INTERMEDIATE 1 MODULE 13

There was this friend of mine, John who use to cross the strait on the ferry to work everyday. Traveling to and fro daily for about a couple of months, he met with a nice guy who later becomes his chatting mate on the ferry. They will share their common problems, stories and experience together. They finally became very good friend.

One day this guy scolded him for nothing, accusing him for troublemaker, stupid and greedy. He cannot figure out what make him upset this guy. He was not able to eat and sleep properly, disturbed by this guy who accused him.

John approaches me and asked, “Do you remember the guy I used to talk with everyday on the ferry?”

“Ha, Ha, Ha,” I laughed. “He is mad. Don’t you know? Everybody who travels on this ferry knew that he is insanity. How come you don’t know?”

By knowing that this guy is mad when you meet him again in the ferry and if he were to scold you again, will you get upset and angry with him?

In the beginning of the lessons, we decided that what we seek in life is Happiness - Happiness in this very life as well as life after death. Happiness develops from having sufficient wealth, friendships and good health. We also explore how happiness derives from not having greed, hatred, illusion and fear. We even discovered the power from Right Conduct such as the power of speech.

As we learn the art of giving, letting go, and contentment while we count down the number of blessings that we have, we begin to discover the true happiness as we track these avenues of joy.

As a Conclusion and a last reminder to the reality of life, Real Happiness sometime comes from having less unhappiness. When facing with situation that cannot be change, one needs to accept and understand it.

Change is like the wind that touches us any time. We know not when it will comes and touches our life but we are very sure it is out there. They come unannounced. Thus we need to face them with Right Understanding.

Some Buddhist offers flowers to the Buddha without knowing the actual meaning of that symbolic offering. We want to remind ourselves that things are impermanent as they change all the time. Clinging on them will bring further suffering to us.

By understand CHANGE, one can go beyond it and transcend its’ unfavourable result arising from attaching ourselves onto it. We should not be entrapped by it, which will later manifest into sufferings.

The problem with life is we fail to accept the reality of Change. We fail to confront it and thus we are not able to realize the reality of things as they really are: - Impermanence, Unsatisfactoriness and Soulnessness.

One of the Blessings in life is to go above the wind of change. Change is part of our life but not everything can be changed. Take for example “Time”; we can’t turn the clock back and “Age.”

The most important thing to change is to change our own mind, perception, attitude and understanding. The 8 winds of Change are merely just the main symbols or pillars of change. They represent the foremost manifestation of the transformation that happen in our mind.

The purpose of this lesson is to acknowledge the reality of change. If we cannot change the situation then we must have the courage to accept it. What will happen when you found out, you have some grey hair or pimples? Are you going to cry over it or you will try to find some cure and solution to overcome it? If it cannot be overcome, are you going to die for it?

Knowing smoking is bad for our health and people surrounding us especially our children who are living with us but yet we still smoke. We have not transcended the purpose of knowledge to gain advantage over it.

The purpose of gaining knowledge is KNOWLEDGE must be able to help to release and free oneself (vimuthi) from greed, hatred and delusion which carry so much suffering with it. Let’s reflect on the story about “John and the mad man on the ferry” earlier.

If John were to know that this guy is insanity, do you think he will be so upset, probably he will feel deep sympathy for this mad guy.

“Life is like an Ocean. There will always be wave.
We can’t avoid the waves but we can learn how to ride on the waves.”

Every one of us including the Buddha has to face the fact of life. No one can totally avoid these changes. The Buddha also has to experience change, pain, etc.

The different between a non-enlighten person and an enlightened person is: A non-enlighten person always hurt twice by an arrow although they are shot once - one in the body and the other in the mind.

While an enlightened person will only be hurt once that is in the body but not the mind.

One must be able to be aloof like the lotus springs from the mud. One must be able to stay a float in the midst of change and finally transcend it.

One must have the courage to be able to let go the “gains” in life, to understand it and accept it as change come, for true happiness come only when one is able to remain unshaken by the wind of life.

When gain comes, one should not be over elated. And one it is loss, one does not be too depress. One must learn how to let it go. Why? Because everything change.

The first 3 gains of wealth, Friendship and health will not take us to heaven. And if we loss them, neither will it lead us to hell.

“If you loss your wealth, you loss nothing,
if you loss your health, you loss something and
if you loss your character, you loss everything.”

A wise man is unperturbed (equanimity) in his mind and sense-control but not in feelings and perceptions. He is not a dead wood or cold like a corpse. Amidst what happen outside, he always keep calm inside. He is just likes the grandfather clock – “tik-tok”, “tik-tok”, even if there is a great thunder outside, he will not “tik-tok” faster than before.

A great man is one who thinks very big but when come to putting it down, he can also put it down very big and steady. He is a person who can lift his expectation up high and put it down low.

You planned to perform a Dana for ten monks, but unfortunately only three turns up or you may plan a great party but the weather spoils it off. How could you handle your upsets emotion?

Once Thomas Edison’s laboratory was burned down to ashes, and a bystander sympathized on him asked, “How do you feel with all your hard works destroyed in the fire?”

“Great! All my errors are burned off and I can start again” was the surprised answer.

One does not have to hate roses because of the thorns. Neither do you love roses because of the thorns.

There was one a bare-footed man happens to step on a piece of buffalo’s hide (skin), and felt so comfortable on it. He then make a wish if he could lay the buffalo’s hide everywhere on the ground so the may feels the same whenever he goes.