RIGHT VIEW
Understanding the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering
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What is the origin of
suffering? It is craving, which brings renewal of being, is accompanied
by delight and lust, and delights in this and that; that is, craving for
sensual pleasures, craving for being, and craving for non-being. (MN 9)
When one does not know and see sounds as they actually are, then one is
attached to sounds. When one is attached, one becomes infatuated, and
one’s craving increases. One’s bodily and mental troubles increase, and
one experiences bodily and mental suffering. (MN 149)
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The basic cause
of suffering is craving, a thirst or hunger for something other than
what is. These texts we are consulting will guide us through how to work
with this systematically, using each of the sense modalities in turn.
Today the matter at hand is sound. We hear sounds all the time, but we
practice with sounds by noticing them with full awareness and then
ignoring the impulse to follow or resist the sounds.
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Use sound as a
primary object of practice. When sitting quietly, with the back erect,
notice the sounds that you experience. They may be relatively loud and
distinct, if you are practicing in the city, for example, but even in a
silent meditation center there are gentle sounds to be discerned.
Practice entails hearing these sounds and then letting them go. The key
is not to become infatuated with them but to just let them pass
through.
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Tomorrow: Cultivating Compassion
One week from today: Understanding the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering
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