Buddhism and happiness in life

Ven. Buluwala Ratanasiri.

In the Puttamansa Sutta, the Buddha talks of a man being dragged to a pit of hot coals, Many middle-aged women who practise meditation have had direct experience of this feeling. For me it began at a six-day retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh in Colarado, late in the summer of 2003.

This was the longest retreat I had attended, and I was concerned that my legs would ache and fall asleep.

As it turned out, seated meditation wasn’t a problem; overheated meditation was.

On the second day of the retreat I sat with closed eyes on my purple cushion and black pad, with hands cupped in my lap and thumbs touching. A small nuclear device seemed to go off in my solar plexus, radiating fallout throughout my body.

This was not a flush from too much niacin - I was simply turning into a small furnace. I wondered whether the drafty, chilly zendos of many meditation centers had explored heating their halls with menopausal women.

I had been taking black cohosh and progesterone for menopause symptoms.

These remedies had previously proved sufficient, but on that day a new sensation manifested: the marrow of my bones seemed to be boiling and it felt as though steam was rising from my skin.

Where two parts of my body touched - behind the kneecaps of folded legs or in the pits of folded arms - the steam condensed into a film of sweat.

Dampness covered my upper lip and my neck at the hairline and my forehead under my bangs. I felt like an iron that might scorch my pillow if I sat too long.

I repeatedly wondered: Can I stay still? Can I stay seated? Will this too pass? Will I burst into flames? On the positive side, there is nothing like a hot flash to keep you in the present moment. For me it went something like this: Don’t pant, Keep breathing.

I was the bright tip of a stick of smokeless incense. Hotter, hotter, hotter...... It’s done! The flash, really a steady burn, always ended suddenly, making me want to catch my breath. Inhale, Exhale, I felt my head relax in the Sudden relief of coolness. Outside, walking meditation never felt so good - fresh air moderating the fire within.

I began estrogen therapy shortly after the retreat, but the symptoms came back when I stopped taking it four years later.

They have continued to this day, although fewer and slightly reduced in intensity.

These days, my meditation shawl starts up on my shoulders and then drops down to my waist, a cloth thermometer showing fluctuations in my core temperature. Socks on, then off. Unbutton anything that’s not too revealing, turn back cuffs, and pull up sleeves. I try to match these movements with walking meditation.

I have found I tolerate the hot flashes better, and even see some benefits for my meditation practice. These periodic episodes have taught me to practice with what is, in the present moment (at least in my body). I know each episode will have a beginning, middle, and end, so I can be more patient with the process. I no longer fight the heat, or harbour delusions that I have control over my body, let alone any other phenomena.

Now I use the sensations as an object of my meditation. I imagine the perspiration as purification, as a steam bath, removing poisons from my body. I look for positive aspects: all this extra warmth has to be good for my joints! I contemplate the four elements. Fire seems to predominate in me at this minute, but there is water in my sweat and air in my breath and the earth under my legs.

The writer was ordained in 2005 in the Order of Inter being established by Thich Nhat Hanh. She is a founding member and practice leader at Flowing Mountains Sangha in Helena, Montana. Courtesy Buddhadharma: The practitioner’s quarterly summer 2010

The heat of the moment

by Sandra S. Murray

Some scholars say that Buddhism deals with the utter negation of life. They say so only referring to the Buddha’s teaching of three-fold characteristics (thilakkana) in the Theravada school and the teaching of absolutism in the Mahayana school. In dukka sacca the Buddha has emphasized the importance of the panca upadanakkanda. Only paying their attention to those teachings they say that Buddhism shows a negative attitude towards the way of life. When we consider Buddhism as a whole it is clear that the Buddha has presented the reality of life and the process of the world.

In the sutta pitaka we find the Buddha’s prescription of suttas for the lay life as well as the monastic life. Pattakamma sutta in Anguttara nikaya is one of the best examples which deals with happiness in the household life.

In this sutta the Buddha describes the four achievements that the householder hopes to achieve during his lifetime to live happily but it is difficult for householders to fulfil those four objectives. The four objectives which bring happiness to the householder are as follows: To be a wealthy person, being a wealthy person to have number of fellow men and fellow women to live happily with them, to live long as the wealthy person having many companions, to be born in heaven after death.

The Buddha has emphasized that if any householder had succeeded in achieving the four objectives he would have been happy in his lifetime.

In pattakamma sutta the Buddha shows that there are two principles of four fold activities to be performed by the householder during his former births to achieve the four objectives which bring happiness to his household life.

The first principle of activities have been known as saddha, sila, caga, panna. Sadda is one of the meritorious volitions that the householder develops his confidence towards the nine special qualities (nava arahadi buduguna) of the Buddha.

The householder must develop his assurance and belief towards the Buddha to overcome his ever lasting sansara. Sila is the discipline of the person who develops his bodily action and speech in the light of dhamma and to avoid from committing wrong actions with body and speech. Caga is the donation. The householder must develop his donation practically. Donation makes his life happy and reduces craving in the consciousness of the person.

Panna is developing the knowledge in Dhamma. The well developed wisdom can be known as vidarsana panna. The other principle of activities deals with consuming of the property which the householder owns produced with his own labour.

The first activity is that the householder earns a lot of money using reliable ways and means. The second condition is that he uses his money for his own facility as well as the welfare of his family members. Thirdly, he uses his money for performing five-fold sacrifices. nathibali, pubbapetabali, atathi bali, devata bali, rajabali.

In nathi bali the householder serves his relatives by spending his own money happily. In pubbapeta bali he performs alms giving to the mahasangha to invoke merits to his dead relatives by using his own money.

In atathi bali he spends his own money to serve visitors being hospitable. In devata bali he takes interest in offering devapuja to the gods traditionally recognised who are in charge of the area where the householder and his relatives live. In anana sutta the Buddha has pointed out another four conditions which lead the householder towards happiness.

These four conditions have been known as attisukha, anna sukha, bogha sukha and anavajja sukha. Having pleasure from these four conditions depends on his functions towards his economy.

If the householder owns property and enough money to foster his family he will be happy by thinking of his own wealth. If the householder has not got into debt he is free from problems and can have pleasure in his living career.

When the householder has produced or has bought a collection of grains of various kinds he can have pleasure by thinking of what he has already got. When the householder continues his way of life without committing sins and not going against the law and order of the country he can live with no fear and it is his pleasure.We can find several other teachings of the Buddha on happiness of the lay life. There is no negative attitude of the Buddha’s teaching but the reality of the beings and the universe. So, it is clear that people go into mental conflicts and into other problems in their domestic life as a result of getting away from the Buddhist practical way of living..