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Episode 219: The Rain Could Turn to Gold
In Episode 219 of Buddhism for Everyone, Joanne Fox explores the concept of craving, or 'thirst,' as described in the Dhammapada. She discusses how our insatiable desires lead to suffering a...
Episode 219: The Rain Could Turn to Gold
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Speaker A
You're listening to Buddhism for Everyone with your host, me, Joanne Fox. I've been teaching meditation and Buddhism for 20 years. And I try to do so a way that is simple, that anyone of any religion or background can practice in their daily life to become happier, more peaceful, or trained to become a real spiritual warrior, because the world desperately needs more of these. Welcome. We are in this episode looking at craving, at thirst, as it's sometimes referred to in Buddhism, and how this craving causes us problems and how we might quench some of this thirst. So the, the verse that we're looking at in the Dhammapada about craving is, is a beautiful one. It's kind of, I don't know, it's complex. So I'm just going to tell you the verse now and we'll. I'll explain it to you. O Brahman, cut off the stream of craving with diligence and abandon sense desires. Oh, Brahman, perceiving the cessation of the conditioned, be an Arhat who realizes Nirvana, the unconditioned. Now, this chapter is called Brahman. So the stories revolve around a Brahman figure, which a lot of times that was a class in ancient India, you know, in the class system. But it also, and in this context, refers to just a high spiritual, like a spiritually evolved person, spiritual practitioner. That's what it refers to here. So it's addressing, oh, Brahman, cut off the stream of craving with diligence and abandon sense desires. Now, craving is an interesting word. Almost always we hear it as craving. I talk about it as attachment. But when we see it, for example, in the Second Noble Truth, where Buddha says the ultimate words of wisdom, which is all our suffering comes from craving, that's the source of all our suffering and problems. The word craving is tanha in poly, and it actually means in poly, thirst. So I thought I've always talked about it as craving, and I've talked about it as attachment. But I thought, let's look at it as thirst this time because it kind of gives a different feeling to it. And it is the original word which when we look at it in its complexity, I always feel like attachment is how I know it. And what it really means is that this constant thirst for happiness or freedom from suffering and pain, but pleasure, you're looking for pleasure, you're always searching, you're always thirsty, and abandon the sense desires. You know, Buddha said that we are in a flood of sense objects, flooded. So we're flooded with things which are pleasurable to us, pleasant sounds, smells, People tastes just all the time. And we latch on to one of these things is what happens. We'll latch onto, ooh, this person, that person that I saw on TikTok, they just are making me thirsty. They are making me thirsty. I mean, isn't it funny that there is this slang term now, thirst, you know, you're craving them. I looked it up in the urban dictionary. It means desperate, thirsty. And it could be about anything though. It could be like you're thirsty for people to make comments on your post or attention or whatever. You're thirsty for that. Or it could be your thirsty for a person. Or sometimes it's, you know, about someone that they pose real scantily online, you know, and they're thirsty, they'll say that. Which is something that, you know, I, I feel like that is such an interesting concept that is not really part of my youth. Like when we were, when I was young, so I'm like middle aged in my 40s. And when we were teenagers, we didn't have social media where we post pictures of ourselves like, you know, or even in our early 20s or anything. We weren't like, you know, so seeing like ladies scantily posing and then just like posing, you know, over and over, day after day, posing in scan. I mean, the worst thing that could have happened to us is someone taking a picture of us in our bikini or scantily. I mean, this would have been terrible. We'd have been traumatized if someone took that picture and put, I mean, we just, we did not do that, you know. So I just find it so interesting to see that, you know, to see people doing that. And then it's just an opposite concept of anything that I could have imagined doing when I was young. I'm sure we would have if I had had social media back then. I'm not saying I wouldn't. I would have done it. I would have done it up and down, up and down. Now it's too late for me. It's too late for me to do that. I just, you know, I got to find people to work out. They're about the same size as me, about the same. I don't want anybody thirsting after me or anything or looking at me or I was actually in a parking lot, like in a supermarket parking lot, and this older guy, like in his mid-70s, he was, you know, kind of walking sort of beside me, but I was pushing the cart back, you know, like returning the cart and had to walk a long way. He says, just looking at you is making Me thirsty. And I was like, is this man talking about thirsty? He can't be saying he's. This isn't. This is not what he's saying, right? I wasn't sure. I don't think it was. I think he meant it was hot because it is hot and I had to walk a long way. Or maybe it meant. I don't know, but I didn't like it. Whatever it meant, I didn't like it. But thirsty, desperate. That's how we're using it as slang these days. And in Buddhism, you know, when we say thirst, it is like desperate. You know, when the thirst is strong, when the attachment is strong, it is a desperation. You feel like you can't quench your thirst fast enough or get enough. Like if you're craving a person, you think that they're going to bring you happiness and you have to be with them. You know, when you have that. That time where you have those fantasies and illusions that this person's going to make you happy, you finally found that person, it's going to make you happy. And it could be anything, though. It could be, you know, a new design trend that you want to have in your house. You want new whatever it is, and you are just thirsty. You have this thirst, right? You're looking it up online, you're looking at pictures of it. How can I have it? I want it. And you can't be happy until you have it. And it hurts, right? It is like a pain, a craving, a thirst that you can't quench. Because the sad thing is, if you get it, it's not going to be what you thought it was going to be. It's not going to last. Might not even make you happy when you get it. But at the very least, we know it is an impermanent thing that can't bring you lasting happiness because it's impermanent. Buddha said, at some point, even if the sky rained gold, it would not be enough, we would still want more because of the thirst. It isn't the outer object, you see. It isn't the outer object at all. It's the constant thirst, the thirst that just lights upon a new thing which might finally quench your thirst or even just temporarily quench your thirst. And the problems come because we're constantly seeking those things, when in reality, the quenching of our thirst has to be done from the inside and a cultivation of contentment, you know. Now why do we constantly have this thirst? It's like just innate in us, isn't it? We're born, thirsty, we die. And right before we're dead, we're thirsty. Yeah. And you know how you know this? Viagra. Just kidding. But it's true, isn't it? From the day we're born till we die, we're thirsty. And sometimes we get what we want very temporarily, but it's temporary. Then it's a disappointment. And a lot of times it's not easy, even what you hoped it would be. Like my little dog. All she wants to do is go with us everywhere. So she begs to go, please, please, please. She can tell we're dressed to go somewhere. Like, okay, you know, you can go to HomeGoods with us. You can go to Ross with us. And then they're there, the two dogs together in a carriage, which makes Missy and I look ridiculous, like we are those people, okay? And she's given me the side eye. Like she can't stand being there. Like, when can we go home? This is ridiculous. Why can't I walk on the floor? She wants to walk. She doesn't want to be in the carriage because she wants to poop on the floor. That's what she wants. Okay? Because she's got this exhibitionist trend thing going. That's just crazy. So she's. She's looking at me right now? Yes. What you do? Mm. So she's giving me the side eye. Cause she really. She. She thought it was gonna be different, but it's always the same. It's always a little bit disappointing and not what you thought it was gonna be. I mean, isn't that true about everything that we had an insatiable thirst for? We get it. And almost because you craved it so badly and you built it up to be this thing that it is going to inevitably be disappointing, right? Because you built it up to this thing that you thought it would be. Now, why is it that we're born with this? Where does this come from, this thirst? Couldn't some of us be born with less? No, we all have a lot of it. It pervades all our waking and dreaming minds. So the second part of this verse talks about where it comes from. Where he says, oh, Brahman, perceiving the cessation, meaning the ceasing of the conditioned, be an Arhat who realizes Nirvana the unconditioned. And what this means. Arhat means Buddha. So here they're saying, oh, wise person, strive to cause a ceasing of the conditioned. Become a Buddha that realizes Nirvana the unconditioned. And what this is talking about is life conditioned by ignorance. Essentially not realizing the nature of our reality, which is basically how we produce our reality. The nature of our reality is like, how we're producing it. And we're producing it with the misconception that everything outside of us is how it appears, that all the things that appear to us have their qualities from their own side. We just arrive at the furniture store and see this amazing couch. Or we just arrive at the grocery store and we see this thirst trap. Sorry. Or we just. Is that. Did I use that right? Okay, so Missy knows all the slang terms. She's always the cool one. Always. Okay. She's so cool. She's like. She's 20 still. For real, though. I think I'm cool. But she actually really is cool. So she knows all the words. Thirst trap, thirsty. Yep. So what we're talking about is that we think that we're seeing things just as they are, that we encounter them and the person is beautiful, and they're beautiful from their own side. They have these qualities from their own side that are going to finally fulfill, fill us in life and we'll find our soulmate. We'll be happy finally. Or we feel like our dog is so perfect from its own side, like I do, and Missy feels perfect from its own side. In fact, this is a good example of how we project onto things their qualities. We things are conditioned by our ignorance of reality, which is functioning to project those qualities onto things. Even project that it is a chair. Even project that it is a table. Project that we are a self. Project that we are I and others are other. We project every single quality that arises from causes and conditions. And then because it's arising from causes and conditions, many things, that it's not intrinsically anything. Right. If something arises from causes and conditions, it can't be an intrinsically anything, because one of those causes and conditions is our thoughts, our feelings, our actions, and our karma. So this is another way that our reality is conditioned. So why do you find one person so magnetic? Like, why is it you have that feeling about that one person? It's your karma, basically, which some people say just action and effect, which you could take that on a totally mundane level. Action and effect that you've hardwired your brain. But we think in Buddhism that it's karma from previous lives. And you come into this life and you have the karma to be attracted to certain things and certain people and find them and have craving or have craving for certain things and insatiable thirst for certain things. Right? Like maybe for some people it might be alcohol and they come into this life with that so inborn that, you know, it's a disease they're born with. And, you know, other people could just care less about it. You know, it's. It's our karma that projects, and it conditions our reality to see things as pleasant or unpleasant. It's just your karma. And sometimes it isn't good karma. You see that person and they are h o t the thirstiest trap you ever did see. And then they turn out to it just as a disaster. And you look back and you're like, why did I do that? Right? It isn't always. It doesn't turn out the best just because we have all those feelings. But it is our ignorance that makes us think they have those qualities. It's not me creating those qualities that I see. Isn't that interesting that our mind is like a fountain projecting things out or a movie projector just projecting our reality everywhere. So what I wanted you to think about is how could you go against the grain of your thirst? Sometimes going against the grain of your thirst can just be practicing generosity, because that goes against craving innately. It just functions to go against the stream of craving and clinging and thirst. So you could give to a charity. You could give your time, you could give to your neighbors, your loved one, your partner, your child. This giving mind goes against this insatiable thirst. It just creates the conditions. You're conditioning your mind through karma to project a new reality. You have to act in a different way to get rid of the things that you thirst for that are unhealthy for you. But all you have to do is do that, Create karma in a different way. You know, it's not ever intrinsic in you that you can't get rid of it. All it is is creating the opposite frame of mind because you created actions to create that new frame of mind. Like you're building a new mind to see a new world. So I thought you could this week decide on something that you want to go against the stream of your thirst, whatever it might be. It could be anything. A person that you want to be free of that thirst for. It could be something, some object that you want. It could be food. It could be alcohol. It could be drugs. It could be just anything. Could be whatever. Whatever it is. It could be anything. It could be wanting more likes on social media. I mean, it could be more followers, you know, people thinking you're, you know, a thirst trap, something like that. Be trying to go against the grain of that a little bit. And you know what it's going to mean for you is unique. It would be unique to you. So you would have to go against the grain, go against the stream with your own thoughts. So we'll practice mindfulness and you'll become aware when you're feeling that thirst. You're going to in meditation now pick what thirst you're going to focus on. And then with mindfulness, you're going to remember what you said you were going to do this week. You're going to remember the practice you wanted to undertake and you go, oh, oh, oh, thirst is arising or thirst I'm feeling thirsty. Or whatever you want to tell yourself. The thirst. Oh, that could be a good horror movie, right? The thirst. It can be a horror movie. I mean, can't it you guys? It can. And so you think, okay, now is the time and you start to talk to yourself with wisdom. No, you don't need that. No, that's not an appropriate person to desire. Or you know it's going to be your own wisdom talking to you because you've already decided this, you want to get rid of, this is harming you in some way. This isn't healthy. And so you know already if you look why it isn't healthy, what a better alternative could be. Or this can be a practice of investigating that. Okay, what is a better alternative here? Should I practice contentment? Should I, you know, stop looking at their social media? Should I. Whatever you need to do to go against the stream of your. Of your thirst. All right, let's do the meditation. This meditation you can do with your eyes open and while doing other things, you just follow my instructions. Or you can sit formally in a formal meditation posture, which I'll briefly guide you in. To meditate formally, you want to sit in a chair with your legs, your feet planted firmly on the floor. Or you want to sit cross legged on the floor. Your back is nice and your back is nice and straight, your shoulders dropped and relaxed. To put your hands in the gesture of meditative concentration, place your hands on your lap with your palms facing upward. Place your right hand in the left and allow your thumbs to gently touch, forming a bridge. Your eyes are closed. Breathe through your nostrils and breathe deeply from your diaphragm. Breathe and relax. To begin, contemplate the things that you thirst for in your life right now and see the results they have. You want to decide on one to try to go against the stream of. So please examine the things you thirst for. Choose one that you want to focus your mindfulness practice on this week. What results come from following this thirst. And what could you tell yourself this week? When the thirst arises, how can you encourage yourself with your thoughts to go against the stream? It to conclude, make a determination that you're going to watch your mind this week for that thirst arising and you're going to talk to yourself with your thoughts. Try to go against the stream whenever it arises so you can make the determination now with this this week I will watch for the thirst and I'll go against the strength. Without forgetting your intention, relax your concentration and arise from your meditation.