Question

Imagine waking up today, but today isn't different. Can you share your thoughts of the Dukkha of a whole ordinary day, and how to be more Compassionately mindful and reflect what it is like to be alive, what our mind and body is doing, and what we do to satisfy our craving for existence, each ordinary day.

Answer

Sometimes we get in touch with the Dukkha of the repetitiveness of this cycle of existence, and that's good. Life is a continual cycling, cycling, cycling, cycling... and many people are just doing things, with no particular purpose, except surviving or trying to satisfy their desires. That way of living can be frustrating and boring, it's never going to truly satisfy people's thirst for happiness. So in this cycling and mundane existence, it can be boring, it's just the same, it goes nowhere without a deeper sense of purpose. We need a way out of the apparent meaningless of existence and this is where having an inner purpose and direction helps existence to be less boring and more meaningful, because we are practicing to relieve this unsatisfactory state.

If we reflect on "how fortunate we are" when we wake up in the morning, we realize that the day is different. It's never the same. We have a wonderful opportunity. It's very powerful, very precious. Gratitude helps point us to an inner well being.

If we're becoming bored, we may be taking our and other people's lives for granted or we may be too focused on sense desire or obtaining things to give us happiness. Yet the nature of these things are impermanent and often beyond our power to control. So they are not totally satisfactory. With an inner direction we may begin to understand our precious opportunity to develop ourselves in this human life which can help lead us to an inner well being not so dependant on obtaining these things. We realize that our ordinary day with mundane activities is an opportunity.

Ordinary things every day can be a means to develop ourselves.

Because they're ordinary, not very exciting, it means we have a wonderful opportunity to develop more Mindfulness. Repetition helps the development of mindfulness. When things become exciting, it's difficult to fit everything into the day, especially mind development. So if you're losing this sense of the preciousness of your life, that you have come in to contact with the precious Buddha Dhamma, then you need to reflect about it more, and learn more contentment. The contentment that "I'm alive, I'm still here, and I have another opportunity to practice the Dhamma."

There is Dukkha, the cause and there is also a way out of Dukkha in your normal everyday life.

Can you remember the Buddha Dhamma, your inner direction into your life, so you can find the way out of Dukkha of everyday living?

Our apologies if there are any errors in the above text. If anything seems to be wrong or confusing in any way, please feel free to contact the teachers for further clarification.