Thailand Bestseller More than 250,000 copies. the miracle ต วอย าง V.VAJIRAMEDHI. english version by nopamat veohong

Transcription

1 the miracle of Suffering V.VAJIRAMEDHI english version by nopamat veohong Thailand Bestseller More than 250,000 copies

2 I READ, THEREFORE I AM.

3 The Miracle of Suffering Copyright 2012 by Pran Publishing Co., Ltd. English Text 2012 by Nopamat Veohong Illustrations 2012 by Sutat Palama All right reserved National Library of Thailand Cataloging in Publication Data Vajiramedhi, V. (Author), Veohong, N (Translator) The Miracle of Suffering.-- Nonthaburi : Pran, pages. 1. Suffering 2. Happiness 3. Nibbana I. Nopamat Veohong, Translator. II. Simon Wright. III. The Miracle of Suffering ISBN (e-book) Published by Pran Affiliate of Pran Publishing Co., Ltd. 95/8 Soi Kaew-in, Kanchanaphisek, Tambon Saothonghin, Amphoe Bangyai, Nonthaburi Telephone: Facsimile: Owner and Publisher: Pran Publishing Limited Company Chief Executive Officer: Chinawat Chanamok Publishing Managing Director: Rerngrit Thicharn Legal Consultant: Major Colonel Apisek Pisano Editor-In-Chief: Tawankarn Mungpanklang Editor: Thitirat Sirimuang, Ratthawan Pattanaratchatadul English Text Editor: Simon Wright Publishing Coordinator: Aporn Pattanaratchata-adul Secretary to Editorial: Phakamon Amornsithikhun Proofreading: Raweerot Khamsuk, Watcharit Srisangkaew Computer: Jeeranut Khumjun Art Director: Danchai Vanasirimongkol Graphic Designer: Rungnapa Jitjarad Office: Pran Publishing 95/8 Soi Kaew-in, Kanchanaphisek, Tambon Saothonghin, Amphoe Bangyai, Nonthaburi Telephone: Facsimile:

4 The Miracle of Suffering V.Vajiramedhi Translated by Nopamat Veohong

5 the publisher s foreword Just take a good look at your life and you will see that soon after you experience suffering, happiness follows. Or vice versa, when you re happy, suffering will soon follow suit. These two qualities take turns to show up in your life and never stay apart for long. The question is: can one choose discriminatively to have only happiness and reject suffering totally? The answer is a resounding NO. Nonetheless, although one can t always avoid unsatisfactoriness in life, one can see its virtue and turn it around into happiness by one s own paradigm shift. In The Miracle of Suffering, V.Vajiramedhi introduces you to how to see the virtue of suffering. Whenever you are visited by suffering, you are given a noble lesson that the nature of existence has to offer. Those who have experienced hardships and suffering become strong. On the contrary, those who have hardly

6 suffered will be fragile, feeble and possessing low immunity so much so that they will find it difficult to handle it when hit by storms of hardship in life. Knowing that suffering and happiness are what we will have to be confronted with undeniably, instead of evading or avoiding suffering, let us look at it in a different light and see it, rather, in a way that will bring happiness and comfort. This book was fir st published in Thai in a special edition of two hundred thousand copies. It was so wellreceived by the readers who bought it for themselves and for distribution as a well-wishing gift that it sold out quickly. When it was out of print, the publisher was asked to reprint it as it is a good and useful book that helps readers to get to the truth of the matter and understand life better.

7 This time the publisher has made some revisions and adjustments to the original text, adding two more parts: Part 3 Live Happily with Suffering and Part 4 The Art of Happiness, as well as adding and improving on the illustrations of four-colour printing, including folded wings on the front and back covers with postcard drawings by V.Vajiramedhi himself so you can send happy wishes to your loved ones. The publisher sincerely hopes that readers will apply the dhamma in this book to their lives with satisfactory results and promote good reading to people around them, true to the publisher s watchword I read, therefore I am The Editor-In-Chief Pran Publishing

8 the author s preface Buddhaship started when Prince Siddhartha ventured out into the real world and inadvertently found the old, the sick and the dead, who were the epitome of suffering. They lived in suffering, experienced suffering and died in suffering. Later on, he met with ascetics who found peace and practised austerity in the wilderness with the goal set on liberation from suffering. Seeing people in such states of suffering was the eye-opening lesson that changed the course of Siddhartha s whole life. Suffering is, admittedly, a threat to humanity and all creation. However, it was this self-same suffering that led Prince Siddhartha on his search to find the way to end suffering, the so-called nibbāna. Suffering is a threat to humanity and all creation. This is a truth. Suffering is the fount of the search to end it and be liberated from it. This is a truth.

9 Hence, there are two sides to the same coin of suffering. avoided. On one side, suffering is a threat, a danger to be On the other, suffering is a path to enlightenment. The Buddha saw suffering from both sides. In the principle of truth that He discovered called The Four Noble Truths, He reevaluated suffering and called it a noble truth (dukkhaṁ ariyasaccaṁ). Suffering is a noble truth because suffering it self has the property to resolve itself into happiness. In one sense, where there is suffering, there is happiness. In another sense, suffering can be turned over to be inspirational so one can find a greater happiness in individual happiness and universal happiness for mankind and ultimately the greatest happiness of all nibbāna which is the highest state of non-suffering. The fact that Mahatma Gandhi was ruthlessly chased from the first-class train on his way to Pretoria made him find a turning point in his life. He was known to have said The direst suffering is the most creative.

10 The fact that Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for twenty-six years by a verdict under the white minority colonial government gave him political clout and leadership until he reached the highest position, nationally and internationally. The fact that Mother Theresa found the poorest slums in Mumbai with only a school fence that separated her convent from the sufferings of her fellow human- kind made her question the glaring inequality of humanity and the sufferers struggle to survive. That was the turning point in her life that gave the world an angel for the poor. Just as suffering was itself attractive, contributing and valuable to those prominent celebrities it has its attraction, contribution and value to us all. No doubt the Buddha put a high value on suffering when He said, Suffering is a noble truth. So noble is suffering that I have to encourage you to recognise the miracle of suffering." V.Vajiramedhi Sun Rise Park, Chiangrai

11 c o n t e n t s The Publisher s Foreword 4 The Author s Preface 7 Part 1 Say Thanks to Your Suffering 1 Nobody can escape suffering 2 In suffering there is happiness 8 The Noble Suffering 12 Thich Nhat Hanh who used to suffer on a massive scale 16 Suffering is the seed for success 24 Turn suffering into happiness 30 Life is good because of suffering 38 With a little help from my friends 46

12 Part 2 Embrace your Happiness with a smile 53 Means towards happiness 54 Do not lay trouble on your trouble-free self 60 Look for the right kind of happiness 66 Do not get attached even to the right kind of happiness 72 Cultivate and liberate your mind from suffering 78 Definition of happiness 86 Grasping the essentials 90 Let the dhamma guide your life 96

13 Part 3 Live happily with Suffering 103 Ways to end suffering 104 The weapons of suffering 112 Seeing through suffering with mindfulness 116 Know what you are doing 124 The past is gone; the future is yet to come 128 Keep knowing what you think and your life will be easier 134 Part 4 The Art of happiness 139 Make others happy 140 Have positive reciprocity 154 Know when to give in, when to stop and when to chill out 162

14 Part 5 The Four Boons 173 Less suffering, more happiness 174 Longevity 182 Glowing complexion 202 Physical and mental happiness 208 Good health 216 Addenda: The Golden words 221 For all-time auspices 222 There is nothing like 223 Positive thinking 224 Best deals 226 Less and more 228 The hidden meaning of thanks 229 About the Author 230

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16 1 Say Thanks to Your Suffering When you suffer mindlessly, the suffering itself will escape your notice. But with mindfulness, you will see it for what it is. As soon as you see it, it will automatically transform itself into happiness. Thus, according to the Buddha, suffering is the Noble Truth because suffering is a means towards happiness.

17 Nobody can escape suffering

18 Everyone is either afraid of or shuns suffering. Therefore, the noble truth must be a truth that leads to the cessation of suffering, the so-called ariyasacca in Buddhism. Let me ask you, dear readers: have you ever suffered? Who amongst you hasn t experienced any kind of suffering, pain or discontent? We all have, haven t we? Millionaires suffer like the rich. Poor people suffer like the poor. All the same, all of us are afflicted with suffering in one way or another; only the causes and conditions differ and belong to us individually. In short, we all suffer for our individual reasons. Michael Jackson was so admired and popular. We would love to believe

19 that, unlike all of us, such an immensely popular and gifted person would be free of or immune from the same mundane suffering as is our experience. But do you know how much he suffered? When he was in the public eye, he looked as if he was enjoying himself tremendously and gave everyone ecstatic happiness. However, here is the summary of his life I put in my word: he was publicly happy but privately miserable. When he was on stage he made his audience happy, even delirious, but when he was alone, he apparently suffered in private. No one was there to share his suffering. In an interview Jackson said, If possible, I would love to sleep on stage, if only I could, because I realise that this is where I can be most happy. When I am home, I don t see anyone who loves me truly for who I am. How many managers did he have? How many record companies did he deal with? How many advertising agencies came to him hoping to make profits out of him and take advantage of his enormous talent? No one loved him truly. That s how he felt and suffered. Just think about it. Why was it that such a sky-rocketing celebrity harboured so much pain and suffering? It only goes to show that everyone has his own share of suffering without discrimination. However, the suffering we experience is far from noble as long as we don t recognise it as such. So many people can hardly see their suffering because they spend all the time 4 The Miracle of Suffering

20 engulfed in distress and wallowing in it. Much though they suffer, they don t see the suffering itself. A pupil of mine was at an Insight-Meditation class I offered in a Kilesa (Defilement) Management course. She was restless and distraught. After my lecture she came to pay her courtesy respects and started weeping. What s the matter with you?" I asked. She said, I m so miserable. From what? It has to do with my bottled-up anger, your holiness. When anger arises I want to be able to suppress it immediately. But I can t do that. I am made so sore by it. I ve practised dhamma for five long years and, when I become angry, I try to cut it off in an instant but it won t go away as I wish. So I said, As I see it, you don t suffer from anger. You suffer because you want to get rid of your anger. The anger itself is not threatening you. What s threatening you is the desire to get rid of your anger at will. When you can t do it at well, you become angry on top of your anger per se. It s double anger that s plaguing you. The double anger is: 1. The anger per se. 2. The anger with which you can t deal properly. V.Vajiramedhi 5