Six Incredible Truths About Why You Suffer (Part 1/3)

 

Like the Raft, Even the Dharma Must Be Let Go Of (Part 1/3)

In the previous teaching, the Buddha instructed bhikkhu Arittha about dangerous desires. He then continued teaching the assembly:

“Long ago, a man was traveling along a remote mountain path when he suddenly came upon a great river. The nearshore was dangerous and frightful, filled with thorns and wild beasts, yet the distant shore was peaceful and safe, lush with green grass. There was neither a boat nor a bridge across the river. How could he cross?

“After thinking it over, he gathered grass, wood, and tree branches and then bound them together into a raft. He got on it and paddled with his hands and kicked with his feet until he reached the distant shore.

“Once ashore, he looked at the raft and thought, “This raft helped me overcome great peril. I should treasure it and take good care of it. Perhaps I should carry it on my shoulders or balance it on my head and continue my journey with it.”

The Buddha asked everyone, “Do you think he should do this?”

Everyone answered, “No!”

The Buddha said, “A truly wise person would think, ‘This raft has already served its purpose. I can leave it on the shore or return it to the water, and then continue my journey light and free.’

“The Dharma I teach you is like this raft—it is a tool to help you cross the ocean of suffering and reach the distant shore safely. But once you arrive there, you should let go of it and not cling to it. If even the true Dharma that brings liberation must be let go of—how much more the mistaken views?”

The Buddha then told everyone:

“There are six kinds of mistaken views that cause people to suffer (Majjhima Nikāya, Volume 3):

“You should understand from the simile of the raft that even the Dharma must be abandoned, how much more so what is not the Dharma! Bhikkhus! There are these six grounds for views. What are the six?”

•      ‘I am my body.’

•      ‘I am my feelings.’

•      ‘I am my thoughts.’

•      ‘I am my actions.’

•      ‘I am everything I see, hear, and think.’

•      ‘After I die, I will exist forever, eternally unchanging.’”  

#Buddha #Dharma #suffeing #transmigration #samsara #karma #Buddhistwisdom