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Finding Happiness in Suffering
Each person carries within themselves precious seeds of talent, love, and happiness. When these seeds are recognized and watered, they sprout and bring joy to ourselves and the capacity to create happiness for others. On the other hand, suffering and difficulties are also present in our body and mind; only when we call them by their true names, acknowledge, and accept our suffering—even the pain inherited from our parents or ancestors—can we begin to heal and transform ourselves and our loved ones.
When we have the good fortune to encounter the true Dharma and a Dharma door of practice, we can transform our suffering based on the principle of Buddhist therapy, that is, the Four Noble Truths:
- The truth of suffering: recognizing suffering
- The truth of the origin of suffering: seeing clearly the roots of suffering
- The truth of the cessation of suffering: accepting suffering in order to feel lightness
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The truth of the path: entering the path of practice to transform
Deep looking helps us to see clearly the interbeing nature of suffering and happiness, that suffering is like mud that helps grow the beautiful lotus. Only by acknowledging, accepting, and practicing impermanence and non-self can wisdom and right view arise.
The spirit of the Buddha’s teaching emphasizes letting go of all attachments to views, including impermanence, non-self, good and evil, or dependent origination, in order to transcend duality. The dialectical method—from thesis to antithesis and then synthesis—is a skillful means to reconcile contradictions in the Sangha, helping us not to be caught in any fixed view and to open up absolute freedom in wisdom.
