FULL MOON – No More Suffering


Published Wednesday, 02 September 2020

For many lives I have wandered
looking for, but not finding,
the house-builder
who caused my suffering.
But now you are seen and
you shall build no more.
Your rafters are dislodged and
the ridgepole is broken.
All craving is ended;
my heart is as one with the unconditioned.


Dhammapada v.153-4

Who is the house-builder that the Buddha says is responsible for his suffering? It is unawareness, the source of all our habits of distraction: all the stories we keep telling ourselves and the fantasies we have learnt to not question. It is noteworthy that the Buddha didn't say that the one who caused his suffering had been killed off; he simply said, 'you have been seen!' Seeing was enough to bring an end to the causes of suffering. We would be wise to follow his example and train ourselves to simply 'see' (by which he means understand) the process of how it is clinging that causes suffering. We need to train our attention and recollect that all experiences are arising and ceasing within a selfless field of awareness. That selfless, just-knowing awareness is our refuge in the Buddha.

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