The First Noble Truth, suffering which becomes increasingly apparent as you sit here contemplating your own body and mind. Just be aware of what happens you can see that when good thoughts pass by, or physical pleasure, there's happiness, and when there's pain or negativity, there's despair.
This may be a good start, but is far from enough. Even non-Buddhists do the same. There is a need to identify the suffering which is beyond happiness and pain, and which is the neutral, non-conceptual state, allowing for the arising of both.
For as long as such state is not identified, or is identified as some kind of “self-perfected” or even “dzogchen” state, it will not be abandoned, and suffering will never cease to arise.
So we can see we are always habitually trying to attain, or maintain or get rid, of conditions.
Then you want to get rid of, and to attain a state free, of such habitual condition, right?
The funny thing of the proponents of “not trying to attain, maintain or get rid of conditions, just to be aware”, is that this (trying such and such) is precisely what they are doing, just that they are not aware of it!
The Second Noble Truth is that of being aware of the arising of the three kinds of desire that we have – desire for sense pleasure, for becoming, or for getting rid of something – and how this arises according to conditions.
Since most people, including animals and so forth, lack this awareness, does this mean that they lack the second noble truth?
And since according to you they lack the origins of suffering, which is known as the second noble truth, how could they suffer at all?
The penetration of the Third Noble Truth is to see how that which arises has a cessation.
Are you suggesting that one should attain such a condition (of seeing that “that which arises has a cessation”)?
If so, you contradict your previous statement, where you criticize the habit of “trying to attain, or maintain or get rid, of conditions”.
If not, then for you the third noble truth should not be penetrated.
We become aware of the cessation, the letting go, and thus develop the Fourth Noble Truth,
“Letting go”? Are you trying to get rid of a condition?
“Developing”? Are you trying to develop or attain a condition?
Thus, you are trying to attain and to get rid of conditions, but obviously you are not aware of it!
the Truth of the Eightfold Path – right understanding, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration – in other words, the path of awareness.
Awareness of what, if you obviously are not even aware that you are trying to attain something and to get rid of other things?
The practice of 'letting go' is very effective for minds obsessed by compulsive thinking: you simplify your meditation practice down to just two words 'letting go' rather than try to develop this practice and then develop that;
While inappropriate attention (or not letting go) is a cause contributing for the arising of an afflictive mind, as masterfully explained by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso in his masterpiece “Understanding the Mind”, to propose just “letting go”, or not to pay attention to anything, as a replacement for the full Buddhist path, is known as the nihilistic view of Hashang, the defeated opponent of Kamalashila in the famous Samye debate.
This view, nevertheless, did survive in Tibet, specially among Nyingmapas who, while denying the lineage of and affiliation with Hashang, for political reasons -- chosing instead their mythified version of ”Padmasambhava” as their poster child --, did maintain his view, usually in connection to their “dzogchen” theories.
and achieve this and go into that, and understand this, and read the Suttas, and study the Abhidhamma... and then learn Pali and Sanskrit... then the Madhyamika and the Prajña Paramita... get ordinations in the Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajrayana... write books and become a world renowned authority on Buddhism.
Then for you the purpose of listening, thinking and meditating on Buddha's teachings, and of taking vows and so forth, cannot be anything except for writing books and becoming famous, right?
Maybe you check your own motivations before projecting them wholesale on others.
[...] you simplify your meditation practice [...] It's important for you to realise [...] As long as you remain ignorant, you are a helpless victim of your ignorance.[...] And if you die, you will be reborn – you can count on it. And the more heedlessly you lead your life, the worse the rebirth.
Funny that so many teachings only apply to “us”, not to yourself. One's wording says a lot, specially when it comes to applying Dharma to others, but not to oneself.
I believe that this is a sign that you lack trust in what you say, otherwise you would apply it to yourself as well.
As the great and glorious Pabongkha Ripoche often insisted, and the marvelous teacher Geshe Lobsang Tharchin so keenly reports, any Dharma teaching has to relate first and foremost to ourselves -- unless, of course, when one's intention is just to play the teacher, to write books, and to become famous.
