DHARMA IN EVERYDAY LIFE

THERE IS SUFFERING TO BE HAPPY
By Nhat Quan

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There is a saying that you may have heard it many times:
- Life is a sea of suffering, love is a rope that binds suffering.
From birth, people have to deal with misery. Even our birth signal is a cry ... a suffering, a suffering ... That cry still follows us until we close our eyes ... In the Buddha's house, we often say:
- Being human is suffering
Sometimes the simplest sentences are the most difficult to understand. You think again and again, why does this life end up so full of suffering?
These are suffering:
- Suffering from illness,
- Suffering from poverty,
- Suffering because of fighting up and down,
- Suffering from natural disasters, war, suffering for love, suffering for power, suffering for physical pain,
- Suffering from mental afflictions ...
Together with these suffering, the Buddha divided into eight categories:
- Born,
- Old,
- Disease,
- Death,
- Love but not close together,
- Desire but not, also suffering
- The body does not regulate,
- People do not like to meet forever ...
Human life, a hundred years of passing through is like a night flash of rain and rain, yet the suffering is as constant as every wave of the East Sea. Out of every wave, follow another wave, after all the big waves followed by small waves, or all small and big... Being a human is difficult, living in real life is not easy.
So according to the Buddhist teachings when asked:
- What are people born to do?
The answer is:
- People are born to pay karma or suffer.
To warn suffering, to pay karma to the Buddha when preaching to disciples always reminds:
- Having a human body is difficult.
Once the eyes are closed, one will have to struggle in the six paths of reincarnation, depending on how good or evil the previous actions have been, and reincarnating as hungry ghosts, animals or plants ... Going through countless such a life, waiting until the body is made, is the time of ten thousand years of weariness.
Shakyamuni Buddha preached, very image of the difficulty of getting the human body. He used to take the example of a human body like a blind turtle living countless lives in the sea, every 100 years emerging up to the surface of the water once. On the ocean wave, there was a floating log, drifting along the waves. There was a hole in the log. The blind turtle wants to get into that hole is an extremely difficult job, ten thousand years may not be able to get into that hole. The Buddha pointed out that we have a human body in this life even more difficult than that. Therefore, it can be said that having the human body has to go through many tribulations and obstacles, to overcome many samsara and samsara. But having the human body is the beginning of other tribulations. This human realm is inherently peaceful. The world of black and silver goes on rolling us, blackening our pure and pure soul at the beginning of our human nature.
People because of their fame, passionate love, exert themselves in the vicious circle of secularity. The more you see life agonizing, they are not resigned, the more people want to change it. But there was a lot of hard work but sometimes it was still nothing. So people must experience the feeling of extreme suffering. That vicious circle really engulfed so many lives.
However, in the universe, human life with all beings and similarities, without up there is no down, no low, there is no high, no bitterness is not sweet. It is true that life is to experience bitterness to understand the sweet value, and to immerse yourself in suffering to know, or to realize the rare moments of serenity:
- If you are not tired, how to understand the meaning of comfort?
- If you can't welcome the wind and dew, the dust of your life, how do you know the value of a peaceful landing?
Everything that exists in this world has two sides, good and bad that sometimes we cannot distinguish clearly. There is nothing worth being called misery in the world, not sure what should be considered happy. Ancient people say:
- The good and bad form of human beings is born of mind.
The intention to say everything in life is created by yourself and your thoughts. Just change your attitude, just take a step back, you will really see more amazing scenes.
Only when you know what fatigue is, how do you feel about comfort? There is a bitter taste, then it will know how sweet. If you have a taste of suffering, then you will feel happy... So, when you are still healthy, bravely walk forward, welcome the wind and rain, welcome yourself, can be tolerant, can look far and wide, happiness will come.
In this world, except for you, no one can really help you, if it helps, it is only temporary. In the more difficult life, the more suffering, the more flavor there will be. Suffering can help an adult. The miserable situation helps an adult-like to see a butterfly struggling to escape the cocoon, a benefactor helps it escape but doesn't expect that after the butterfly escapes, it cannot Outstretched wings, and eventually killed. Experience shows that the struggle is what a butterfly needs to do to mature, then you help it relax, but later it will not have the strength to face the challenges it will have to meet in life. If you want to incarnate into a butterfly, then you must endure the suffering of the process of struggling in the cocoon, so that you can spread your wings high and far.
- For all your life, you have to respect how many people, there will be many people who respect you.
- You trust how many people will have many people trust you.
- How many you can help people succeed, so many people will help you succeed!
In this world, the richest, most often the one who stumbles the most. The person who can succeed is the one who stumbles, not only can stand up but can persevere to keep walking. Life is miserable like that, in the spirit of suffering, we can be happy, our ancestors respectfully encourage us to know how to be miserable to make fun. Therefore, from a different perspective, human suffering is not only a failure. Suffering, sometimes it is an opportunity to cultivate one's body, to train a person, a personality, a momentum for people to excel. That is why in the folk there is often a saying:
- The river has a large section, also a small section, people who are sometimes poor are also rich.
It is said that people's life has ups and downs, there is prosperity and must be patient to wait for time. The Buddha also lectured on the law of cause and effect. People are happy before suffering and vice versa. This life is suffering and afflictions, then the next life will be compensated, living a happy life, idle. Going through tribulations, we will reach the happy shore.
If we were unable to avoid suffering, then we could take that misery to make ourselves happy, to do our strength to continue on the difficult path of life. Because the suffering of reaching the end will revert to the current situation. That is, when suffering is too much imagination, people will therefore also have extraordinary things.
For example, the caterpillar is in a cocoon, initially comfortable because it is both safe and comfortable. Over time, the worm grew, gradually developing a beard, growing wings. The cocoon shell is also extremely cramped, now it has become a prison confined to the worm. But the worm still had to lie still in the cocoon, continue to improve its body, feeling really uncomfortable, similar to a mummy covered with bandages.
One day, when the caterpillar has grown, it rubs itself very hard to break that solid cocoon. Bit by bit, day by day, the perpetual perforated caterpillar came out, confirming that it was also an extremely miserable period. He struggled, wanting to break the sheath that sealed his wings.
Success or failure is here. If it is not enough to escape, it is impossible to stretch its wings, the worm will die. In return, if it is able to struggle to escape the cocoon, it will become a butterfly completely, can fly, escape a cramped life and soar into space.
Another notable image is the molting of the eagle.
Eagles are large predatory birds, symbolizing strength and power. But at the age of 40 eagles must stand in front of a tough challenge. Its beak and claws were too long, too weak, unable to hold onto its prey. Its fur is also heavier, making it even more difficult to fly.
Now to begin its painful molting process, the eagle flies up a cliff, constantly pecking at the stone until the beak falls. He waited for a new beak to grow and then used the same beak to spit out its claws. When the new claws were sharp enough, the eagle continued to remove the old hairs on its body.
The process lasted for 5 months, confirming that it was a time of pain and suffering. But when new wing feathers grow long enough, the eagle also revives itself. It will continue to dominate the space for 30 years. What comes from suffering is extraordinary.
Through the two stories above, we see from the species of worms and birds that can do so, then we humans can do it. Because people are more energetic, we can also be miserable, grow from hardship, walk through hard times to train ourselves.
Be aware, thousands of things in life come and go in a moment, all suffering, depression will quickly fade. So, don't regret the past, don't dream of the future, live for the present. Life is always fair to everyone, it does not give anyone anything, nor is it inanimate to take anything from anyone. What you have today, at some point all will return to nothing. So, even if you get something, don't be too happy, or when you lose, don't be too regretful.
The years, the finite months of life, you don't have too much time to suffer or to live for status and fame. So keep your soul calm and enjoy every day you are living, the best way to take advantage of this life.
No injury is incurable, no sea of suffering cannot end. All the lost things will come back to you in a different way. In folk there is a saying:
- Heaven gives birth to elephants, then heaven gives birth to grass.
Heaven closes this door with you, of course, opens another door for you. The next door is good or miserable, depending entirely on how you receive that arrangement. So when you encounter injuries that seem impossible to heal, if you are not afraid, try doing the following:
1- Keeping the Mind of Peace
When your feelings are not good, ask yourself often:
- What do I have, not what am I missing?
  If you feel too uncomfortable, look out the window, the outside world is immense, there are many beautiful scenes that you have not discovered, and many opportunities are waiting for you but life is too short. So don't keep yourself hidden in the shell, don't cut off your hopes.
If life has turned into a dead-end, be brave to stand up, and move on. A certain new door will open. No matter how you walk, at least you are moving forward.
2- A Perfect Consciousness
Everyone advises you never to give up, but giving up is sometimes necessary to not fall into a dead end. Life is full of thorns, so don't give up when facing a little challenge. But at the same time, be more realistic, you should always be ready to give yourself a backup plan if you are committed to your passion and most importantly, be yourself, not live for someone else.
Leaving your hands is a very difficult thing, but if you really have no other options, let go and make you more comfortable. This world has a lot of stories once they are gone and cannot be regretted. Old dreams, past years and feelings have passed, all will become a distant dream. If you were unable to be together, please let go so that each person can find his own happiness.
3 - Seeing The Circle Of Life
The bumpy road and the bends of young people to grow up is just a training journey to make the heartless fragile, the soulless weak so that the brain will get used to the collisions from that self produces a more mature defense mechanism.
Everyone's youth is a beautiful time but also challenging. In adolescence, there were things that left unforgettable pain in memory. The pain that everyone has experienced, is associated with maturity.
4- Awareness of life is only a predestined word
The meeting is grace. Meet each other to give each other something nice, happy and good is good or graceful. Meeting each other to agonize for one another is inversive or evil. People still say that loving each other is due to heaven but living together is decided by people. Whether to meet each other is due to blessing, or karma. But there is a determination to come together or not, is in each person. However, staying together and being short or long is something no one can say before.
Today fate has no meaning that will forever be destined. The Buddha taught that everything is only time like:
- Flowers bloom and fade, full moon then disappear, meeting and dissolving ...
Human destiny is the same. Because of that, you have to hold it firmly, hold it tightly, give your best respect. It is a gift that is only beautiful for a second, a moment, a certain time...
When you have done so, at some point, if you have to be apart from each other, don't be resentful, blame yourself, think for yourself that everything depends on the conditions:
- Between people and people, maybe close, can be far away.
- Between work, can be complicated, it can be simple.
- Between love and affection, the depth may also be shallow.
And remember, no one appears without reason in your life. People come together by fate. Every person passing by your life will keep their mark in your heart. Learn how to thank them, learn how to treat them. They are the people who help you learn how to fly higher and fly farther, help you feel bitter, or sweet of life.
The hurt no matter how painful it is, the loss like a knife to cut into the skin will also heal. Accidents, no matter how big, will pass, only if you have enough courage to persevere on the next step. So we must consider suffering as a challenge, a purification to enrich the spiritual life, to balance the aspirations, balance and regulate the inner life, to know how to master self and create a deeper ability. Therefore, the process of overcoming suffering to be happy, first requires overcoming yourself. That is the meaning and the foundation of value in every dimension of life.
The first difficulty is that the internal source of each human being is completely dependent on the heart of each person. The suffering nature is there as an invitation to surpass oneself. It is a constant encouragement to develop personality in every correlation of life. Accepting life and mission is accepting difficulties. Each difficulty in passing will turn into joy and happiness. Difficulties are signs of change. Conversion will be positive with a positive outlook:
- There is suffering to appreciate the happiness
Thus, suffering as a way of implementing the Buddha's teaching so that our lives can be greatly improved. Through the right diligence, we should not be afraid of difficulties but consider these sufferings to be something like a meal, only afraid that we do not have the courage to face and accept challenges.
In short, our life is going to be decided by ourselves. When we fall into difficult times, hardships often embrace pessimism and depression for the future. But if we can change a little bit of mind, see the hardship as the dawn light before reaching the door of hope. Finally, there is always an unexpectedly good result awaiting. A person may not be able to change the world. However, as long as you are willing to accept changes in yourself, calmly facing life, regardless of the failures and difficult circumstances that come in, we will definitely be able to have a great life best in spirit:
- There is suffering to appreciate the happiness.

 

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