The Cause of Suffering

by Khenpo Sodargye Rinpoche

So where shall we start? First, we need to recognise suffering. Then we should know where suffering comes from. It originates from karma and afflictions, which are the cause of suffering. In other words, suffering arises from a variety of afflictions such as desire, hatred, ignorance, arrogance and so on which need to be recognised and eliminated step by step. If not, these afflictions will bring us great harm. Although they are usually illusions, we cannot recognise this reality while we are controlled by them.

According to a koan from Theravada Buddhism, there was once a king who greatly loved his queen. One day, the queen passed away. The king was inconsolable in his grief and day and night could not stop remembering her beauty and kindness. He refused to dispose of her body and was plunged into sadness. Later, he learned there was a Venerable so he went to ask where his queen had been reborn.

The Venerable gave him an answer that many of you may find unbelievable. The Venerable led the king to a cesspit in a garden, pointed at a worm and told him it was the re-born queen. The Venerable used his supernatural powers to let the worm speak. Then the queen said she remembered the king who was her husband from her past life. The Venerable sage asked if she still loved him. She said her life had changed after the rebirth and while she could remember him as the previous husband, she was not in love with him anymore. Her dearest lover in this life was another worm in the cesspit. She said even if the blood in the king’s throat were spread on the feet of her worm husband, she would not love him. When the king heard this, he realised his attachment to the queen was just an illusion and at that very moment all his desires ceased.

The story may have a surreal flavour, but the same kind of attachment exists in today’s society. In many countries now, the divorce rate keeps increasing. I’ve read it is about 50% in the USA and has reached over 30% in China. Although re-birth won’t happen within this current life, when someone falls in love with another person, he may not have any feelings for his old love. Such love is, in fact, a temporary attachment, and after a certain period, a person may find it ridiculous and unreliable. This is exactly like the attachment a child has for his toy. Once he grows up, he won’t take it seriously.

All kinds of afflictions such as hatred and greed can be eliminated and this is the process of cutting off the cause of suffering. This is essential and only through practising virtuous actions can we eliminate afflictions. These days we talk of positive energy which has great meaning. It reminds us that, on any occasion, we should practice virtuous actions as much as we can. This era is rather special in that it provides lots of opportunities to accumulate all kinds of bad karma. These bad karmas may not be obvious but in fact, they will just naturally bring all kinds of bad things to our bodies and minds and cause us to suffer. If we can fully devote ourselves to practising virtuous actions, we will naturally experience happiness and joy. In Buddhism, generating a mind of renunciation, practising the Six Paramitas, cultivating Bodhisattva qualities are highly recommended when it comes to achieving true happiness. Instead of praying and beseeching, it is better to personally engage in virtuous deeds to obtain favourable outcomes.

BUDDHISM SAVED KAZUO INAMORI 

Some of you may know of Kazuo Inamori of Japan, who is a highly successful entrepreneur and an acclaimed Buddhist practitioner. How did he start practising Buddhism? When he was still young, his uncle developed tuberculosis, which at that time was as serious as AIDS and cancer are today. It was incurable due to the limited medical treatments available. When his uncle fell ill, his father and his brother were attending to him every day. In spite of the danger of contagion, they put all their effort into helping him. Inamori was so afraid of catching the disease that he hid away every day so as to avoid caring for his uncle. Ironically, it turned out that while his father and brother didn’t catch it, he developed the disease when he was 13. After he got sick everyone thought he would die. He, himself, lay in the sun every day just waiting for death.

At that time, Buddhism was somewhat popular in Japan and his neighbours were all Buddhists. One of his neighbours gave him a book entitled The True Image of Life and encouraged him to read it to cheer him up. Through that book he learned that just as a magnet attracts metal, the mind can develop all kinds of attachments, some being improper thoughts which could bring bad karma and suffering and some being good thoughts which could bring happiness.

When Kazuo Inamori read these teachings he reflected upon and fully accepted his experience. He reflected that his father and brother had attended his uncle every day and never contracted the disease. On the other hand, when he tried to avoid contact with his uncle for his own sake, he could not successfully escape from it. So he decided to face reality bravely and instead of clinging to his ego and worrying about himself, he would make every effort to help others. With such strong determination, after two years, without receiving any treatment, his tuberculosis completely cured itself. So that was how he started his Buddhist practice at the age of 13. A book changed his life.

SUFFERING CAN BE A TURNING POINT 

In fact, the turning point in our lives may come with a good mentor, a good book or even a brief conversation. A few words can change one’s life and there are examples throughout history to prove it. The experience of going through suffering, although it seems unpleasant, indeed may prove a great opportunity to change one’s life.

I’m not sure if you are familiar with the famous novelist Jin Yong. In his dialogue with Daisaku Ikeda, he talked about his Buddhist experience. In October 1976, his eldest son committed suicide at Columbia University at the age of 19. Upon hearing the news, he was distraught. It came like a bolt out of the blue. He wanted to die just in order to follow his son. Due to this incident, he started to study Buddhism and read books about Chinese Buddhism. He developed a deep respect and admiration for many Theravada scriptures, and the Agamas, in particular. Eventually, his life attitude completely changed.

YOUNG PEOPLE NEED THE RIGHT ATTITUDE FOR LIFE 

You can read about Daisaku Ikeda. He is one of the great figures of our time and shared a wonderful dialogue with Dr. Toynbee, which contains many valuable insights that today’s youth would find worth learning.

Many young people today spend too much time on TV and games and their entertainment is confined to eating, drinking, playing and gossiping. This is not a good attitude for life. Some while away all their time on trivial matters, and can’t be bothered to strive for those things in life that are of great value and actually matter. But to properly face life, it is essential to have the right attitude and good approach. All of us want to lead our own lives and fulfil our dreams. But whether one’s life dream is good or bad depends on oneself. Even when you are experiencing a nightmare; somehow it enables you to enrich your life.