Buddhism Taught Me How to Transform Suffering into Joy

“Don’t ignore your suffering, but don’t forget to enjoy the wonders of life, for your sake and for the benefit of many beings,”(Hanh 4)

I did my challenge on Right Diligence (samyak pradhana). I learned that effort towards money, sex or food, or even fame, is not Right Diligence, and just because we practice something hard doesn’t mean it is either. We must use our mindfulness to prevent unwholesome seeds and watering the wholesome ones. “Maintain your health. Be joyful. Do not force yourself to do things you cannot do,” (101). We must know our limits and avoid force.  “If we have joy, ease and interest, our effort will come naturally,” (101). We will put our effort into something that we enjoy doing, where as if there is something we do not enjoy, effort will be lacking. “If your practice does not bring you joy, you are not practicing correctly,” (100).


There are two truths, relative truth and absolute truth. The book talks about myths such as “transcending joy and suffering” which is giving up joy to avoid suffering, which is not correct. We need to accept our pain and realize that although we are experiencing pain, there is also joy in our life as well. My suffering could be someone else’s joy. If I am suffering in the heat of the sun, I could end my suffering by using an umbrella or a fan, someone else who has these things might find joy in the hot sun. I might find suffering in the breeze because it keeps blowing my papers away and my hair in my face, but someone else might find joy and comfort in that breeze. Buddha teaches us the relative truth to start practice, but Avalokiteshvara teaches absolute truth and that there is no suffering, suffering is circumstantial and is not objective, it is about perception. 
 

The “Five Remembrances” are recommended by Buddha, they make us face our fears of getting old, getting sick, dying, being abandoned and of course dying. It is really like a wakeup call, 5 obvious statements about how things will happen in life that we all would love to avoid, but it is inevitable. These five things may seem negative, but there is joy in all of them. Old people still feel joy and peace, and when we die, we will be free. We just need to worry about doing our best while we are still here.
 “But when all our concepts of suffering and not suffering cease, we taste absolute joy,” (128). These remembrances remind us to feel the real joy of the moment which is the joy of being alive.

Being a psychology major I hope that one day I can incorporate Buddhist practices and meditation methods into my practice because Psychology has a lot to do with suffering, and getting to the root and transforming it into joy and peace. I need to be more mindful of what I am doing and how I am living my life, I just need to take a second and put things into perspective. “The practice of mindful living should be joyful and pleasant,” (103).