Suffering
I teach one thing, and one thing alone: suffering, and the way out of suffering, said the Buddha.
Perhaps maths wasn't his strong point, and expressing his teaching in negative terms (“away-from motivation”) might have elicited disapproving noises from today's self-development fans. Yet what he taught 2500 years ago and what I offer as a life coach in the 21st Century definitely point in the same direction.
When asked what it means to be a Buddhist, one teacher said, “It means that we know that we have work to do”. I love the simplicity of this answer. Of course there are many tools to do the work with; Buddhism is one, coaching offers others. Get yourself a Buddhist coach and you get to try out the best of both!
But how many of us see value in doing the work? Surprisingly - and unfortunately - most people don't. There are a lot of people in the world whose actions say that they're “content” with second (or 192nd) best; unfortunately their words and their emotional life make it clear that contentment isn't what they're experiencing 100% of the time :-(
Why is it so tempting to settle for so many drab or unhappy days, weeks, years? The Buddha said (with refreshing realism), “I choose to teach because there are a few people out there whose eyes aren't completely covered with dust”.
His view was that most people are so clogged up with the trash in their heads that they simply can't see that they're stuck in a dreadfully sub-standard life - or that there are choices. (This is perhaps one reason why you don't find many Buddhists knocking on your door trying to convert you to the path of happiness – they're aware that most people simply aren't ready to see that there are better alternatives to their current experience.)
Another reason is the nature of “suffering”. It's actually a rotten translation of an Indian word meaning “dissatisfaction” or even “sub-optimal mind states”, which can be anything from the mildest sense of this moment being rather dull to the deepest depression. Most people, of course, spend plenty of time on this spectrum!
The question is, where is your threshold? Sure, it's great to be able to tolerate being a bit down without spinning out completely (and unfortunately many Buddhists in the West make a hobby of accepting misery in an unproductive - and unnecessary - way). But there are ways to be much much happier most of the time!
“Do you want to be happy?” I sometimes ask people. The answer I usually get back is, “Oh well, yes and no, I mean, things are OK.”
This is very sad. Everyone deserves better.
Perhaps maths wasn't his strong point, and expressing his teaching in negative terms (“away-from motivation”) might have elicited disapproving noises from today's self-development fans. Yet what he taught 2500 years ago and what I offer as a life coach in the 21st Century definitely point in the same direction.
When asked what it means to be a Buddhist, one teacher said, “It means that we know that we have work to do”. I love the simplicity of this answer. Of course there are many tools to do the work with; Buddhism is one, coaching offers others. Get yourself a Buddhist coach and you get to try out the best of both!
But how many of us see value in doing the work? Surprisingly - and unfortunately - most people don't. There are a lot of people in the world whose actions say that they're “content” with second (or 192nd) best; unfortunately their words and their emotional life make it clear that contentment isn't what they're experiencing 100% of the time :-(
Why is it so tempting to settle for so many drab or unhappy days, weeks, years? The Buddha said (with refreshing realism), “I choose to teach because there are a few people out there whose eyes aren't completely covered with dust”.
His view was that most people are so clogged up with the trash in their heads that they simply can't see that they're stuck in a dreadfully sub-standard life - or that there are choices. (This is perhaps one reason why you don't find many Buddhists knocking on your door trying to convert you to the path of happiness – they're aware that most people simply aren't ready to see that there are better alternatives to their current experience.)
Another reason is the nature of “suffering”. It's actually a rotten translation of an Indian word meaning “dissatisfaction” or even “sub-optimal mind states”, which can be anything from the mildest sense of this moment being rather dull to the deepest depression. Most people, of course, spend plenty of time on this spectrum!
The question is, where is your threshold? Sure, it's great to be able to tolerate being a bit down without spinning out completely (and unfortunately many Buddhists in the West make a hobby of accepting misery in an unproductive - and unnecessary - way). But there are ways to be much much happier most of the time!
“Do you want to be happy?” I sometimes ask people. The answer I usually get back is, “Oh well, yes and no, I mean, things are OK.”
This is very sad. Everyone deserves better.