Everyone
is constantly pursuing happiness, and live their lives ultimately to achieve happiness.
Everyone has their own ideal situation that they see as their goal, where they
will be most happy, and everyone has their own way of achieving that goal.
Buddhism approaches this through their belief of the nutriments of life. Buddha
described these four nutriments- edible food, sense impressions, intention, and
consciousness- as nutriments that “lead to our happiness or suffering.” (Hanh,
30) Our ability to understand these nutriments and use them to our benefit could
ultimately lead to happiness according to Buddhism. We must be aware of what we
take in from the world and what we put back into it, attempting to take that
which is beneficial to us and those around us, and minimizing the negativity.
The first step of maximizing happiness from the four types
of nutriment is the realization that the suffering is present. Buddhism states
that we must be able to recognize our suffering and the origin of our suffering
in order to eventually be able to overcome it. Hanh states that “if you keep
your suffering to yourself, it will likely grow bigger every day.” (Hanh, 36) The
first turning of the wheel of dharma is “Recognition,” and that recognition is
necessary to determine what nutriments are introducing toxins into your life. Only
once we identify the problem can we begin to solve it.
Buddha described the 4 nutriments
that could lead us to happiness or suffering, and our ability to harness those
4 nutriments would contribute to a happier life. The first of these is the
nutriment of edible food. Mental and physical suffering can come from the food
and drink that we consume, so we must be aware what we are feeding our body. We
have to choose the foods that are nutritious and healthy and not always take
what looks the most appealing (like a candy bar) or a quick cheap meal such as
a fast food restaurant. Though it might solve our hunger, it is also harming
our body by ingesting highly processed goods, and is a “toxin” in our body
according to Buddhism. Buddhism doesn’t talk only about the actual food
choices, but also how the food is grown. Naturally grown products contain much
less toxins than the same product grown with all of the modern pesticides,
genetically altered plants and animals, and therefore in the minds of Buddhists
contain more toxins. I constantly try to watch the food that I put into my body,
eating many balanced meals that are very nutritious and avoiding junk food high
in fat that would fill me up. There are always fast food restaurants
advertising tasty new burgers and milkshakes that are very inexpensive, and
that tempt my to buy them as I drive past them on my way home. Instead of
caving and eating three double cheeseburgers, a large fry, and a vanilla
milkshake, eating tons of empty calories and fake meat, ingesting a ton of
toxins, I would choose to avoid the unnecessary toxins and cook my own
nutritious dinner, benefitting my well-being at the same time as maximizing
happiness by minimizing the toxins in my system.
Next, we can take in many toxins
through our sense organs; our eyes, ears, nose, body, tongue, and mind. Everything we experience is through these
organs, and we must influence what is taken in by these senses to limit the
toxins introduced to our body. Everything that we come into contact with in our
daily lives enters our conscious, and influences our thoughts and actions. Everything
we experience can “stimulate our cravings– for possessions, sex, food, etc.,”(Hanh,
31) and because of that we must limit our interactions and control our cravings
to limit the toxins in our body. We need to learn to avoid the aspects that
stimulate negative thoughts and protect against the formation of those
thoughts, as they can produce toxins that are harmful to us. In everyday life,
when trying to focus on a task, I am faced with many distractions, such as television
shows or video games, that cause me to want to be lazy, or could even cause me
to act unrationally as the characters of those shows or games had, and act in (for
example) hatred or violence. The toxins produced from these cravings must be
protected against by understanding the intent of the ads and even avoiding
aspects that we know will poison us.
The third nutriment is that of “volition,
intention and will, that causes us to desire us to obtain whatever it is we
want.” (Hanh, 33) When we are motivated to do something or acquire something,
it is constantly on our mind. It is a factor into every action we take from
that point forward, and is a cause of toxins. While we are constantly trying to
acquire whatever it is we are working for, it is constantly causing us the
stress of not being able to have it. Whether it be a physical thing like wealth
or a particular possession or something theoretical like fame or revenge on an
enemy, it is a constant part of your everyday thought, and that existence causes
stress and suffering and is therefore a toxin to the human body. We must be
able to clear our minds of these impurities and stop focusing on what it is
that we want to achieve to the point of suffering. It is good to have a goal
and strive for it, but to constantly scrutinize yourself on achieving that goal
is only detrimental to your success and well-being.
The final nutriment is consciousness,
which is composed of all of our past actions and everything that defines us.
Everything that we do, everything that we give to this world, has a result that
is positive or negative. Every action you make; everything you say and do,
leads to what makes up your consciousness, so you must act out of love and give
to your community to benefit from consciousness. Toxins arise from your
negativity towards others, which shapes how they look at you or your consciousness
in a negative way. What you say to others will lead to the actions they
perform, and will eventually lead back to you in how others look at you as a
person. Being constantly aware of my words and actions, making sure not to
offend anyone with what you have to say, and doing things that would be
considered ‘positive actions’ whether you believe someone is watching you or
not are all ways of limiting toxins from consciousness.
We must be aware of the toxins that
we are ingesting to be able to limit them, and the ability to limit these
toxins and rid them from our life will determine how much we experience suffering
and happiness. Ensuring the foods we eat
are nutritious, limiting toxins taken in from our sensory organs, stopping
worrying about the future, and being conscious of your actions and how they
relate to others and back to you is essential to living a happy life according
to Buddhism. Buddhism teaches that you must be aware of the presence of these
four nutriments, and must be able to take the good out of them while limiting
the bad toxins in order to be happy and arise from your suffering.
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