Sufferings are beyond description and each one will have his share of them according to their past. One inherits one’s own sufferings through wrong living and lack of cultivation in the past. As the seeds of actions are sowed so shall their fruits of results come about at their proper times. Those who are deeply immersed into the pains of life should now realise that their sufferings are not imposed on them by a God to test them. They are their own creators and no God will be able to lift their misery until they have awakened to the truth and set their mind to better themselves henceforth so that further evil seeds of sadness will no longer be planted. And when some seeds of happiness of the past matures it will provide you some hope, some joy, so that you may either mistaken it to be a blessing from God or that your miseries are over for good.
Do not hold onto wrong views lest the next round of pains arise again and then your faith in your God is extinguished or short lived. That is why the teaching of the Buddha is perfect. It does not hide the truth, it presents truth and urges you to face reality with wisdom. With wisdom there will be energy to sustain, there will be understanding and patience which result in effort and perseverance for you to rise above the situation. This leads to cultivation and then the meaning of suffering is understood, the meaning of happiness is understood, and finally the meaning of life’s happening will be understood so that all happenings in life will provide you with opportunities to learn. How to learn? When sadness comes how could one learn? It is easy for those who know the way but impossible for those who are ignorant.
Paths to liberation are many. Have you found one which leads you out of misery yet? Following the wrong path is to be like a blind man having taken a wrong road and although he is walking and covering distance, will he ever reach his goal? Promises are plenty to those who chose the convenient paths that need no effort, so there are many faiths which exist strongly and are popular. It is easy to fall prey to them, to practise doctrines which are impure and does not require self-purification. Beware then that you are not tempted to take such easy paths. Always think and reflect deeply before any commitment is made, before you easily change from the path of Buddhahood which requires self-effort and meditational practices which lead to wisdom and are difficult, to another which teaches you no effort to self-cleansing, compassion on or other virtuous practices but requiring only blind faith. Once you drop your search, you will be lost and you may be happy to be lost because of delusive views. Because of that, everyone who takes the wrong paths will forsake goodness and indulge in wickedness. This is like planting of seeds which are potent with evil energies, it is like sowing bad seeds and so on. The mind can be cleansed or be wiled with further defilements. Each one has his own mind to cleanse and each must do his own cleansing.
Do so and remove the seeds which cause further suffering!
Thursday, 14th March 1985 (1st Moon 23rd Day)