{"id":102,"date":"2014-07-16T18:06:48","date_gmt":"2014-07-16T18:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uubf.flywheelsites.com\/?page_id=102"},"modified":"2014-07-16T18:06:48","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T18:06:48","slug":"siddhartha-a-man-for-all-seasons","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/sermons\/siddhartha-a-man-for-all-seasons\/","title":{"rendered":"Siddhartha: A Man for All\u00a0Seasons"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h2>\n
\n\nSiddhartha was born a prince in the region of Nepal sometime in the 6th<\/sup>\u00a0century Before the Common Era.\u00a0 When he was born, the story is told that astrologers told his parents that Siddhartha was destined to either become a great king or a great spiritual leader. His father wanted his son to become a great king so he insulated Siddhartha from all awareness of suffering in the world.\u00a0 As long as he would live within the palace walls, he would never see someone sick, nor someone old or dying. He would only see the abundance of the world.\u00a0 Siddhartha we are told married a princess and had a son.\u00a0 They were happy. Life was good.\n\nBut Siddhartha had never been outside of the palace and he insisted to see the world.\u00a0 His father ordered the city to be cleared from anyone old or infirmed so Siddhartha would only see happiness and joy. \u00a0However, Siddhartha did see someone who was feeble and old and he was very moved by this.\u00a0 He went out into the city a few more times and saw someone sick and someone dead.\u00a0 And he saw someone who was considered a sage, a seeker of the truth.\n\nSiddhartha realized that this was the fate of all people to grow old, sick, and die.\u00a0 He needed to find a way to handle this realization.\u00a0 Siddhartha renounced his family and privilege as a prince and left the palace forever. \u00a0He wandered the countryside joining the various groups of seekers to understand.\u00a0 Eventually, he settled under a Bodhi Tree and meditated for a long time.\u00a0 And during his long meditation he had hallucinations of demons tempting him but he stayed true to his quest. And then one day, he had a realization.\u00a0 It is said that he attained enlightenment and was thereafter called the Buddha.\u00a0 He spent the rest of his life teaching others what he had learned.\n\nBut what was his realization?\u00a0 And how is this realization still relevant today.\n\nThe Buddha taught what he called the Four Noble Truths.\n\n1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There is Dukkha\u2014a word that is really untranslatable into English.\u00a0 Dukkha has been translated as suffering but this word alone does not capture the fullness of this word. It also includes the notion of impermanence, emptiness, imperfection.[i]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0A recent conversation I had with friend of mine who is a Buddhist Abbott suggested that a better word to use to translate the word Dukkha instead of using the word suffering is to use the word Stress.[ii]<\/a>\u00a0We all experience it.\u00a0 And in our country of privilege, it is perhaps a more prevalent an experience than suffering. So the first Noble Truth states there is stress.\n\nStating there is stress does not negate that there is suffering, or \u00a0happiness or joy, only that there is stress.\u00a0 There are three aspects of stress; there is ordinary stress, stress caused by change, and conditioned states. \u00a0Not getting what one wants, the death or separation from a loved one, these are examples of ordinary stress.\u00a0 The being downsized at work, the beginning of a marriage, these are examples of stress caused by change.\u00a0 We are saddened when a love affair ends.\u00a0 The conditioned state of stress refers to the notion of a being, of an individual self, this conditioned state is made up of the flow of energy that differentiates you from me.\u00a0 The Buddha refers to five aggregates that make up the self.\u00a0 There is Matter, Sensations, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. These are the things that define this being from any other being. \u00a0They include the physical characteristics, the ability to sense and form ideas about the information those senses deliver, the ability to act in word and deed, and the awareness.\u00a0 All of these work together to make up the self which as a conditioned state results in stress.\u00a0 All three aspects of stress is the result of attachment. How does one cling to this moment, to this moment, now to this moment?\u00a0 One cannot, no matter how enjoyable that moment may have been, it is now gone.\n\n2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The second Noble Truth states there is an origin to Stress. Stress comes from desire, or thirst for something.\u00a0 That something can be tangible like wanting a nice house to live in to something more intangible like will my retirement fund be solvent or cover my living expenses when I retire. It is easy to see how the desire for power can be a source of stress but even the desire for peace can also be a source of stress.\u00a0 Not having peace or rather the lack thereof is stressful.\nThe continuance of the thirst or drive or volition \u201cdenote the same thing: they denote the desire, the will to be, to exist, to re-exist, to become more and more, to grow more and more, to accumulate more and more.[iii]<\/a>\u201d\u00a0 All of this desire is stressful.\n\nThe notion of karma arises in this second noble truth. Because this thirst, drive, volition is the cause and its actions have an effect.\u00a0 It may either be good or bad in its effect, but it continues in the direction set forth and additional stress is the ultimate result.\n\n3) The Third Noble Truth is There can be a cessation to Stress.\u00a0 The answer is rather simple.\u00a0 This reminds me of a childhood joke.\u00a0 A person goes to the doctor and says, \u201cDoctor my arm hurts when I do this.\u201d\u00a0 The doctor said, \u201cStop doing that.\u201d\u00a0 The cessation to stress is to stop craving and desiring. Part of this stopping is to no longer be attached to what is craved or desired.\u00a0 If we must have something to be so in order to be happy, then we will never be happy.\u00a0 If we are in a state of want, we are not happy.\u00a0 If we should receive what it is we want, we are fearful we will lose it, and therefore we are not happy.\u00a0 So letting go of attachment to the desired state be it tangible or intangible is the key to ending stress.\n\n4) We do this through the fourth noble truth which is the middle way in between the two extremes of pleasure seeking and avoiding stress.\u00a0 It is also known as the Eightfold path.\n
    \n\t
  1. Right Understanding<\/li>\n\t
  2. Right Thought<\/li>\n\t
  3. Right Speech<\/li>\n\t
  4. Right Action<\/li>\n\t
  5. Right Livelihood<\/li>\n\t
  6. Right Effort<\/li>\n\t
  7. Right Mindfulness<\/li>\n\t
  8. Right Concentration<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nThis Eightfold path is combined into three categories of ethical conduct, mental discipline, and wisdom.\u00a0 This path is not like an AA step where one focuses on Right Thought this week and then next week focuses on Right Speech.\u00a0 These are meant to be worked on simultaneously.\n\nEthical conduct is based on love and compassion. It includes Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood of the Eightfold path.\u00a0 Right speech is abstinence from lying, slander, gossip, maliciousness, and hate speech.\u00a0 Speech is to be truthful and kind, purposeful and meaningful.\u00a0 My mother would say to me when I was a child, if you don\u2019t have something nice to say, then don\u2019t say anything at all.\u00a0 This is practicing right speech.\n\nRight action is promoting moral and peaceful living.\u00a0 We are to abstain from destroying life, stealing, dishonesty actions, and sexual misconduct. We are to help others to lead a peaceful life.\n\nRight Livelihood means to work in a profession that will not lead to harm of others.\u00a0 There are many professions today that while the professions themselves might not lead to harming others, the way they are being embodied are leading to harm.\u00a0 Today we have extended the concept of harming the lives of others to contain the entire ecosystem in which we live and breathe.\n\nJames Ford, Unitarian Universalist Minister and Zen teacher puts it another way. \u00a0He states[i]<\/a>\u00a0we are to\n
      \n\t
    1. \u201cFoster Life<\/li>\n\t
    2. Speak truthfully<\/li>\n\t
    3. Respect boundaries<\/li>\n\t
    4. Respect your body and others\u2019 bodies<\/li>\n\t
    5. Remain clear and open\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nThe next category in the Eightfold Path is Mental Discipline.\u00a0 This encompasses right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.\u00a0 Right effort is to focus on thoughts that foster life, respect self and others.\u00a0 Right mindfulness or right awareness is also known as being attentive in the moment. Attentiveness is not only to the activities of mind; but also to the sensations of the body, the sensations of the heart or emotions, and to ideas and thoughts.\u00a0 It is to be aware of what is without pushing away or pulling towards oneself. \u00a0One of the exercises that Buddhists use to strengthen this ability of right awareness is sitting meditation.\u00a0 This is the meditation practice that allows one to become attentive to ones breathing.\u00a0 How the air flows in and out of the lungs.\u00a0 Thoughts that arise are to be noticed and then let go.\n\nIn order to strengthen one\u2019s ability to be aware this meditation needs to be done daily.\u00a0 This is where the work is in Buddhism.\u00a0 It is one thing to have a philosophical understanding of the teachings of the Buddha and it is another to allow it to transform one\u2019s life.\u00a0 The person doing sitting meditation applies right effort and right mindfulness into the process of sitting.\u00a0 They notice their thoughts, their emotions, let them go and as they do they raise their awareness towards equanimity.\u00a0 \u201cTo be rightly aware on the absolute level is to be aware of the true nature of reality\u2026no-self, impermanence and the nature of stress.[i]<\/a>\u201d \u00a0This is training the mind towards becoming open to the enlightenment the Buddha experienced.\n\nThe final two aspects of the Eightfold path fit into the category of Wisdom.\u00a0 These are right understanding and right thought. Right thought includes detachment, love and non-violence towards all beings.\u00a0 Right understanding refers to seeing the true nature of everything.\n\nSo here we are, 2600 years after the Buddha lived on this earth. He has attained nirvana. Another word that is hard to translate. Nirvana is the moment when the burning wood is no more and the fire that was held to it is then set free.\u00a0 Nirvana is the mind set free.\n\nThe teachings of Siddhartha are just as relevant today as they were centuries ago. This is especially true when we use the notion of stress as being a more accurate\u00a0 translation to Dukkha. We are always hearing the warnings of stress on the physical body.\u00a0 Obesity and heart disease have been connected to the forces of stress in our lives.\u00a0 There is stress in our workplace, in our households, in our families.\u00a0 We live in a world where the possibility of a new war is one day away.\u00a0 Terrorism is no longer just something that happens over there. It is happening in our schools, in our communities.\u00a0 Stress is mounting. Many people are at the breaking point.\n\nWhat are we to do?\n\nThich Nhat Hahn describes the self as being a garden filled with weeds and flowers.\u00a0 The weeds are anger, jealousy, fear, discrimination.\u00a0 The flowers are love, compassion, and understanding. If you water the weeds you strengthen the negative seeds.\u00a0 If you water the flowers, you will strengthen the positive seeds.\u00a0 Which kind of garden will you grow?\n\nAnother way of looking at this is that we are all addicts to our emotions.\u00a0 And like addicts when the craving of an emotion wells up we frantically look to find something to quench it before we get the shakes.\u00a0 We do not know how to handle them when they rise up.\u00a0 Some of us run away from what we are feeling.\u00a0 Others seek to subdue them with drugs and alcohol.\u00a0 And still others push other emotions up front as an act of bravado to hide the true feelings felt inside. The truth is emotions are not permanent.\u00a0 They will rise and fall away.\u00a0 \u00a0We already know this.\u00a0 Perhaps there is a way to release the negative emotions sooner through meditation.\n\nMeditation has been used as an anger management tool for decades.\u00a0 Not only does it help relieve stress, it also can help a person who is angry to take a pause and regain their sense of control so they do not lash out in a harmful manner. Be attentive. Take some time out of your day to go and do some focused breathing.\u00a0 Use the song we sang as a chant to guide your breathing\u2014\u201dwhen I breathe in, I breath in peace\u2014when I breathe out, I\u2019ll breathe out love.\u201d Or simply just count your breaths, 1 on the inhale, 2 on the exhale, 3 on the inhale. Etc.\u00a0 And if you lose count, and you will, simply begin again, 1 on the inhale.\u00a0 And if your mind wanders, and it will, notice that it did and begin counting your breaths again.\n\nThose who meditate everyday have noted they are more attentive throughout their day.\u00a0 Not only do they have lower blood pressure they are more able to cope with the stressors of the day.\u00a0 Aim for ten minutes a day and then in time stretch that towards 30 minutes over time.\n\nSiddhartha found a way to help the world be together. The fact this has lasted for over two millennia is testament that it is a viable way.\u00a0 Unlike some of the faddish methods that one finds in the self-help section of the bookstore, this middle way has worked in and out of season.\n\nBlessed Be.\n\n \n\nThis sermon was presented to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Tuscaloosa on November 3 2013 (c) by Rev. Fred L Hammond\n\n
      \n\n
      \n\n[i]<\/a>\u00a0Phone conversation on November 2, 2013 with Wisdom Sakya, Buddhist Abbott of Middle Way Meditation Centers in Danbury, CT\n\n<\/div>\n
      \n\n
      \n\n
      \n\n[i]<\/a>\u00a0James Ishmael Ford, If you are Lucky, You\u2019re Heart will Break, Wisdom Boston, 2012\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
      \n\n
      \n\n
      \n\n[i]<\/a>\u00a0Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught, Grove Press, New York, 1959\n\n<\/div>\n
      \n\n[ii]<\/a>\u00a0Phone conversation on November 2, 2013 with Wisdom Sakya, Buddhist Abbott of Middle Way Meditation Centers in Danbury, CT\n\n<\/div>\n
      \n\n[iii]<\/a>\u00a0Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught, Grove Press, New York, 1959\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Siddhartha was born a prince in the region of Nepal sometime in the 6th\u00a0century Before the Common Era.\u00a0 When he was born, the story is told that astrologers told his parents that Siddhartha was destined to either become a great king or a great spiritual leader. His father wanted his son to become a great […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":23,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-102","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/102\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uubf.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}