Saturday, November 10, 2012

Life , Living and Death by Sayadaw UJotika


What is the most important things to do in life?
Do not disturb yourself by thinking of the whole of your life.Do not let your thoughts at once embrace all the various troubles which you may expect to befall you; but on every occasion ask yourself
“What is there in this which is intolerable and past bearing?For you will be ashamed to confess.  (Marcus Aurelieus)

Life is full of difficulties.But don’t despise life.Human life is an opportunity to learn and grow.You have lessons to learn and grow.You have lessons to learn and develop your wisdom.if you don’t learn deeply you have to come back again to learn .Al the difficulties you are growing through are very meaningful,if you have the right attitude and proper perspective.You must help others to live a meaningful life  and there are others who will help you.We must have some kammic connection.We will help eachother.
So,please don’t think  all these difficulties are meaningless.
We can’t go around ; we have to go through.
Things will never be perfect in life.Better not to expect perfection.I’m not perfect;I’ll never be, and I don’t expect that.
“That  which doesn’t kill me makes me stronger .”( Nietzsche)
Even  with all its apin,disappointment,despair and regret, I still find life interesting and meaningful.
“The times when you are wounded are often times when,out of these wounds,come new thoughts,new possibilities.”
“Joy increase to the extent that the capacity  for woe does also.”
Life would be so superficial and boring if there were no hardships.
Suffer   ,   Learn   and   Grow .
I have suffered a lot and I suffer now,but I suffer calmly with dignity.I take suffering as part of life ,a very important  part .How can I learn anything  if I don’t suffer? But I stay calm when I suffer.Who would be believe that I have deep suffering? I don’t think there should be no suffering; I don’t think that there is something wrong because there is suffering ;I don’t think I should try to remove suffering; I do not try to overcome suffering ,but I try to make suffering meaningful; I try to understand suffering deeply.No resistance.I’m not depressed or agitated.
I only hope that I am wise enough to understand suffering and life .


Each  time   I suffer intensely, I take a step forward towards detachment.It teaches me to let go.Samdura( the second Noble Truth: Desire ) leads   to Dukkha ( suffering). How simply and how true.

We have hard lives.So,we learn a lot more than easygoing  people.My life is very hard too.  Anyway I like it.I have learnt  quite a lot; feeling,seeing , and learnig deeply.If you are mindful,suffering makes you see  things very deeply.I don’t want a carefree life , nor do I want to live superficially,but I do want to know all about life and suffering .

Most people live their life very superficially .They are born into a society and they live the values into which  they are born ;they are caught up in the society.
You  have to be very clear about what you want from life in order to create your own value and live it.
Even  when you create you own value (judgment ) you must keep on looking into it and see whether it is realistic, see how it affects your mind.
Living your life is an art.There is no formula.You must always be alert and creative  .Once  you lose creativity  you are as good as dead.Creativity in living one’s life is so rare.No wonder people behave like  robots! No wonder they have no joy.

All of us have ups  and downs .It is important to see them objectively.
To take my life one moment at a time. Not to think too much and confused my mind.To accept  life as it is and also to be ready to die at any moment.They say life is hard.It’s even hard for those who don’t need to work . But still you can be cheerful and learn  a lot from your life.And if you prefer  you can go out  of this  round existence.(Is it a merry- go round ?)

I don’t like Dukkha at all.Do you? Here life is simple,and I want it to be even more simple.

Stay calm;wait; be patient.Do whatever is possible at the moment. Nothing lasts forever.Things will change ,possibly for the better if you stay clear and calm, but if you get agitated and run around like crazy you will disturb the situation.
All the things that happened to me in the past brought me here, to this point.Since I’m living a meaningful and peaceful life in the present moment now ,I feel ok about the past. I forgive myself  and everybody and I’m greatful to all of them for what they have done to me  or for me .

Life is very important .The way we live our life,the way we relate to people is the reflection of our practice of Dhamma. Where you live and with whom you associate is very important.Some people and palces put your mind in a bad mood, and to be in a bad mood all the time can really damage your mind.You are very subtly  influenced by people around  you.

Life isn’t so bad.At times it can be really peaceful, blissful, but I don’t want another life .I’m trying to inderstand  my self and others and life deeper.To understand is the main thing in my life.I have less carving for things which makes my mind lighter. However I still have craving for books.No desire to do anything   great .  Just trying to live my life with the  most understanding .

I’m doing what I can.Not taking anything too seriously.Everything which arises passes away .Nothing really happen the way I want it.So it is better not to worry to much; not  to insist that it should happen  the way I want it, especially with people ____ they have their own mind their own preferences.
So many things have happened in my life time.People have duffered so much because they take things too seriously ,not knowing that it is not worth the  trouble .  Everything passes away.It’s not worth getting too attached to anything.
Every situation /experience in life ,whether it’s good or bad is an opportunity to learn.
To be able to accept uncertainty,and live with it,is a sure sign of maturity.We often want to sure about our life.Whatever will be,will be.
Before we  know about our life we say “It’s not good ” .Before we have learnt how to live our life  we want  to know how to overcome it. All head and no hearts makes life very dry  .I just hope that  you know what you want to do with your life . Do something that will help you feel  really happy  all your life until  you die .
Yes,the world is crazy,What can I do about it? Nothing.Why waste time and energy  being   upset    about it ? If you want pleasure you have to accept the pain which comes with it .If you don’t want pain then don’t go after pleasure.Defilements makes life complicated. Without greed,desire  and attachment you can live a simple life .I know it’s too hard for you,but at least  you can be a   layman   living a simple life .You have conflicting desire.
First of all understand your mind deeply .How do you want to live your life.What do you want to value most in life ?There is no satisfaction in anything at all , and yet we think,
“I’d be happy if ….” Looking  for satisfaction is looking for pain.Knowing this deeply we learn to go.With no peace we are still confused and unhappy.Intellectual understanding is not enough;it explains and explains and the problems pile up___ there is no end to explanations .
When you don’t know what to do ,when you are confused,then you really start looking.It is an opportunity  for a new beginning  . Uncertainty is unpleasant  but it makes the mind  become alart. What to do? Look  deeply your mind  without  thinking too much .Keep your heart open to uncertainty . You have “ don’t know mind” now .It is a part of your growing process; it wakes you  up from your slumber.

I hope you are not unhappy about  being confused .Life is a strange,at least for me  .

Life is a series of change.No finality or certainty.   Always experimenting with with new   ways of living and relating , thinking that there must be  a  perfect   partner to live with ;fooling ourselves all the time. How scared we would be  without such make- believe!  But as we grow up  and become more and more disillusioned   we find  out slowly  that there is no perfect  place in the world , no perfect friend…….nothing in the world is perfect.I’m not perfect and  I never be . They say the  Buddha  was perfect .

Is there anything you know for sure ?How full of assumption  our life is.Full of make- believe.We are standing  on assumptions .If we take away all the assumptions we’ll have nothing to stand on.Are you really sure what are you living for? Yes ? What is that ? 

Beliefs,assumptions and hopes .Enough !!! Without  them  the minds becomes   light .Thoses are burdens.Without  those one can pay more attention to what is . You know that if you  are not living for something  ,eaningful your life is meaningless .What are you living for?  Truth,live , political ideal,your country  ?You see it’s hard to  answer .No?

If you have an answer, say, truth .Then does your everyday life  show any proof   for your answer  ? My dear friend,we are so lost .We  are going nowhere.We are drifting like  a boat with no rudder .
It’s quite amazing the way people are living  their life ,without any direction ,goal or meaning in life , without   metta ( loving- kindness) and  understanding  for each other .What a great mess life is !

Some people are just drifting ,going nowhere.They  have no direction, no aim ; they are lost.They  don’t   understand life ,the meaning of life , and the nature of samsara ( the cycle of births and deaths ),You don’t know the value of what  you have until you lose it .

Do what is  the most important . There are many useful things one can do but we must limit ourselves   and what is best .

One should unserstand deeply  that  one has been almost everything  ( man, woman, rich,poor, educated, powerful ,etc,etc .) Why be the same this life  ?
We need some sort of  ideal in our life  , so that we have some direction /purpose,but we shouldn’t become crazy   about our ideal. The best ideal is to be mindful always .

“ How to make life as simple as possible ? ”  Make your mind as simple as possible ,then your life will be simple . it is greed hand  - in- hand with ignorance   which  makes life so complicated .Not easy when almost everbody  around you is living   such as greedy,speedy and complicated life .One needs great wisdom and  a strong mind not to follow them . Before you know it ,you are thinking of what to do  to prove that you are not failure.
It’s hard to live your life  without  thinking  of   what others think of you .
Religious or political ideals cause a lot more harm to humanity . Religious wars and political wars prove that . it is really ironic: they talk about love and yet they can’’t bear the sight of eachother : they talk about   solidarity and unity ,yet create schism and faction instead.
Now I’m thinking   for  myself  . It  is my responsibility   to  find out   how  I want  to live  my  life , what I want  to live  for  .If I  make a mistake  I am the  one  who responsible   ;I can’t   blame anybody .
I cannot be sure  about  my value judgements and the choices I make .I have to always be on the alert  and see  how my thinking affect my life  .This not easy to do . I need to be very mindful ,sensitive  and absolutely  honest  with myself .
    TO Be Continue..................