Posting here for discussion. If you have comments, or you
disagree, voice out!
I once went to a bookstore and flipped through a very interesting
book on how to quit nicotine. The author used to smoke 40 sticks a
day, he's a chain smoker, but managed to quit it entirely through
correct understanding of the nature of nicotine and nicotine
craving.
He says there is nothing great about nicotine at all except that it
relieves craving temporarily (in the same way eating food relieves
hunger temporarily) giving a false illusion about the greatness of
nicotine, but if you don't have that craving or need to begin with,
why will you need nicotine? So nicotine is not in itself something
great, but it gives temporary relieve to the craving so it is
misperceived as something good. It is actually just to satisfy the
pathetic nicotine addiction... nothing else. So in order to quit
successfully all we have to do is to change our false perception
about nicotine. I only read a bit but it is quite an interesting
book. Later on, I discovered a sutta that gave a rather similar
analogy.
Also not just for smoking cravings but basically every situation:
for relationships and sexual desires, if you are straight, you
aren't attracted to same sex people and you won't find pleasure in
same sex relationship (well you do but in a non-sexual friendship
manner which is a different story), so basically the pleasure is
dependent on your particular inclinations and craving, so isn't it
the same as the smoking case? I can say the same with food, etc,
since one type of food can seem very nice to someone but not nice
to someone else (e.g. durian), so the pleasure is dependent on your
particular inclinations and craving, so the pleasure is derived
simply from your craving, and craving arise due to grasping on
things falsely (there are also other conditions and factors but
those are not primary ones) - that is, to see things as permanent,
pleasurable, self/mine.
This is why, like the Nicotine case the author adviced, all you
need is correct perception of reality and the nature of craving to
resolve the problem. In Buddhism, we say the solution lies in
seeing clearly the impermanence, suffering, and no-self nature, and
the empty nature of everything, seeing thus leads to dispassion and
letting go.
So if we understand the four noble truths, we understand that
craving is the cause of suffering, that the pleasure we perceive
are not true pleasures but 'diseased pleasures' arising due to the
disease of craving similar to how scratching a sore wound or
splashing boiling water if you are a leper may seem pleasurable, or
a person 'diseased' with nicotine addiction may find nicotine very
great when actually it isn't, and the end of craving is the end of
suffering through the practice of noble eightfold path, then we
have correct understanding, and this correct understanding is what
is going to liberate us.
Also here is what the Buddha says about the leper who takes
pleasure in being scorched:
http://www.accesstoi....075x.than.html
"Magandiya, suppose that there was a leper covered with sores and
infections, devoured by worms, picking the scabs off the openings
of his wounds with his nails, cauterizing his body over a pit of
glowing embers. His friends, companions, & relatives would take
him to a doctor. The doctor would concoct medicine for him, and
thanks to the medicine he would be cured of his leprosy: well &
happy, free, master of himself, going wherever he liked. Then
suppose two strong men, having grabbed him with their arms, were to
drag him to a pit of glowing embers. What do you think? Wouldn't he
twist his body this way & that?"
"Yes, master Gotama. Why is that? The fire is painful to the touch,
very hot & scorching."
"Now what do you think, Magandiya? Is the fire painful to the
touch, very hot & scorching, only now, or was it also that way
before?"
"Both now & before is it painful to the touch, very hot &
scorching, master Gotama. It's just that when the man was a leper
covered with sores and infections, devoured by worms, picking the
scabs off the openings of his wounds with his nails, his faculties
were impaired, which was why, even though the fire was actually
painful to the touch, he had the skewed perception of
'pleasant.'"
"In the same way, Magandiya, sensual pleasures in the past were
painful to the touch, very hot & scorching; sensual pleasures
in the future will be painful to the touch, very hot &
scorching; sensual pleasures at present are painful to the touch,
very hot & scorching; but when beings are not free from passion
for sensual pleasures — devoured by sensual craving, burning with
sensual fever — their faculties are impaired, which is why, even
though sensual pleasures are actually painful to the touch, they
have the skewed perception of 'pleasant.'
"Now suppose that there was a leper covered with sores &
infections, devoured by worms, picking the scabs off the openings
of his wounds with his nails, cauterizing his body over a pit of
glowing embers. The more he cauterized his body over the pit of
glowing embers, the more disgusting, foul-smelling, & putrid
the openings of his wounds would become, and yet he would feel a
modicum of enjoyment & satisfaction because of the itchiness of
his wounds. In the same way, beings not free from passion for
sensual pleasures — devoured by sensual craving, burning with
sensual fever — indulge in sensual pleasures. The more they indulge
in sensual pleasures, the more their sensual craving increases and
the more they burn with sensual fever, and yet they feel a modicum
of enjoyment & satisfaction dependent on the five strings of
sensuality.
"Now what do you think, Magandiya? Have you ever seen or heard of a
king or king's minister — enjoying himself, provided & endowed
with the five strings of sensuality, without abandoning sensual
craving, without removing sensual fever — who has dwelt or will
dwell or is dwelling free from thirst, his mind inwardly at
peace?"
"No, master Gotama."
"Very good, Magandiya. Neither have I ever seen or heard of a king
or king's minister — enjoying himself, provided & endowed with
the five strings of sensuality, without abandoning sensual craving,
without removing sensual fever — who has dwelt or will dwell or is
dwelling free from thirst, his mind inwardly at peace. But whatever
priests or contemplatives who have dwelt or will dwell or are
dwelling free from thirst, their minds inwardly at peace, all have
done so having realized — as it actually is present — the
origination & disappearance, the allure, the danger, & the
escape from sensual pleasures, having abandoned sensual craving and
removed sensual fever."
Then at that moment the Blessed One exclaimed,
Freedom from disease: the foremost good fortune. Unbinding: the
foremost ease. The eightfold: the foremost of paths going to the
Deathless, Secure.
When this was said, Magandiya the wanderer said to the Blessed One,
"It's amazing, master Gotama. It's astounding, how this, too, is
well-stated by master Gotama: 'Freedom from disease: the foremost
good fortune. Unbinding: the foremost ease.' We have also heard
this said by earlier wanderers in the lineage of our teachers:
'Freedom from disease: the foremost good fortune. Unbinding: the
foremost ease.' This agrees with that."
"But as for what you have heard said by earlier wanderers in the
lineage of your teachers, Magandiya — 'Freedom from disease: the
foremost good fortune. Unbinding: the foremost ease' — which
freedom from disease is that, which Unbinding?"
When this was said, Magandiya the wanderer rubbed his own limbs
with his hand. "This is that freedom from disease, master Gotama,"
he said. "This is that Unbinding. For I am now free from disease,
happy, and nothing afflicts me."
"Magandiya, it's just as if there were a man blind from birth who
couldn't see black objects... white... blue... yellow... red... or
pink objects; who couldn't see even or uneven places, the stars,
the sun, or the moon. He would hear a man with good eyesight
saying, 'How wonderful, good sirs, is a white cloth — beautiful,
spotless, & clean.' He would go in search of something white.
Then another man would fool him with a grimy, oil-stained rag:
'Here, my good man, is a white cloth — beautiful, spotless, &
clean.' The blind man would take it and put it on. Having put it
on, gratified, he would exclaim words of gratification, 'How
wonderful, good sirs, is a white cloth — beautiful, spotless, &
clean.' Now what do you think, Magandiya? When that man blind from
birth took the grimy, oil-stained rag and put it on; and, having
put it on, gratified, exclaimed words of gratification, 'How
wonderful, good sirs, is a white cloth — beautiful, spotless, &
clean': Did he do so knowing & seeing, or out of faith in the
man with good eyesight?"
"Of course he did it not knowing & not seeing, master Gotama,
but out of faith in the man with good eyesight."
"In the same way, Magandiya, the wanderers of other sects are blind
& eyeless. Without knowing freedom from disease, without seeing
Unbinding, they still speak this verse:
Freedom from disease: the foremost good fortune. Unbinding: the
foremost ease.
"This verse was stated by earlier worthy ones, fully
self-awakened:
Freedom from disease: the foremost good fortune. Unbinding: the
foremost ease. The eightfold: the foremost of paths going to the
Deathless, Secure.
"But now it has gradually become a verse of run-of-the-mill
people.
"This body, Magandiya, is a disease, a cancer, an arrow, painful,
an affliction. And yet you say, with reference to this body, which
is a disease, a cancer, an arrow, painful, an affliction: 'This is
that freedom from disease, master Gotama. This is that Unbinding,'
for you don't have the noble vision with which you would know
freedom from disease and see Unbinding."
"I'm convinced, master Gotama, that you can teach me the Dhamma in
such a way that I would know freedom from disease, that I would see
Unbinding."
"Magandiya, it's just as if there were a man blind from birth who
couldn't see black objects... white... blue... yellow... red... the
sun or the moon. His friends, companions, & relatives would
take him to a doctor. The doctor would concoct medicine for him,
but in spite of the medicine his eyesight would not appear or grow
clear. What do you think, Magandiya? Would that doctor have nothing
but his share of weariness & disappointment?"
"Yes, master Gotama."
"In the same way, Magandiya, if I were to teach you the Dhamma —
'This is that freedom from disease; this is that Unbinding' — and
you on your part did not know freedom from disease or see
Unbinding, that would be wearisome for me; that would be
troublesome for me."
"I'm convinced, master Gotama, that you can teach me the Dhamma in
such a way that I would know freedom from disease, that I would see
Unbinding."
"Magandiya, it's just as if there were a man blind from birth who
couldn't see black objects... white... blue... yellow... red... the
sun or the moon. Now suppose that a certain man were to take a
grimy, oil-stained rag and fool him, saying, 'Here, my good man, is
a white cloth — beautiful, spotless, & clean.' The blind man
would take it and put it on.
"Then his friends, companions, & relatives would take him to a
doctor. The doctor would concoct medicine for him: purges from
above & purges from below, ointments & counter-ointments
and treatments through the nose. And thanks to the medicine his
eyesight would appear & grow clear. Then together with the
arising of his eyesight, he would abandon whatever passion &
delight he felt for that grimy, oil-stained rag. And he would
regard that man as an enemy & no friend at all, and think that
he deserved to be killed. 'My gosh, how long have I been fooled,
cheated, & deceived by that man & his grimy, oil-stained
rag! — "Here, my good man, is a white cloth — beautiful, spotless,
& clean."'
"In the same way, Magandiya, if I were to teach you the Dhamma —
'This is that freedom from Disease; this is that Unbinding' — and
you on your part were to know that freedom from Disease and see
that Unbinding, then together with the arising of your eyesight you
would abandon whatever passion & delight you felt with regard
for the five clinging-aggregates. And it would occur to you, 'My
gosh, how long have I been fooled, cheated, & deceived by this
mind! For in clinging, it was just form that I was clinging to...
it was just feeling... just perception... just fabrications... just
consciousness that I was clinging to. With my clinging as a
requisite condition, there arises becoming... birth... aging &
death... sorrow, lamentation, pains, distresses, & despairs.
And thus is the origin of this entire mass of stress.'"
"I'm convinced, master Gotama, that you can teach me the Dhamma in
such a way that I might rise up from this seat cured of my
blindness."
"In that case, Magandiya, associate with men of integrity. When you
associate with men of integrity, you will hear the true Dhamma.
When you hear the true Dhamma, you will practice the Dhamma in
accordance with the Dhamma. When you practice the Dhamma in
accordance with the Dhamma, you will know & see for yourself:
'These things are diseases, cancers, arrows. And here is where
diseases, cancers, & arrows cease without trace. With the
cessation of my clinging comes the cessation of becoming. With the
cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth. With the
cessation of birth then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation,
pain, distress, & despair all cease. Such is the cessation of
this entire mass of suffering & stress."
When this was said, Magandiya the wanderer said, "Magnificent,
Master Gotama! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright
what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to point out the
way to one who was lost, or to carry a lamp into the dark so that
those with eyes could see forms, in the same way has Master Gotama
— through many lines of reasoning — made the Dhamma clear. I go to
Master Gotama for refuge, to the Dhamma, & to the community of
monks. Let me obtain the going forth in Master Gotama's presence,
let me obtain admission."
"Anyone, Magandiya, who has previously belonged to another sect and
who desires the going forth & admission in this doctrine &
discipline, must first undergo probation for four months. If, at
the end of four months, the monks feel so moved, they give him the
going forth & admit him to the monk's state. But I know
distinctions among individuals in this matter."
"Master Gotama, if anyone who has previously belonged to another
sect and desires the going forth & admission in this doctrine
& discipline must first undergo probation for four months; and
if, at the end of four months, the monks feel so moved, they give
him the going forth & admit him to the monk's state; then I am
willing to undergo probation for four years. If, at the end of four
years, the monks feel so moved, let them give me the going forth
& admit me to the monk's state."
Then Magandiya the wanderer received the going forth & the
admission in the Blessed One's presence. And not long after his
admission — dwelling alone, secluded, heedful, ardent, &
resolute — he in no long time reached & remained in the supreme
goal of the holy life, for which clansmen rightly go forth from
home into homelessness, knowing & realizing it for himself in
the here & now. He knew: "Birth is ended, the holy life
fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for the sake of
this world." And thus Ven. Magandiya became another one of the
arahants.
