A cloud never dies. In fact, nothing can be created or destroyed. Water turns into clouds which turn become ice or rain and flow in the form of rivers. The water in your tea is really a cloud and will be a cloud again. The tears that we shed will turn into rain someday. Nothing comes from nothing. Nothing can turn into nothing. There is only continuation. Not even a speck of dust can be destroyed. Before we were humans, we existed in other forms. We were animals and before that we were plants and trees and before that we were rocks and ice and air etc. We are a continuation of everything. Everything exists in everything else. All mothers exist in their children. And where do children come from? From their parents. They are in their parents only then they can come from their parents.
Since we cannot transform into nothing, we will continue to exist. We will stand to benefit if there is peace and joy. We will suffer if there is violence and pain. What we will be tomorrow depends on what we are today. If we consume cigarettes and alcohol, our tomorrow may not be healthy. It is very important to perform right actions.
If clouds create a world where rain is despised and made to suffer, then those very clouds will suffer when they become rain. In a world which discriminates, we will become victims of discrimination. In a violent society, we will end up experiencing violence.
We don't want to make ourselves or our loved ones unhappy, do we? But when we perform wrong actions or harbour wrong views, we make them suffer.
Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths.
The First Noble Truth is that we experience suffering.
The Second Noble Truth explains the cause of suffering. We suffer when we are separated from someone we love, or from something we want or from conditions that would make us happy. This is because we perform wrong actions which come from wrong views, which are in turn a result of ignorance (lack of understanding).
The Third Noble Truth says that there is a way out of suffering. When a cloud transforms into rain, if other clouds think that the cloud has died then the problem is their inability to recognize manifestations and communicate universally. This is lack of know-how - ignorance. Since the problem is ignorance, it can be fixed through perfect understanding.
The Fourth Noble Truth is the path. Right Mindfulness leads to Right Concentration which leads to Right Views which leads to Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Actions and Right Livelihood. We, then, must practice Right Diligence to ensure continuity in our practice.
Practicing the Five Mindfulness trainings (Panchsheel) is Right Mindfulness.
You can't be happy or free from worries if someone is trying to kill you. This is why we must not kill or encourage killing. This practice of nonviolence is the first mindfulness training. It leads to peace. If you people don't fight, we won't have wars and other firms of violence. Animals too experience pain just like us when we inflict pain upon them by killing them or hurting them. When we practice the first mindfulness training we stop hurting animals too. Death causes separation and that is a painful experience, so we must not cause or encourage killing.
You can't be happy in a society where economic and social inequalities exist. You don't mind your mother making more money than you. This is because she shares her property, food and monetary resources with you. A noble family collectively owns it's material resources. In our society, we don't own our resources collectively. Some people rig the system to create and illusion that they deserve more than others. This leads to discrimination, hierarchy and inequalities. The second mindfulness training is to not seek more than others and to share what we have with others. We must not seek to create wealth while others starve to death and have to constantly worry about paying their bills. When we take more than others, we are stealing from them. No employee ever agreed to starvation wages while his CEO made billions. When we consume cow's milk or wear wool or leather, we are participating in large scale theft. No cow gave permission to you to consume her milk. To take from others, what is theirs, without their permission is theft.
We create grounds for discrimination like specie, caste, gender, educational qualifications, roles, designations etc. Such wrong views and actions are enforced on our society through an established hierarchy. Such hierarchies exist everywhere, from schools to offices to the political system. Religions too are grounds for discrimination and foster wrong views. All discrimination is due to lack of love. In love we are equal, we are one. The third mindfulness training is true love. True love can only exist when understanding exists. This kind of understanding is explained in the Prajñapāramitā Hriday Sutra. The Buddha's body came from his parents, his language, food habits etc. from the society, his education came from his Hindu teachers, his food and drinks came from the Earth and farmers and cooks. Everything else in the world makes up a Buddha. A Buddha is made up of everything else but a Buddha, that is why he is a Buddha. This is the correct understanding of self. This is how we all exist. A flower is made of everything else but a flower, that is why it is a flower. When the flower realizes this, then she does develops perfect equanimity and loves everything. Then we cannot kill, exploit or hurt others.
We do not realize and practice true love because we have been taught wrong views. We are taught by our political, social and religious leaders that it is acceptable to kill enemies and animals. We are taught to discriminate between men and women, humans and animals etc. The fourth mindfulness training is the practice of mindful communication. So we must not propagate wrong views. We must communicate in a manner that brings hope and promotes right understanding. Through our communication we must seek to end discrimination and inequalities. Our communication should promote mindfulness and true love. Violence, inequalities, exploitation etc. will end only when everyone practices true love.
We can see so many people brainwashed into violence. They have acquired wrong views. These wrong views have resulted in wrong actions which have become habits. For example, food habits like consuming animals and animal products like milk. We consume through our five senses and what we consume leaves an impression on our consciousness. The fifth mindfulness training is the practice of mindful consumption. We must be aware of what we are consuming and avoid what is harmful to us or is obtained through cruel means. The most common way we consume is by breathing. So we must develop awareness of our breathing. This is Ānapānasati. This leads to abiding in the four establishments of mindfulness (Satipatthana). These lead to the development of mindfulness which is one of the seven factors of awakening which in turn leads to the development of the other six. The seven factors of awakening lead to enlightenment.
To share this understanding with others is the practice of giving (Dāna Pāramitā). All six pāramitās are in each other. So, when we learn, practice and create awareness about the Five Mindfulness trainings, we are practicing the six pāramitās, which is the education we need to embark upon the Bodhisattva career.
It is difficult to practice in a community where people are exploiting others, chasing wealth and sensual pleasures and engaging in violence. Therefore, we must help manifest communities which practice the five mindfulness trainings.
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