Ask A Monk: Dealing With Pain and Using Suffering as a Vehicle for Enlightenment

[prashantha33]

great.



[teevorian]

I am so sorry that I feel always very angry about the buddhist teachings. To me it seems that Buddhism is based on telling people that every fun they have - whether healthy or not - procreation, music, competition, candy, drugs, party, idle chatter, games, movies, doing good deeds, etc will cause eventually suffering. Or rebirth - which of cause is bad. I wonder what "true happiness" actually consists of. I think one should realize ones own nature and be happy through love to all beings/thinks.

[teevorian]

This is one of the view great videos.

Other unrelated question: Please comment about the meditation on how disgusting the body is. I am so shocked that the Buddha taught to cultivate aversion against the own body, in order to kill of sexual desires when they arise by imagining pictures of rotten corpses(google "the 32 impure parts of the body". Is this the actual goal of the theravada path? To kill of all desires, and to suffer to finally experience "true happiness"?

[teevorian]

Hi Simple questions:

1. Are you happy? Does your way work out (already)?

2. Why do you think that desire is the cause of suffering?

3. Why should sensual pleasure cause suffering, only because it is impermanent?

4. Why should anything necessaryly cause suffering because of impermanence?

[jonoce633]

I have a fear of becoming self-conscious while concentrating on something, so I'm not able to concentrate effectively because I become self aware when the actual concentration does begin. When that happens my unconscious anger pulls me, drags me or pressures me just because I notice that I'm becoming aware. How can I manage this problem?

[MultiDoomsday666]

i have been thinking this way for a long time now..thanks guys

[Wonderwall36]

Pure wisdom, thanks. Some of your videos have inspired me, and this is yet another one. More people should be aware of the Buddha's teaching, it should be diffused and spread out to the world. There is so much suffering everywhere, a lot of it hidden.

[StudentofthePath]

Ven Yutta like you said I had many breakthroughs in my meditation practice during a 5 day meditation retreat where we did upwards of 6 hours of meditation a day in hour or hour and a half increments.

After two days I had such aversion to meditation because of the pain and uncomfortable feelings to the point where it became a very emotional experience and towards the end I actually ended up having a breakthrough and started to let go more.

This set me on the right path in my practice. great vid

[BytomGirl]

PS. I believe we don;t have to suffer if we do everything to be healthy, that we create our own health. Of course we will suffer if we eat junk, are angry with the entire world, sit on the couch all day...our body will respond with inflamation, desease, pain and as a result, suffering. We can control our destiny rather than say that desease id something innevitable and just reduce symptoms through meditation, I use meditation as a part as a total program of wellbeing.

[BytomGirl]

You say pain is not bad but is not pain a symptom of something wrong with the body? Something that needs to be taken care of? It's often a symptom of inflamation in the body so maybe it's a sign we should change the way we eat, reduce stress, etc. If we just try to supress pain in our brain withoutt worrying about it's source, don;t we ignore the cause of it? Should not we reduce pain through meditation along with proper eating, exercise and occasionally getting tested and taking supplements?

[jimmyjam9014]

how do u feel about the afghanies blowing up the two statues of Buddha back a while ago?

[4HoursSleep]

<3

[MasterSnotling]

I would like to thank you for these words of wisdom. I have only recently been exposed to spiritual teaching (through Eckhart Tolle) and am now looking to expanding this basic level fo spiritual thinking to a 'fast paced high pressure big city' life which myself and millions of others live. I think with all the noise and stimulation of our modern lives it is very hard to look within oneself to find the answers

[greiper]

Thank you. Muito obrigado. Vielen dank. Merci beaucoup. Gracias.

[uilium]

Sorry, I got cut off on the last comment. As I was saying, Thanks for all the eye opening videos and talks :)

[uilium]

I have panic attacks that I know were caused by an experience I had. I get this fear out of the blue that "I will fall out of my body or reality will disintegrate before my eyes(though I always describe these attacks as "unbearable" I always get through them). The panic attacks make me feel these "chaotic deep feelings" that I always wanted to figure out through meditation. My Doctor says I will never be cured though and should keep taking tranquilizers. Do you disagree? Thanks for all the eye

[FrankTalby88]

@uilium ..tranquilizers?...its all in ur mind. the "chaotis deep feelings" come and go right? simply see them as that dont identify with them. If u throw a frisbee the dog will instinctively run after it even if he doesnt want to...if u did the same to a lion he would look to the person who threw it instead.

[uilium]

@FrankTalby88 The Chaotic feelings go away when I take the tranquilizer(I can take half as much when I meditate) and if I don't take the pill then I dont have a panic attack right away but...the panic attack strikes when least expected so I will be walking around in fear and anxiety that I will have have a major panic attack any moment. Panic Attacks are scary, but I have got better at dealing with the anxiety (I get it sometimes even if medicated but never do I have a panic attack)-Thanks!

[yuttadhammo]

@uilium that's the real problem, that you find panic attacks themselves scary. When fear scares you, you are creating a feedback loop similar to holding a microphone up to a speaker :) If you just let yourself experience the panic attack, you will find it's not so scary after all, and the panic itself will go away. You can just say to yourself, 'feeling, feeling' or 'anxious, anxious' or whatever, until you are able to see the panic for what it is.

[harehare]

@uilium I was not the guy you asked about it, but this specific issue concerning the use of medication for mental diseases really interests me. I have realized that sometimes we cannot always control what happens in the body and, therefore, what happens in the brain. Meditation (as I see it) is just a mind exercise, so it has limitations. Maybe you should try medication while you organize your feelings and emotions with a psychologist, and also with meditation and a healthier life. Good luck :)

[uilium]

@harehare Ive seen psychologists. Somebody has to teach me how to find the right psychologist because the ones I'eve been to where very quick to judge and wrong. I believe a panic disorder can not only be cured with Vipassana meditation but also the fear can be an aid to advancement in meditation if the fear is conquered.

[harehare]

@uilium I strongly agree with you. And also agree that it´s very difficult to find a good psychologist out there. Maybe you should find someone of a different therapeutic approach. Try to find someone that see your feelings in the more appropiate way. Cognitive behavioral therapy worked for me, but maybe you wish to find something more "sensitive" to existencial questions, so maybe psychoanalisis or Analytical psychology (jungian psychology) would work.It depends on your personality, I think...

[uilium]

@harehare I am in fact "sensitive" to existential questions. Very perceptive. I am interested in finding a good Cognitive behavioral therapist. Anything to figure out my mind :O)

[yuttadhammo]

@uilium you're welcome and yes, I disagree with your doctor. "Never" is an absurdity. Be patient and persistent and you can move mountains.

[whatstheverdict]

do you ever wear closed toed shoes? isnt it hard to navigate a jungle in only flip flops?

[proycon]

Wonderful teaching, thanks!

[fabriziocolonna73]

Grazie!

[Svedn]

great video

[jesshurun]

THANK YOU!

[umaplus]

Anumotana sathu with your great sharing kha Pra Ajarn. I will share this video away kha.

[TheSoulExtremist]

Nice Video! What kind of camera are you using? The picture is amazing! Thanks !

[atari67]

Namaste, Yuttadhammo.

[FrankTalby88]

Great talk. Agreed on the 4th type that it is like sleeping in a way because you are'nt identifying with any of the 5 senses nor are u looking for external happiness ..rather an inner content.

[Mpower129]

Thank you bhante.

[onTomas]

Thank you, your speach was very inspiring.

[pvtmartijn]

Perfectly explained (once again xD)!

[owen777hal]

thanks man, nice talk !