| ...When you're so identified with grasping and there's no awareness of it, suffering can spread like wildfire. Next time you're in a buffet or a cafeteria line, notice how some people behave. They're so driven by the desire to eat that they push and grab at food as if this were going to be their last meal. It can be very unpleasant and create suffering, especially if people fear there won't be enough food or enough of their favorite food. The same kind of attachments that you see acted out in a buffet line also get acted out on a much larger scale. The attachment to fear about getting enough is part of reason why there are wars, famine, nuclear weapons, and murder. These events all grow out of grasping desires and generate layers of suffering that can last for generation. While you alone may not have the power to prevent or stop any of these destructive events, you can take responsibility for learning about your own attachments and the suffering those attachments create within you and for others. The willingess to make peace with these attachments in order to end the suffering they create is the foundation for your inner peace, and it's also the foundations for peace between friends, within families and communities, and ultimately, within the entire world. WAYS TO BECOME MORE MINDFUL OF THE SECOND NOBLE TRUTH: 1. Learn about desire and your relationship to it. --Is there a specific body weigh you need to be to feel good about yourself? --What food habits and table manners are you attached to? --Have these attachments created suffering in your life? 2. Recognize the Hungry Ghost and how it works. --Listen for the Hungry Ghost, and give it a name. --How would you describe it? As desperate? Sneaky? Demanding? Hurting? --What does the Hungry Ghost try to get you to buy, do, get, become, own, or get rid of? --In what situations does the Hungry Ghost appear the most? 3. Take stock of suffering. Think about how much suffering you have ceated for yourself and for others by your attachment to : --Eating habits and manners --Certain food preferences --Fear about getting enough --Wanting to weigh less and/or look different 4. Take stock of what you know about the Second Noble Truth. What experiences have you had that help you realize the wisdom of the following statements? --You can't end suffering without awareness of your attachments. --No matter how many times attachment gets the object, it's never enough. --Desires are just thoughts in you mind and feelings in your body. --You and your desire are not the same. --Desire can disappear as suddenly as they appear. Return to 1st Page of Story Home Buy Book at Powell's Books |