Dhammananda_Who_Creates_Problems.pdf

WHO CREATES PROBLEMS?

Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda

Human problems are complicated. One day one of the Devas approached the Buddha

and asked him how to overcome problems. The Devas said,” Lord, can you explain the

mystery of the inner tangle and the outer tangle. Human beings are entangled in a tangle

and I would like to ask, who will succeed in disentangling the tangle.”

The words “tangle” refers to all the mental and physical disturbances that we have to

face in our day- to-day life. We are tangled with various problems. From our birth up to

the last breath numerous problems confront us. It is impossible for any human being to

exist without facing such problems in this world. The Buddha has advised us to

understand the nature of our problems if we want to exist peacefully in this world. He has

advised us to ponder on the purpose of our existence and to try to find out why we are

not satisfied with our lives. If we can understand this situation, there will be no reason for

us to suffer from undue fear, to harbour enmity or grudges and worries.

We all like to lead very happy, contented and peaceful lives but how many of us can

really say that we experience such happiness? We are willing to do anything in every

way possible to gain contentment but we never really experience true satisfaction

because we can minimize certain problems and overcome some others only through a

complete understanding of the nature of this world, how some thing we crave for are

merely illusory, while others only create greater craving once achieved.

Facing problems

We usually create other serious problems while trying to solve our existing ones. If the

new problem is minor, we tolerate it to the best of our ability and do what we can to

alleviate the pain. For example, when we have gastric ulcers and suffer severe pain, we

consult a doctor. Then if the doctor says we have to undergo an operation, we will

accept the fact that we will have to suffer more pain if we want to be cured. But since we

know there is no other solution, we decide to face the new problem of the operation to

get rid of the existing gastric ulcers. Then we make up our minds to bear the pain and

uneasiness during the operation thinking that we can finally be rid of the pain once and

for all.

In the same manner we are willing to tolerate certain problems or pain to overcome the

existing big problem created by existence. That is why we sometimes face suffering with

smiling faces. We cannot overcome our existing problems without facing other new

problems or without sacrificing something. But one thing is clear, it is impossible to settle

our problems permanently by being selfish, stubborn or violent. That is why a “give and

take policy” is important to settle our problems.

The Buddha has advocated a meaningful, practical and realistic method to settle this

problem. He did not recommend a method just to patch up a problem here and there

simple to make us happy for the time being. Rather he taught us the way to penetrate to

the root of the problem and find out the main cause of it. His method was not even to

reduce the symptom of the problem just like some doctors do when they cure only the

symptom of our sickness but not the sickness itself.

Nature of life

When we have a severe stomach pain, or headache, doctors give us painkiller tablets.

After that, we feel better for a short period. But it is not the complete cure, because the

pain can come back. Assume that we have a very big painful wound on our body. After

applying all sorts of medicines, we can manage to get rid of the pain. When the doctors

or somebody asks “How do you feel now?” we say we feel very good. But can you define

this word “good”? Can we show anything to prove what good feeling is? Here it means

there is no more pain. For anything in this world, we say we feel good or nice only to tell

others that there is no problem for the time being. When we say we feel good we are

aware that this “good” feeling is not permanent. It will be replaced with other painful

feelings. This is the nature of life. The Buddha’s method for gaining permanent

happiness is to uproot the main cause of our problems and not to suppress it. Of course

some people say it is difficult to practice the Buddha’s teaching, because it does not

provide short-term relief. The Buddha taught that the cause of our misery is so deep-

rooted that we must take very strong measures to root it out permanently, so that it can

never return.

To the question on how to disentangle the tangle, the answer given by the Buddha is,

“When a wise man, established well in morality (sila) has developed his mind and

understanding, (panna) then such an ardent and wise person succeeds in disentangling

this tangle”. A person who is diligent and understanding, by realising the real nature of

existence, develops his Sila , his moral behaviour or self-discipline. Sila means discipline

of the senses, speech and action according to a moral code. When a man is diligent and

wise he knows how to face his problems and how to overcome some of them. Here the

Buddha’s advice for us is to be good, diligent and act wisely if we want to solve our

problems. No other method can give a final solution to our problems.

Superstitious beliefs

Whenever we have problems, we approach others, and seek their advice. They may ask

us to go and pray to certain gods in a temple or other places of worship or to recite some

mantras. But the Buddha’s attitude is entirely, different. He never gives such advice

because he wants us to directly approach the problems and analyse it and discover

where the main cause is. The trouble with us is that whenever we face any problem, we

suffer from fear, ignorance imagination and suspicion and we seek advice from others in

order to get rid of them. For example, when people face failure in their business they try

to use magical power to gain good luck and success in their business. But they do not

realise that many of such practices are also based on superstitious beliefs. Some of

these so-called “seers” or astrologers exploit the ignorance of innocent people and make

them believe that “evil forces” are behind their bad luck.

The Buddha advised us to develop patience and understanding, without depending on

superstitious beliefs, and to cultivate the rational way of life without wasting time and

money on meaningless practices and to use our full effort to overcome problems in a

reasonable way, if we want to succeed. Most of the time, we cannot understand the

causes of many of our problems because our way of thinking is clouded by a worldly life,

which is filled with selfish desire and illusion. Because of ignorance, we give the wrong

reasons for our misery and seek the wrong means to overcome such unhappiness. We

pray, we make offerings and vows by thinking that our misery is due to the working of an

external force. Actually our misery is caused by ourselves.

We do not strive to develop our way of life through moral and spiritual development. We

thing think religion is only for us to pray or to perform certain rituals. When we believe in

superstition like these how can we concentrate on enriching our knowledge to

understand things in their proper perspective?

Today we have organised our worldly life in such a way that we have no time to devote

for mental training or to cultivate inner peace. Although we may have more than enough

to satisfy our material needs like food, shelter and clothing, all the while we go on

thinking how to make more money, how to enjoy life in a materialistic, worldly sense

even at the cost of other’ happiness.

When we experience certain problems, we start to grumble, show our temper and create

more disturbances and blame others for our troubles.

Sensual pleasures

Today, especially in many so-called advanced societies, people are facing more

problems, unsatisfactoriness and mental derangement than in underdeveloped societies.

This is because men have become slaves to their sensual pleasures and crave for

worldly enjoyment without proper moral and spiritual development. Their tensions, fears,

anxieties and insecurity disturb their minds. This kind of mental imbalance disturbs the

human psychology. This state of affairs has become the biggest problem in many

countries. Since people have not learnt to maintain contentment in their lives in industrial

societies they experience unsatisfactoriness in their lives.

Many young people have lost confidence and face difficulty in deciding what to do with

their lives. The main cause of this mental attitude is excessive ambition and anxieties

created by competition, jealousy and fear. Such problems naturally create a very bad

atmosphere for others who want to live a peaceful life. It is a fact that when one

individual creates a problem, his behaviour affects the well being of others. In every

society “good begets good and evil begets evil”.

There is no short cut for us to get rid of our problems. We must cultivate our way of life

to discover the cause of the human problems that we are facing. It is true that there is no

existence without problems. If we want to be really free we must examine our problems

and understand why they make life miserable.

Marital problems

One of the common problems that people always complain of is about their married lives

or family problems. On the other hand, unmarried people also complain about the

loneliness in their lives. They say life is dull without a married partner. But the same

people start to grumble after getting married when they are confronted with problems. In

many conservative societies, as soon as some problems arise, people immediately

suspect that others might have done some “charm” or black magic” to disturb their peace.

But they are not ready to admit their own weaknesses or to think that they may be the

cause of the mistake and that ultimately they are responsible for the problem. In their

ignorance they ask some spiritualists to invoke the power of some invisible beings to

stop their problems.

Married people are confronted with many other family problems such as to maintain their

families and to protect them. They have to work hard to support their families. Those

who have children, have to attend to their education and to guide them. Those who

cannot cope with these problems, create more worries. When misunderstanding occurs

in their families it makes life more miserable. Sometimes there is violence, bloodshed

and suicide. Those who have many children have to face a lot of responsibilities and

worries. At the same time those who have no children also worry. So where is the

satisfaction in a worldly life?

Today, people need more income, not only for their living and to fulfil their duties, but

because their craving for indulgence is increased. It has become a sort of competition.

Worries

People concentrate more on pleasure rather than their duties and responsibilities. Some

people entertain worries by considering their future although they have more than

enough at the moment. They worry about their sickness, old age, death, and funerals

and also about heaven and hell or the next birth. Everyday, they experience

unsatisfactoriness in their lives. They run here and there searching for a remedy to end

their problems. Throughout their lives they continue this search for peace and happiness

until they die but they never find the real solution. When they feel that they are getting

old, they worry. They worry when they cannot gain what they want. They worry when

they lose their belonging or person they love. After that, they create frustration, anguish,

and mental agony and later suffer from mental derangement.

Not knowing the real nature of our existence, we try to maintain life without experiencing

any disappointments and changes. But life is changeable. It is a bundle of elements and

energies, which are always changing, and the situation is always not according to our

satisfaction. Sometimes we feel life is not in our favour. When the elements and

energies are imbalanced, we experience uneasiness, sickness, pain and many other

problems. When mental energy is being disturbed, we experience mental problems.

After that our organs and glands also change their normal functions and affect the blood

circulation, heartbeat and brain cells. We can avoid many of these problems if we can

understand this conflict in our nature and if we lead a natural life in harmony with these

natural forces, which make up our physical existence.

Facing realities

Today many people lead an artificial life not knowing its danger. Many of our problems

are created by us due to our ignorance and crazy attitude for too much pleasure. Many

of our problems and burdens come after middle age

For example, assume there is a pit about 100 feet deep and we put burning charcoal at

the bottom. After that we lower a ladder into it and ask some people to go down one by

one. Those who start to go down do not complain about the heat until they go down to a

depth of 30 to 40 feet. After 40 to 50 feet, they feel a certain amount of heat. When they

go further down to 70 or 80 feet and reach nearer to the burning charcoal, they

experience the sensation of burning. In the same manner, young people do not

experience suffering although the Buddha says life is suffering. But this is a good

analogy to explain that as we gain more experience we see the truth about suffering

more clearly.

Accept advice of the elderly

It is not necessary to have personal experience in certain things to understand whether

they are good or bad. Here is an analogy for you to understand the situation. A shoal of

fishes comes across an obstruction in the water with an unusually small opening. It is

actually a trap laid by fisherman to catch the fish. Some fish want to go inside the fence

and see what it is, but the more experienced fish advice them not to do that because it

must be a dangerous trap. The young fish asks,”How do we know whether it is

dangerous or not? We most go in and see, only then can we understand what it is.” So

some of them go in and get caught in the trap.

We must be prepared to accept the advice given by wise men like The Buddha who

know infinitely more than us. Of course, the Buddha himself has said that we must not

accept his teaching blindly. At the same we have to listen to wise ones. This is simple

because their experience is more advanced than our theoretical knowledge regarding

our worldly lives.

Parents usually advise their sons and daughters to do certain things and not to do

certain other things. By neglecting the advice given by the elders, young people do many

things to their own way of thinking. Eventually when they get into trouble, they remember

the elders or religious teacher and seek their help and sometimes ask to pray for them.

Only then do they remember religion and seek some blessing and guidance. The main

purpose of a religion is to help us to follow certain noble principles to avoid many of our

human problems before they confront us.

Experience comes with age

We gain academic knowledge without personal experience. Armed with academic

knowledge some young people thing they can solve all the world’s problems. Science

can provide the material things to solve our problems, but it cannot help us to solve our

spiritual problems. There is no substitute for wise people who have experienced the

world. Think about this saying, “When I was 18, I thought what a fool my father was.

Now that I was 28, I am surprised how much the old man has learned in 10 years!” It is

not the father that has learned; rather it is you who have learned to see things in a

mature way.

More than two thousands years ago the Buddha, Confucius, Lou Tze and many other

religious teachers gave us wonderful advice. This advice can never become out –of-date

being based on truth and it will remain fresh forever. It is impossible to overcome our

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