Be Content in Body and Mind

Lessen desire and be without any wishes and the body and mind will be at ease.

When our desires are balanced and reasonable, we can be content. The Buddha taught that deep wisdom can be found only by following a “middle way” between dualistic extremes. The middle way can always be found by contemplating which side of a dualistic pair is contending for our attention. If we discover that we are becoming attached to money, we can find a healthy balance again by practicing giving, and reflecting on the fact that money is valuable only when it helps people, never when it harms them. If we find ourselves becoming attached to something that makes us angry or resentful, we can find a healthy balance by emphasizing compassion.

When we have lessen desires we will be happier because our lives will be easier to manage and we will have more time to consider that which is most important. Honest introspection always leads to the truth. If our introspection leads us to discover many harmful attachments within us, then we must take steps to understand their origins, as we look for ways to balance their deleterious influences. If it leads us to discover inklings of the enlightened Buddha mind within us, then we must encourage these inklings and cause them to grow and become more frequent. There is no better way to counteract the imbalances of samsara than to bathe them in the enlightened wisdom of the Buddha that already lies within us.

Contentment cures greed, compassion cures anger, and wisdom cures the confusion of many desires arising. When we know how to be satisfied with what we have, we can be happy anywhere and we will always be able to avoid more desire and the terrible passions it releases.

The Surangama Sutra says,

“Wise contentment defeats the maras of the mind.”

The Commentary on the Lotus Sutra says,

“Truth is like the sky, meditation like a great cloud, wisdom like the rain.”

Like the rain because it washes us and cleans us of our harmful desires. The Sutra of Supreme Mindfulness says, “Have few desires, be content, and put to rest all harmful clinging. Free yourself from your attachments, for when you taste greed you are like a fish that swallows a hook.”

The following story reminds us that the Buddha can help us only if we are deeply receptive and willing to help ourselves. Once there was a man who was walking on a mountain road. As the dusty miles passed, he became tired and inattentive, and consequently lost his footing and fell down a steep precipice. As he fell, he managed to reach out and grab hold of a tree branch growing out of the cliff. Clutching the branch for dear life, he looked up and down. Far below him were the hard rocks at the bottom of the cliff, while above him there was only the sheer face of the cliff. As far as he could tell there was no way he could save himself. Then he saw the Buddha standing on the road above him. The Buddha was gazing on him with a look of great concern.

The man called out, “Oh Buddha, save me! Save me!”

The Buddha replied, “I will save you, but you must do as I say.”

The man cried, “Anything, anything! I will do anything you say!”

“Let go of the branch,” the Buddha said.

The man looked down at the rocks at the bottom of the cliff and thought that if he let go of the branch he would surely fall and be killed. His fears made him grab the branch more tightly.

When the Buddha saw that he was not going to let go, he said, “How can I save you if you don’t let go?” And with that he turned and left.

From The Great Realizations, written by Venerable Master Hsing Yun.

Image from Pixabay.

More Featured Articles

All these naturally beautiful landscapes of the world are odes of praise to the beauty and wonder of nature. The beauty of nature is really enchanting and fascinating! Read more
Equality is a truth of human life within the universe, it is an aim of humanity, and it is also the basis of Buddhism.The Avatamsaka Sutra says:“All sentient beings are equal.”The Great Perfection of Wisdom Treatise says: “From the very highest level of all Buddhas to the low level of animals, all are equal and there are no differences between them.”The Diamond Sutra says: “All dharmas are equal with no Read more
We should not look at life just as the limited span of one person’s life; we should look at the larger life of the universe. While a person’s life may only span a limited number of years, its value is everlasting. Read more
If we want to understand what the Dharma teaches us about building affinity and living in harmony with others, we must first understand the four great all-embracing virtues. The Buddha teaches that for us to realize our true capacity of connecting with and serving our fellow citizens, we have to first build a good rapport, and the four virtues are tools to that end. The four Read more
Human beings are social animals; we cannot live apart from community. As Buddhists, we are told to seek the Dharma among the people, for the Dharma does not exist in some other world or far away place; the Dharma is here among us, embodied in each and every being. When we understand that human society is nothing other than a web of human relationships, we Read more
Humans are thinking animals! Since the beginning of time, there have always been people who fantasize, who have delusions, who dream—and many who have ideals. When we lie in our beds at night, we should be free from worry. Yet thoughts about our lives often arise then; thoughts about family, country, or even the world. Everything is within our minds.The average person often tends to Read more
All my life, many have thought of me as rich, but the truth is, staying poor has always been my motto. I grew up in a poverty-stricken family, yet I never saw myself as poor, because I always felt rich in heart. Till my old age, many have thought of me as very wealthy because they believe I own many education institutes, cultural enterprises, publishing Read more
We all have our share of headaches and heartaches. Physically, we all have to face aging, sickness and death. Mentally, we have to deal with problems arising from greed, hatred and ignorance. The Chinese have a saying that aptly describes our predicament: “Heaven and hell sometimes end; the threads of sorrow continue forever.” Our afflictions are as deep as the dark blue sea and are Read more
The Forty-Eight Vows of Amitabha Buddha as recorded in the Larger Sutra of Immeasurable Life.  [1] If I should attain Buddhahood, yet there would be hell beings, hungry ghosts, or animals in my land, may I not attain perfect enlightenment.[2] If I should attain Buddhahood, yet humans and heavenly beings in my land would again be in the three lower realms after the end of Read more
If we want to understand what the Dharma teaches us about building affinity and living in harmony with others, we must first understand the four great all-embracing virtues. The Buddha teaches that for us to realize our true capacity of connecting with and serving our fellow citizens, we have to first build a good rapport, and the four virtues are tools to that end. The four Read more
Anger is distinguished from greed in that anger is a form of revulsion created by something we do not like while greed is a form of attraction brought on by something we do like. In this limited sense, and in this sense only, greed can be said to be “better than” anger. Greed at least has some positive components while anger generally has none at Read more
It is enough for most monks to only have the ability to chant and teach the Dharma, and of course I too can chant sutras and teach the Dharma. But only being this kind of monk was not something I was willing to do. I wanted to become a monk who was able to engage in propagating the Dharma in a multifaceted way: There is Read more