[QUOTE=Jalus;464047]Are we in control of our brain; or is our brain controlling us[/QUOTE]

One of the things that I discovered when I started doing scale studies is that "control" doesn't work. It's impossible to control what my fingers are doing. On the other hand, I can be aware of each note; I can feel the string under my finger each time a note is played. So there's awareness, but no control.

The same thing happens during meditation; awareness, but no control.

Actually, that's our normal state, but it's hidden by the idea of a self which is in control.

THE FIRST NOBLE TRUTH:  THERE IS SUFFERING

The Teaching of the Awakened of: The Human Situation


It's not that life is suffering, but that there is suffering in this

world. Life is frustrating and painful. In fact if we are honest

with ourselves, there are times when it is downright

miserable.


Imagine that you see people seated at sumptuous banquet.

Long tables piled high with dazzling and mouth watering

foods, perfectly prepared, right in front of their eyes, easily

within reach.


But the people seated at this feast aren't eating. In fact their

plates are empty. They've been seated at this banquet for a

long time now. And they are slowly starving to death.


This is the basic human situation. Most of us sense that

something is amiss with our lives. But we haven't any idea

what our problem really is, or what we should do about it.

We long for something. We feel pain and loss. We suffer.



According to the buddha - dharma, this sad state of affairs, this

profound and ongoing dissatisfaction, is the first truth of

existence. All the pain we bring to ourselves and others - the

hatred, the warring, the groveling, the manipulation - is our

own doing. It comes down to our own hearts and minds, out of

our confusion.


Furthermore, if we don't *see* exactly what the problem is 

we're going to perpetuate it. We'll go on, generation after

generation, doing more of the same to ourselves and each

other.


When the Buddha looked honestly into his own heart and

mind, he realized this, just as countless others have realized it

since. Each of these people saw for themselves that their

suffering, and the means to stop it, lay within themselves.


This is not to say we should expect to be free of problems, or

that if only we behave properly things will go as we like. No

person's life - including Buddha's - ever is, or will be free of

difficulty. The buddha-dharma does not promise to make our

lives problem free. Rather, it urges us to examine the nature of

the problem, what they are and where they come from. The

buddha - dharma is not an armchair philosophy. It isn't pipe

dreaming. It's about getting down to basics and acting on them.


We think we have to deal with our problems in a way that

exterminates them, that distorts or denies their reality. But in

doing so, we try to make Reality into something other then

what it is. We try to rearrange and manipulate the world so

that, hearts will never break, accidents will never happen, jobs

will never be lost, and the people we care about will never die.     

Even on the surface, the futility of such efforts should be

obvious.


Human life is characterized by dissatisfaction. It's right here

with us. This is the buddha-dharma's first truth of human life.

The buddha - dharma is grounded in Reality. It is not pie in the

sky, or wishful thinking, or a denial of what human life is.

There's no attempt to cover up, to gloss over, to reinterpret the

facts.


It's important to recognize that our dissatisfaction originates

within us. It arises out of our own ignorance, out of the blindness

to what our situation actually is, out of our wanting Reality to be

something other than it is. Our longing, our craving, our

thirsting for something other than Reality is what dissatisfies

us. 



The Buddha taught only two things:

The Truth of Suffering

The End of Suffering

.

FIRST NOBLE TRUTH: LIFE MEANS SUFFERING



Duhka (doo-ka) is often translated as "suffering."


Duhka is a Sanskrit word that refers to:

A Wheel Out of Kilter.



Three Types of Suffering:



* The first form of duhka is PAIN:

Both Physical and Mental.


* The second form of duhka is CHANGE,


* The third form is the duhka of BEING.

.

The Four Noble Truths Can Be Compared To A Physician

Diagnosing An Illness and Treatment.



NOTES on:

First Noble Truth: LIFE MEANS SUFFERING



Suffering is a big word in Buddhism. It is a key term and

it should be throughly understood. The word duhka does just

not mean the agony of the body. It means that deep subtle

sense of unsatisfactoriness which is a part of every mind

moment and which results directly from the mental treadmill .


At first glance this seems pessimistic. It even seems untrue.

After all, there are plenty of times when we are happy. Aren't

there. No there are not. It just seems that way.


Take any moment when you feel really fulfilled and examine

it closely. Down under the joy you will find the subtile, all-

pervasive undercurrent of tension, that no matter how great

the moment is, it is going to end. And in the end, you are

going to die. In the end you are going to lose everything.



It Is All Transitory.

.

.
NOTES on

The Second Noble Truth: *ORIGINS OF SUFFERING

*Samudya



Suffering (duhka) arises from thirst - craving, wanting, trying to

get the object of our desires. The craving or wanting arises in

three forms:


We tend to think that Sense Pleasures is purely physical, but it

is also mental. Of course, we want comfortable, stimulating

sensations, but we also want good conversation, a balanced

emotional life and so on. Our sense cravings is, in fact, mostly

mental.


The desire to Become is the ambition that comes with wanting

attainments and recognition or fame. It is the craving to be

noticed, to be "someone."


We, also,  desire to Get Rid of of the unpleasant experiences in life:

unpleasant sensations, anger, fear, jealousy and pain.




Craving or desire is like a great tree having many branches.

There are branches of greed, of ill will and anger. The fruit of

the tree is suffering, but how does the the tree of craving and

attachment arise?


The tree of craving is rooted in ignorance. Ignorance to *see*

the truth about things as they really are. So long as people

remain ignorant of Self and things about the world in which

they live, they will suffer from all kinds of misunderstanding

and delusion.




When people develop their minds and acquire wisdom through

study, careful thoughts and mediations, they will *see* the

Truth.



They will Understand the Importance of Life.

.