Awakening the Buddha Within _ Eight Steps to Enlightenment - Lama Surya Das [37]
My father’s greatest wish for me was that I would become what is known in Yiddish as a “mensch” or real person. By that he meant that he wanted me to be a mature adult, a human being, not otherworldly and divine; he wanted me to be fully present and accounted for, here in this world, a contributing member of society, a decent citizen and a righteous man. Maturity brings understanding, discernment, character, responsibility, moderation, and balance.
2. Difficulties or Dukkha Caused by
Changing Circumstances
My favorite season is autumn; my favorite time of the day is sunset. These are beautiful times—poignant and ever so fleeting. Isn’t that true of many of life’s loveliest moments? Of course, there are times in all our lives when we feel totally overjoyed by the wonder of being alive. Think about your own life: Perhaps you spent last night listening to a great piece of music; perhaps you had a terrific conversation with your best friends while sharing a splendid meal in comfortable surroundings; perhaps you just celebrated the promotion you wanted; perhaps you experienced a spiritual epiphany. These are moments of genuine happiness. The difficulty, or dukkha, that we all face is that these moments don’t last: The music ends, your friends get a divorce, the new job you thought you wanted turns into a stress-producing headache, moments of cosmic love and bliss are fleeting. Thus we frequently end up feeling nostalgia, disappointment, and loss. Nothing good lasts forever; even the best moments of life are laced with a bittersweet quality. This is known as the dukkha of changing circumstances.
3. Difficulties or Dukkha Caused by
the Flawed Nature of Conditioned Existence
When we look inside—when we wonder who and what we are and what’s going on, when we ask who is experiencing our experience—what do we find, if anything? Who am I? What am I? Where is the experiencer? Is it in my head? My brain? My heart? My legs? My body? My mind? What do we find? What are we really?
The Buddha said that as individuals, we are composed of nothing but the Five Skandhas. The word skandha is difficult to translate with precision. It means heap, aggregate, or conglomeration of individuality. It means that we are all congeries, complex collections and combinations; we are ever-changing, not the eternal, independently existing individuals we often think we are.
The Five Skandhas (or components of individuality) are:
1. Form
Are you tall, short, medium? Ectomorph? Endomorph? This is your form, your corporeal body. Form includes all matter or materiality: the physical elements of earth (solidity); water (fluidity); fire (heat); air (movement); and space (cavities)—all of which comprise our human being.
2. Feelings or sensations
Westerners learned in school that there are five senses—sight (eye), sound (ear), smell (nose), taste (tongue), and touch (skin). To this group mentalistic Buddhists add another sensory organ, and that is “mind.” We “see” a sunset; we “hear” a bell; we “smell” a lilac; we “taste” a lemon; we “touch” a cat. These five physical senses help us experience much of the physical world. But there is the world of ideas and thoughts; this world cannot be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched. To cope with this world we use the faculties, or senses, of the mind and of thought. We “know” how to drive; we “know” how to speak a foreign language. Thus the faculties of mind are our sixth sense.
3. Perceptions
Perception combines feelings and sensations with recognition and judgments. What looks good to you? What tastes good to you? What kind of music do you like? Have your tastes in music changed as you’ve matured? How about your taste in people? Do you perceive people differently now than you did when you were younger? What are your personal likes and dislikes?
4. Intentionality or will
Are you basically a person of good will, which means that you have good intentions? What do