Happiness (I mean true happiness) is
not a common commodity and can really only be achieved by looking inside
oneself and being mindful of everything. Buddhism is all about identifying what
suffering is and replacing it with happiness, and a way to do this is by
correctly nurturing your body. There are four nutriments that, when properly indulged
in, will bring happiness instead of suffering. The four nutriments are edible
food, sense impressions, volition, and consciousness. Being mindful of these
four important nutrients will help use nurture our suffering into that of real
happiness.
Edible food is the first nutrient. “Much of our suffering comes from not eating mindfully. We
have to learn ways to eat that preserve health and well-being of our body and
our spirit” (page 32). When we eat healthy foods we bring happiness and
when we eat unhealthy we allow poison to enter our bodies which bring us
suffering. We must also be mindful of how the food that we eat has arrived to
us. For our own well-being we feel better when the food that we have eaten has
come to us with as little pain as possible. If we eat eggs from free range
chickens as opposed to inhumanely treated and constantly caged chickens then we
are decreasing our suffering if we are eating mindfully. What one person eats affects
all of the others around them; if a parent in a family smokes then they are not
only increasing suffering in themselves but everyone around them by second hand
smoke. If that person has children or a job where others depend on them then
they are also brining more suffering to them because by not leading a healthy
life style and allowing toxins into their body they make themselves less
dependable. I try to be mindful when I eat and avoid toxins like smoking and
drinking to excuses (never been drunk) but it is hard (food wise). My sister is
a vegetarian and has been one for a long time now, and one of the things she is
aware of is the cruelties that animals endure. I am aware of this as well
because of her so I try to be mindful of where the food is coming from. As for
eating healthy, well… I have a very fast metabolism so I can eat any amount of
anything basically and it has no effect on my body (I’m tall and skinny and
been that way for literally ever, gaining weight is simply not a possibility)
so I can get carried away from time to time. I can defiantly tell that when I eat
healthy I do feel better though and am still mindful of where it comes from.
The
next nutriment is sense impressions. We must be mindful of the media that we
take in though our six senses. We must be aware of what we take in throughout
our daily lives from the internet and TV. If we are not mindful then we will
bring pain and suffering upon ourselves. “Advertisements that stimulate our
craving for possessions, sex, and food can be toxic,” as well as “unwholesome TV
programs, books, magazines, and games” (page 33). If we are not aware that what
we are taking in though our ears or eyes is unwholesome and watering the seeds
of violence or fear or craving then we will suffer. Everyone knows that
spending all day in front of the TV (or now a days the internet) is bad for
them, but most will say it’s because they are not getting fresh air or are
being unproductive. These are true but what else is true is that those shows
and videos are probably not all wholesome and being watched mindfully and
therefore will cause suffering in that person. As for me I actually rarely
watch TV and I rarely have time to play video games at college. (I’m going to
make up for that when I get home tomorrow though…) However, I do spend a decent
amount of time on the internet and I am aware that spending too much time on
the internet is a bad thing so I mostly hang out with friends in order to break
up the time spent on my computer. I do gain happiness from using my computer
(for which I expressed my love for in the previous blog post) but I have had my
fair share of suffering form it too and that result is from me not being
mindful of the things I am doing. Now I do play games, of which most are violent
and I am very good at (I’m extremely good, and have an ego) them and they bring
me a lot of happiness and it is because I do it mindfully. I don’t have all the
time in the world so I can’t play that much at one time and I am completely aware
that what I’m killing in games are nothing more than pixels. Media when used
correctly can bring happiness but it can bring suffering if not mindfully taken
in. or mistreated.
The
third nutriment is volition and it is the “intention, or will – the desire in
us to obtain whatever it is we want” (page 34). Our volition is the driving
force behind the things that we do and the goals that we want to achieve to
bring us happiness. Our desires are a major source of our pain because if we cannot
achieve our goal of being the president of a successful business, we feel pain
and suffering for failing at this. We live and breathe our desire to achieve
goals every waking moment, and then we dream about them. If we do become the
president of a successful business, we want more and keep on going and acquiring
more and more. “We always try to accumulate more and more,” and this is where
the suffering comes from (page 34). One’s
volition must be deeply looked upon in order to identify if it is bringing the person
peace of mind or suffering. In academics I strive for high grades and there are
times when I am really happy and relieved when I succeed, but there have been
plenty of times where I fall short of my goal or I achieve it and it didn’t
make me as happy as I thought it would. When my goals are not met it brings me
suffering and sometimes when they are earned, I take a step back and wonder if
the sacrifices made were worth it, did I really need to study for that long or
could I have studied less and hung out with friends and achieved the same goal
(grade in this case). The sacrifices that are made to achieve my goal (it’s
even worse if I don’t achieve them) sometimes undermine the goal itself and
brings pain to me.
The
last nutriment is consciousness, “every day our thoughts, words, and actions
flow into the sea of our consciousness and create our body, mind, and world”
(page 36). It is “composed of all the seeds sown by our past actions and the
past actions of our family and society” (page 36). Everyone and everything we
do affects our consciousness and by practicing the “four immeasurable minds of love,
compassion, joy, and equanimity” we can avoid suffering (page 36). Suffering
comes from when we give in to our greed or pride, or hatred as we are not being
mindful when we do so. Our consciousness is always on even when we are asleep
and is always feeding, and what we give it to feed on will determine if we will
bring suffering or happiness upon ourselves. The consciousness is affected by
everyone around us so if those around us are giving into their greed or hatred
then we will suffer as well. In high school it was all (and I do mean all)
about the drama. Where everyone was getting mad about very minute problems and
getting into petty little arguments left and right. Now I wasn’t involved (we’ll
just say for the most part here) in that stuff much and so I had great fun in high
school but college is sooooo much better than high school ever was. Now it’s
fun for a lot of reasons, like being on your own and doing what you want, but
the people are great here and it’s a lot of fun because of them. There is a lot
less drama at college and you can just feel the difference between high school
and college in that regard. College is just simply better in a lot of ways and
one of those is because of the people here are far less negative than those in
high school.
Buddhism
is all about identifying suffering and replacing it with happiness and by mindfully
indulging in the four nutriments will be a great step toward bringing about
happiness to your life. Leaning about it has affected my life and made me aware
of what I am doing and even if I can’t (and trust me I don’t by far) follow
these guidelines perfectly, I can still lessen my suffering by trying and being
aware of what causes happiness and what causes suffering.
Nhá̂t, Hạnh. 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. Print.
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