Altering Suffering into Happiness

In Buddhism, the Third Noble Truth, the cessation of suffering helps us to realize our well-being. This is done by three of the twelve turnings of the wheel. The turnings are recognition – well-being is possible, encouragement – well-being should be obtained, and realization – well-being is obtained. In order to obtain well-being we must reduce suffering. In life we often have a thought, habit, or feeling that we are set in our ways about but can be wrong. To practice Right View, one of the Noble Eightfold Paths, we must change that thought, habit, and feeling. Through Right View, we learn about selective watering and changing the peg, Buddhist concepts.

We are all born with a store consciousness. Here we house seeds that wholesome and unwholesome. To reduce our suffering we must water the wholesome seeds to better our well-being. When we give in to our negative or wrong thoughts, habits, and feelings, we are watering our unwholesome seeds and the more we water them the more powerful they become. “If you act in an unwholesome way, you water the seeds of craving, anger, and violence.” (Naht, 52). This quote can help explain that the unwholesome seeds we water make us an unwholesome person and therefore continue our suffering. When we recognize that these seeds are being watered, we must practice mindfulness and only water the wholesome seeds to change those thoughts, habits, and feelings, and ultimately transform our suffering into happiness. Another way we can change our bad thoughts, habits, and feelings is by using another Buddhist concept called changing the peg. If you have a state of being that you don’t like in this case, our thoughts, habits, or feelings you can change the peg. That peg is called a mental formation. You have stored within yourself many wonderful pegs, it is very easy for you to take one of the pegs and just change it. Changing the peg allows us to transform our suffering into happiness.

As a pre-pharmacy student the courses I am taking are challenging. My hardest class, Organic Chemistry, I have been struggling in since the beginning of the semester. When my classmates are succeeding and I am failing, I would constantly get a negative thought, “You are so stupid. You are such a failure. You will never get into pharmacy school.” These thoughts were wrong, I am not stupid or a failure. When I changed this thought, and started praising myself, and converted those negative thoughts into motivation I started passing. When I started watering my seeds of self-love and hard work instead of the unwholesome seeds I did one hundred percent better. This example of changing a negative thought to a positive thought helped not only me but my well-being.

I have a habit of half-listening when people are talking to me. It is rude and an awful habit. I end up asking a million questions the person telling me something is done because I don’t listen the whole time, instead I zone out. This is a habit I am still working on but by changing the peg I will be able to focus. I must change the peg that causes me to not concentrate with one that causes me to focus on the task and person in front of me. This is will cause me to transform the suffering I am bringing others and myself into happiness.

For the longest time, I have had the feeling of anger towards my sister. We have been through a lot together and I have been angry with her for a long time. She has made a lot of mistakes that have affected our whole family and I have taken it out on her.  It has taken me a long time to change that feeling but by finally acknowledging it, I am no longer allowing the power it has had and instead I am watering my seeds of forgiveness, love, and family. This for me, was one of the hardest things to do because although some seeds are easy to diminish and let go, others such as anger are not, especially when it has been being watered for so long. I am not angry at my sister anymore but I am still watering the wholesome seeds to transform that anger.
Changing an unwholesome thought, habit, or feeling that has been pegged or watered for a long time is hard but if you slowly start watering the wholesome seeds or changing the old pegs with new ones, you can better your well-being and transform your suffering into happiness.  These Buddhist concepts can help one transform their negative thoughts, habits, or feelings into more positive ones and better their well-being. 

Nhá̂t, Hạnh. "The Three Doors of Liberation." The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: 
           Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy & Liberation : The Four Noble Truths, the Noble     
       Eightfold Path, and Other Basic Buddhist Teachings. New York: Broadway, 1999. 146- 55. Print.