If there is anything that I have come to obey that is Dhamma the truth of nature. There IS such a thing. It CAN be seen and felt. It's hard but it is possible. Over the past three years I have come to obey it and worship it over all other things and trust in it's power. But because it's so hard to see, I still struggle with myself and with the nature of things. But life, despite many of it's difficulties, has been very kind to me in many ways, in presenting Dhamma for my experience, very rarely though but I have seen it.
I feel I see life through a new set of eyes. Just as I see my own difficulties I also see the difficulties of others. While my own difficulties, some of it, I have been able to make peace with them, because I see them through my new set of eyes, I see the struggle of others because they don't have the benefit of seeing it through a different perspective. My heart fills with compassion for them. If only.......
This is the reason why I am writing the blog. Because after everything is said and done, after all of the hair splitting arguments and all of that, there is only one way to fine peace in ones heart and lay eberything to rest. That is to see things the way they really are. The BUddha said this 25 centuries ago. I used to read it with wonderment, amazement. It's almost like, the Buddha had a secret. But now I understand (with little I know) it was no secret. It was a simple statement but a very deep and profound one. In a way YES it is a secret because most of us are not privy to it. But it is always there for the taking.
The secret is to know, see things for the way they are. Anicca, dukka and anatta. The impermannce of things, the suffering of things and the non-self in things. How wonderful and how freeing it is. I am in no way implying or saying that I understand these phenomena for the way they are. But I have had experiences which have made me question whether things are permanent, blissful and a self as the way we think they are.
Being able to question, having experiences to get to the point of at least questioning, brings oneself enormous amount of relief. This is my point. It gets you new eyes! Then you don't look life, it's problems in the same old way, and because of that you don't suffer the same old way. On the other hand you don't go into euphoria the same old way either. There is a kind of a balance the mind gets to (in a manner of speaking.....certainly not equanimity that the BUddha speaks about but kind of getting on to the road) When this happens you are on a different ground and you begin to see others. Because they are the ground that you once walked on. It's not judging them but seeing them. It's like you've moved from grade one to grade 2. Now you see grade 1 students doing the same old math problems etc. You see the same old struggles etc....
Just like in school, you cannot take the exams for them...so in life the lessons have to be learnt by the struggler. Also unlike in school there is no chronological order to life. There could be 50, 60 and 70 year old people in grade one and 20, 30 years old who have gone past grade 12. Such is the school called life / Dhamma.
Either way, the heart will only come to rest when one understand and develops the eyes in line with the Dhamma. This cuts across all races, religion, cultures, countries etc. Dhamma is not BUddhist though the BUddha discovered it. Dhamma us universal. Things like loving-kindness, compassion, forgiveness, hatred, jealousy, generosity, kamma, rebirth, conciousness, nibbana are universal and will govern all beings irrespective of personal and individual beliefs and wants.
Until that common ground is reached people's hearts will not rest either and will not find peace either. But while I write this and I might sound an extremist in writing what I write, I will never impose my views on anyone. I will only travel my path firmly according to my understanding. Whether someone travels the path or believes in it or not does not matter to me for their salvation and peace of mind is their business and their responsibility. But Dhamma will always stand the test of time.
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