Enhancing Nutriments Maximizes Happiness & Eliminates Suffering

                Buddha described four important nutriments in his teachings that can lead to either happiness or suffering. The four types of nutriments are edible food, sense impressions, intention, and consciousness and each of these nutriments impacts my life in both positive and negative ways. For example consuming healthy food increases happiness and growth while eating unhealthy food causes my body to suffer. Sense impressions also positively impact me when I watch, read, or listen to inspirational stories; however, they can also have a negative influence if the content encourages sinful behavior. In addition, intention positively impacts my actions when I work to accomplish a goal to benefit others, but on the other hand can have negative influences when I act based off of selfish desires. Finally, consciousness is made up by all of the thoughts, words, and actions in a person’s life and my own consciousness is affected most by my surrounding friends and family, and also television, music, and the internet. I can enhance the good nutriments in my life by applying Buddhist principles such as the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path that encourage increasing happiness by minimizing suffering.

                The first nutriment is edible food, which can cause both mental and physical happiness or suffering. A person who regularly eats healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables and well balanced meals will feel physically fit and mentally confident. In contrast, someone who eats foods that contain high fat and sugar content will be more likely to be overweight and therefore suffering. This person will not feel as well physically because many internal organs are affected by unhealthy eating habits such as increased blood pressure and heart rate. It is also likely someone out of shape will have lowered self-esteem if she is not comfortable with her body due to her unhealthy eating habits. Drinking alcohol and smoking also increases suffering in the body. Excess amounts of alcohol cause the liver to overwork and deteriorate over time, and smoking tars the lungs and constricts blood vessels in the body.

“When we smoke, drink, or consume toxins, we are eating our own lungs, liver, and heart” (Hanh 32). In my own life, I try to consume healthy foods on a daily basis at all three meals. I often eat yogurt and fruit for breakfast, and vegetables and salad with lunch and dinner. These food choices supply nutrients to my body and help me stay in shape. On the other hand, I admit eating unhealthy foods such as pizza or hamburgers, and desserts. These fatty and sugary foods do not help me stay in shape, but rather increase body fat and therefore increase suffering in my life. Increasing body fat harms my body physically by decreasing my fitness ability, and also mentally because I feel unhappy with myself after eating unhealthy foods. In order to enhance this nutriment, I must make better decisions at every meal to only eat healthy foods. I should follow the Fourth Noble Truth which is “refraining from doing the things that cause us to suffer” (Hanh 11). I should stop eating any fatty foods and desserts, and use the Right Action to follow through with my ideas and only eat healthy choices.

              

  The second nutriment is sense impressions, which are all of the senses such as vision, hearing,
smell, taste, touch, and thought. Interactions with sense objects and experiences occur every day, some resulting in positive effects while others result in negative effects. Positive influences include inspirational movies, books, songs, or advertisements that encourage people to better themselves and leave viewers or listeners with feelings of happiness and motivation. In contrast, negative influences encourage harmful behavior or cravings, which cause feelings of emptiness or anxiety. “When you feel despair, fear, or depression, it may be because you have ingested too many toxins through your sense impressions” (Hanh 33). Personally, I experience both positive and negative sense impressions every day. I often listen to motivating country artists such as Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood, and read inspirational quotes on the internet, which motivate me to work hard and help others. I also enjoy spending time outside hiking, biking, or taking walks where I am able to observe nature. Unfortunately, I also experience many negative sense impressions, for instance violent television shows that promote illegal activity such as Breaking Bad and hip-hop music that stimulates cravings

to drink, have sex, or participate in other toxic activities. To enhance the good nutriment of sense impressions, I should work to increase the positive and decrease the negative influences. One way I could do this would be to avoid watching violent shows or movies and instead watch calmer and inspiring programs. Similarly, I should only listen to music that encourages positive actions, and not harmful behaviors. One important Buddhist principle that would lead me to enhance my sense impressions would be Right Mindfulness. In order to change the aspects of my life associated with negative sense impressions, I must focus my attention on positive sense impressions instead and clearly notice the difference. “If we are mindful, we will know where we are ‘ingesting’ the toxins” (Hanh 33) which means I must be attentive on the sense impressions I experience and only encourage positive ones.

                The next nutriment is intention, also known as volition. This is the desire and drive that causes people to make choices. Many people set goals and will do anything to attain them, even if it causes them to suffer. An intention driven by self-desire, for fame, wealth, or vengeance will most likely cause more suffering than happiness. To maximize happiness, people should not just focus on one goal, but strive to help others and enjoy the wonderful and natural parts of life taken for granted such as nature, pets, friends, family and more. Therefore, intention should be driven by the desire to increase happiness and eliminate stresses. In my own life, I have goals set for my future that certainly are intended for the benefit of others, but also may be viewed as slightly selfish desires. As a pre-pharmacy student, I hope to become a licensed and working pharmacist within a couple of years. My decision to major in pharmacy was influenced by witnessing my

mother fight breast cancer. I was fascinated by the many drugs she took that fought the cancer and restored her health, and I wanted to study medicine to help other ill patients restore their health. This intention is for the benefit for others, and therefore is increasing my own happiness as well as the happiness and health of others. Another factor that influenced my decision of a career in pharmacy is the salary. Pharmacists earn a large annual salary, and the desire to have wealth and possessions in the future for myself and my family is a selfish desire. This could result in my own suffering if I am unable to attain this goal. However, the money is not the main reason why I chose pharmacy, and therefore I do not think I will stress or suffer in the future because of it. To enhance the positive intention of decisions in my life, I would follow the Right Concentration of the Noble Eightfold Path. This will help me focus only on good intentions of the choices in my life, and to set goals that will help others and increase happiness of myself and others. It is easy to be distracted in the fast-paced, technologically advanced world we live in, but by keeping the right concentration of intentions, it is easier to decrease negative volition and increase decisions made for the benefit of others.

                Finally, the fourth nutriment is consciousness, which makes up who we are based on our thoughts, words, and actions. Every experience influences consciousness and in turn our reactions to those experiences

creates our consciousness. “Our consciousness is eating all the time, day and night, and what is consumed becomes the substance of our life” (Hanh 36). The first three nutriments heavily influence consciousness. For example, increasing the consumption of healthy food and positive sense impressions will result in a happy and peaceful consciousness. In contrast, feeding our bodies harmful substances and experiences will result in a conscious filled with suffering. Overall I feel that my consciousness is composed of many positive aspects influenced by loving family and friends around me and other positive nutriments I experience. For example, I am satisfied with many important decisions in life such as my career path in pharmacy, my education at Western New England, and my strong work ethic. I am not perfect, and certainly have negative aspects in my consciousness such as self-centered thoughts or overconfident feelings. I recognize many of my faults and hope to improve them. This is one of the main teachings of Buddha, the First Noble Truth, which says to recognize suffering and even “touch it” (Hanh 9). Identifying negative aspects in my conscious which are caused by suffering will enable me to prevent or change these thoughts and therefore minimize my suffering in the future.

                In conclusion, the four important nutriments are edible food, sense impressions, intention, and consciousness. Throughout my life, I have experienced both positive and negative influences in each nutriment. By using Buddha’s teachings, specifically the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, I can enhance the nutriments in my life and in doing so increase my joy and peace while decreasing my sufferings. I strive to better myself every day by eating healthier, exposing myself to positive sense impressions, concentrating on helping others through my own goals, and finally filling my conscious with happiness.

Sources:

Hanh, Thich Naht. The Heart of Buddha’s Teaching. Broadway Books, 1999