hoi (Yan Hui), Confucius (Kong Zi)’s best pupil lived in poor village with life “taking bamboo basket as bowl, taking peel of gourd as mug”. He bore miserableness that other cannot be tolerant. But his joy hasn’t changed because of that difficult circumstance. The reason of his whole joy is full of happiness in his heart. The situation couldn’t be poorer. People called Mr. Nhan Hoi (Yan Hui) a wise person. He can bear things that other cannot tolerant. In that circumstance, he didn’t think that is sorrow. Because he has made up his mind to a life of deprivation and misery to get comfortable mind.

In the 40s of last century, I joined the army of Chinese military to Taiwan. At that time, each solider had only one suit. So we couldn’t wash frequently. We could wash when we bathe in river. Every time we back to army with clean clothes, we felt comfortable and animated.

Common people who seldom bear such suffering will feel that life is too unfortunate. But we felt differently. It’s not miserable at all. This is a good example of going into suffering for cessation of suffering. For people who lived in suffering and then escaped from suffering are no longer afraid of sorrow because they no longer considered that suffering is intolerable. Thus, a negative world cannot bring feeling of happiness. Only person who understand suffering in positive way, experience pain and mature from sorrow can get cessation of suffering.

When we are gradually out of sorrow and reach for happiness, we can understand the joy in suffering. That is true “cessation of suffering”.

Quang Tanh (Guang Xing)