Pain & frustration is there, but concealed by the hope for
pleasure:
Buddha once said: Dukkhānupassanam bhāvento
sukhasaññam pajahati...
When developing the contemplation of
Suffering (dukkha),
one gradually overcomes the false perception of pleasure...
If there were no satisfaction to be found in the world, beings would not
be
attached to the world .... If there were no misery to be
found in the world,
beings would not be repelled by the world ....
If there were no escape from the world, beings could not escape from
this
world .... AN 111, 102
The stage of Viewing:
Each time one changes
posture of the body, one should note, that this was
caused by bodily
pain...
Each time one changes
plan or search, one should know, that this was caused
by mental
frustration...
Every time one has headache, toothache, any illness or sickness, one
should see:
Painful is any body...
Every time one is disappointed, separated, or depressed, then one should
note:
Any mind incurs grief...
To see & realize everyday misery, by not dismissing or neglecting it, is
a very
advantageous teacher!
The stage of Comprehending:
Having seen & realized that both bodily & mental pain afflict us
every minute, one may
understand,
that this 'obvious pain' & suffering (dukkha-dukkha)
is a common & inevitable
part of any existence..
When the body decays & grows old, & when the momentary pleasure,
joy or
happiness fades away,
one may realize the rise & inevitable fall of all conditioned
constructions and thereby comprehend
that suffering is an unambiguous part of any
conditioned formation...
This hidden suffering
is called 'suffering due to constructedness'
(sankhara-dukkha):
All constructions will fall apart...
Finally, there is the fact of impermanence,
which implies, that all found
forms of worldly joy,
satisfaction, pleasure and whatever kind of
happiness, will never last
and thus quickly be lost...
This causes a frustration, which is called
'suffering due to change' (viparināma-dukkha)...
Gradually comprehending the abundance of
these
3 kinds of suffering makes one realize:
All phenomena - even pleasant feeling - are nothing,
but one massed up heap of suffering!
The stage of Gaining Insight:
This ultra realism squeezes one out of the cocoon quite well
camouflaged by common comfort...
The knowledge of inevitable Dissolution of all phenomena and
states arises (bhanga-ñāna)!
The knowledge of any appearance is a true Terror
arises (bhayatupatthāna-ñāna)!
The knowledge of the Danger inherent in any form of
dependent existence arises (ādinava-ñāna)!
The knowledge of the Disgust with all things & states
in any world arises (nibbidā-ñāna)!
The result of
contemplating Suffering is absence of mental distortion (vipallāsa):
Direct and repeated experience of such disgust gradually detaches
mind from its habitual
attachments by
disclosing the universal defect of all these deeply cherished objects:
No form, feeling, perception, mental construction or kind of
consciousness will ever last!
This violent revulsion break the misconception that the
5 clusters of clinging is a source
of true and lasting pleasure and happiness. This mistaken notion leads
otherwise to the
hedonist distortion of perception (sañña-vipallāsa),
distortion of
thinking (citta-vipallāsa),
and distortion of
view (ditthi-vipallāsa), which
makes one perceive, think and claim the view:
"This world, this life, all formations & all phenomena are essentially
pleasurable!"...
Such distortion makes one run after fleeting pleasure & evanescent
happiness in a transient
world, as the thirsty & scorched man runs in hot pursuit for a water
mirage fata morgana
in the completely dry desert... Seeing, comprehending and fully
understanding this abysmal
futility redirects mind towards the deathless, safe, and lasting peace of
Nibbāna...
