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The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching - Thich Nhat Hanh > Chapter 7 - Touching Our Suffering > Flashcards

Chapter 7 - Touching Our Suffering Flashcards

1
Q

How could we use the Twelve Turnings of the Wheel?

A
  • to help understand 4NT experientially, not just intellectually
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2
Q

Twelve Turnings of the Wheel

A

1st NT: recognise - encourage - realise
2nd NT: recognise - encourage - realise
3rd NT: recognise - encourage - realise
4th NT: recognise - encourage - realise

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3
Q

recognition / 1st Turning

“this is suffering”

6

A
  • we may sense something’s wrong, not sure what
  • we try to escape, we can’t
  • we try to deny suffering, it persists
  • step 1: recognise we are suffering
  • step 2: determine if basis is physical, physiological, psychological
  • step 3: identify it further

“when I think like this, speak like that, listen like this, or act like that, my suffering increases”

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4
Q

encouragement / 2nd Turning

“suffering should be understood”

5

A
  • our suffering (depression, fear, illness, difficult relationship) needs to be understood
  • once pain is identified, we look deeply to understand its causes
  • meditation needed
  • we see causes of suffering as knowable and make every effort to get to the bottom of it
  • at this stage our practice can still be “set back”
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5
Q

realisation / 3rd Turning

“suffering is understood”

4

A
  • we realise efforts begun during 2nd turning / encouragement
  • we find a name for our suffering and know characteristics
  • studying, reflecting, practising 1st Noble Truth, we realise we have stopped running away from our pain
  • happiness comes without setbacks
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6
Q

recognition / 4th Turning

* “there is an ignoble way that has led to suffering”

4

A
  • I am continuing to create suffering
  • when something comes to be, we need to look deeply into its nature
  • consider 4 nutriments: edible food, sense impressions, intention, consciousness
  • how have we lived the last few years / months that have contributed to our suffering?
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7
Q

encouragement / 5th Turning

“that ignoble way should be understood”

5

A
  • we see clearly that real happiness is possible if we can stop ingesting the nutriments that cause us to suffer
  • we encourage ourselves to end our suffering
  • only by a strong intention not to do things in the same way can we keep the wheel in motion
  • mindfulness = energy that can help us stop
  • mindfulness of ingestion
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8
Q

realisation / 6th Turning

“that ignoble way is understood”

5

A
  • we not only vow, but actually stop ingesting nutriments that create our suffering
  • can be translated as “when hungry, I eat; when tired, I sleep”
  • lightness and freedom at this stage, acting in accord with 5MT and non-harming
  • we only have to be ourselves
  • form not important
    NB: genuine insight and freedom needed first!
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9
Q

Four Nutriments

A
  1. Edible Food
  2. Sense Impressions
  3. Volition (intention, will)
  4. Consciousness
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10
Q

Edible Food / 1st nutriment

6

A
  • food/drink can cause mental/physical suffering
  • must distinguish healthful from harmful
  • must practise Rt View when we shop, cook, eat
  • story: parents eating their baby’s flesh
  • smoking/drinking = eating our own lungs/liver/heart
  • need to look deeply at how we grow our food, allowing Earth to continue to be a source of life
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11
Q

Sense Impressions / 2nd nutriment

5

A
  • 6 sense organs in constant contact with sense objects, these contacts become food for our consciousness
    ex: billboards, magazines, conversations - if these make us anxious, worn out, then we know these contain toxins
  • mindfulness = a protector
  • story of cow with skin disease bitten by insects
  • invasions of all kinds every day: images, sounds, smells, touch, ideas - feeding craving, violence, fear and despair so we need mindfulness at each of our sense doors to protect us
  • 5MT useful, especially 5th
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12
Q

Volition (intention, will) / 3rd nutriment

5

A
  • ground of all our actions
  • desire in us to obtain whatever it is we want
  • works even when we sleep
  • can push us to reach life goals
  • could also be desire to inflict harm, ex: revenge
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13
Q

Consciousness / 4th nutriment

3

A
  • seedbed of past actions, society and ancestors
  • daily thoughts, words, actions flow into the sea of our consciousness and create our body, mind and world
  • nourished by 4 Immeasurable Minds
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14
Q

Six Practices to Face Suffering

A
  1. walking
  2. breathing
  3. sitting
  4. eating
  5. deep looking
  6. deep listening
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15
Q

Five Potential Obstacles to Happiness

A
  1. position
  2. revenge
  3. wealth
  4. fame
  5. possessions
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16
Q

Is suffering “us”?

2

A
  • yes
  • we need to treat it with kindness and non-violence
17
Q

What could Confucius do at 30, 40, 50 and 60?

A

30- stand on his own feet
40- have no more doubts
50- know the mandate of earth and sky
60- do what he wanted without going against the path
(Action of non-action)
(Realisation-3rd turning of 2nd NT)

18
Q

We tend to blame others for our unhappiness until we practise which of the Four Noble Truths?

A

2nd Noble Truth

19
Q

Why do we have to be very careful about what nutriments we ingest?

2

A
  • our consciousness is eating all the time, day and night
  • what it consumes becomes the substance of our life
20
Q

What do we release to become a free person?

A
  • our cows!
21
Q

In the story of two strong men dragging a third into a fire pit, he is unable to resist. Which of the Four Nutriments does the Buddha wish to illustrate by this?

4

A
  • Volition (3rd nutriment)
  • the two strong men are our own volition
  • we don’t want to suffer, but our deep-seated habit energies drag us into the fire of suffering
  • we need to look deeply, able to see the intention of the nutriments we consume
22
Q

In the well-known story of the Buddha and his monks’ picnic, they are interrupted by a farmer fretting over his missing cows and ruined sesame crop. Which of the Four Nutriments does the Buddha wish to illustrate by this?

2

A
  • Volition (3rd nutriment)
  • “Dear friends, do you know you are the happiest people on Earth? You have no cows or sesame plants to lose”
23
Q

In the story of the cow with a terrible skin disease, she has nearly no skin left and is assailed by sucking insects whether she goes near a wall or tree, even in the river to bathe. Which of the Four Nutriments does the Buddha wish to illustrate by this?

2

A
  • Sense Impressions (2nd nutriment)
  • “this is our situation also”
24
Q

What image did the Buddha give to say it is less painful than to suffer and not know we are suffering?

A
  • burden endured by a mule carrying an unimaginably heavy load
25
Q

What is the significance of the last of the ten ox-herding pictures: “Entering the Market with Open Hands”?

5

A
  • we become free to come and go as we please
  • action of Non-action
  • suffering no longer arises
  • a stage inimitable
  • a stage to be reached by oneself
26
Q

In the story of the couple crossing the desert, they eat their baby’s flesh piece by piece in order to survive, and cry with each morsel. Which of the Four Nutriments does the Buddha wish to illustrate by this?

3

A
  • Edible Foods (1st nutriment)
  • how we betray our ancestors by consuming unhealthy food, drink - could also include drugs such as tobacco
  • “Yet many people eat the flesh of their parents, their children and their grandchildren and do not know it”
27
Q

In the story of the murderer sentenced to death by stabbing, after 300 knives he is still alive, 300 more of the sharpest in the kingdom and still alive, 300 times more… still! Which of the Four Nutriments does the Buddha wish to illustrate by this?

3

A
  • this is usually how we treat our consciousness (4th nutriment)
  • every time we ingest toxins into our consciousness, it is like stabbing ourselves with 300 sharp knives
  • we suffer and our suffering spills out to those around us
28
Q

Why might we suffer because of a strong energy pushing us towards happiness?

2

A
  • because we mistake what we think will make us happy
  • position, revenge, wealth, fame, possessions are often obstacles to happiness
29
Q

What do the wounds in our heart become?

A
  • the object of our meditation
30
Q

What else does our practice require other than mindfulness, concentration and wisdom?

A
  • the mindfulness, concentration and wisdom of friends on the path (including Sangha) and of one’s teacher
31
Q

Is it OK to use pencil and paper during sitting meditation?

4

A
  • yes
  • if you see clearly a symptom of suffering, write it down!
  • then ask: What kind of nutriments have I been ingesting that have fed this suffering?
  • use mindfulness all day long to stay with suffering, like a mother and her baby
32
Q

What happens when we look deeply into the nature of something that has come to be?

A
  • we will discover the kinds of nutriments that have helped it come to be and that continue to feed it

Four Nutriments

The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching - Thich Nhat Hanh (30 decks)

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