The Object of Life and the Means of Its Attainment

Graeme Lyall
(A talk by Graeme Lyall given to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association of Australia
on Religious Founders' Day, Al Masjid bait ul Huda, 5th May, 1996)
oOo
I am delighted to be able to share this important occasion with you, the
centenary of the publication of the book, "Philosophy of the Teachings of
Islam". I am dealing with one of the themes of the book, "The Object of Life
and the Means of its Attainment".
What, then, is the object of life? To this question people will give diverse answers.
Some may say - to make a lot of money. Why do people want money? Because
they believe that this will bring them many material posessions which, they
imagine, will bring them happiness. Can material posessions bring happiness? To a
limited extent, they can, but is one really satisfied? Usually its the case that no
matter what you have you can always envisage having something better or bigger.
These posessions can also be the cause of anxiety for fear of losing them. A story
from the Buddhas time tells of the Buddha sitting by the side of the road with
some of his monks when a farmer came by looking very distressed. "Did you see a
herd of cows pass this way?" he asked. "No!" said the Buddha. "Oh dear!" said the
farmer, " I have lost all of my cows and last year there was no rain and my crops
failed. Im so unhappy. My life is ruined". After he had gone, the Buddha turned
to his monks and said, " Monks, arent you fortunate that you dont own any
cows?". There is always present a craving or attachment. This craving or
attachment, whether it be for material things, friends or family can be a source of
sorrow - the opposite of happiness. This sorrow or unsatisfactoriness is described
in the Buddhas teachings as dukkha, whereas happiness, which most people
seek is called sukkha. The Buddha taught that the nature of life is dukkha.
Most of us would prefer to experience sukkha but the very fact that our happy
states dont last, makes them, in effect, unsatisfying or sorrowful. The object of
life, for most of us, then is to find happiness - a lasting happiness, but, life by its
very nature is full of sorrow.
The essence of the Buddhas teaching is contained in the Four Noble Truths, the
first of which states that "Life is, by its very nature, dukkha, unsatisfying or
frustrating". Dukkha is often translated as suffering but it is much more than
that. It certainly means physical and mental suffering but it also means that life is
full of frustrations - we would always prefer things to be other than the way they
are. As we grow old, we wish we could remain young. If we are poor, we wish we
could be rich. When we are separated from our friends and loved ones, or, in the

case of the farmer, our possessions, we are saddened. Dukkha includes birth,
sickness, old age, pain and despair, separation from those whom we like and
association with those whom we dislike. All of these are examples of Dukkha and
that is the First Noble Truth. No matter what is the nature of things in life, we
always crave for them to be other than the way they are. We dont want to face
the fact that life is unsatisfactory or frustrating. We always seek to relieve this
unsatisfactoriness by craving for more of this or more of that.
This brings us to the second of the Four Noble Truths which tells us that the cause
of dukkha is rooted in what are known as the three poisons, greed or attachment,
anger or hatred and a deluded mind. We tend to be attached to people and material
things and when we are separated from them, we suffer regret. We cling to these
things as if they will last forever and we find it hard to accept the fact that they
dont. We get angry or have aversions to those things that we do not like.
Buddhism teaches that anger harms the one who is angry more than the object to
which this anger is directed. Anger causes heating of the blood and an unpleasant
appearance. The more we get angry with someone and they react to our anger the
more this anger increases. Anger is unproductive - it doesnt solve any problems.
Our minds are deluded because we do not see things as they really are - that is,
subject to impermanence (anicca, Pali), frustrating (dukkha, Pali) and devoid of a
permanent self or substance (anatta, Pali). Everything, material or immaterial, is
subject to change or impermanence. Perhaps you are sitting comfortably in your
chairs at the moment. If you remain in that chair for the next three hours, without
moving, do you still think you could regard the chair as comfortable? If you
remained fixed in that chair for a month, you would probably find that you are
crippled and unable to move. If you remain in that chair for a hundred years, you
will probably be a skeleton and the chair will be fairly seedy too. What starts as
being regarded as comfortable can soon change to being uncomfortable.
Everything is relative. The way we see things depends on the time, place and
current situation. We, ourselves, are subject to this change. Every cell in our body
is constantly aging and dying and being replaced. Our thoughts and ideas are
constantly changing or being modified. Your thoughts and ideas, since you arrived
in this beautiful mosque, are different from before you arrived. They have changed
considerably. Is there anything in you, which is not subject to this change? I dont
think so. This is why Buddhists say, in the ultimate sense, there is no you or
unchanging self entity. There is no ghost in the machine pressing the buttons. This
concept of change and the comprehension of the idea of "no self is difficult to
accept and is, therefore, Dukkha.
The third Noble Truth concerns the overcoming of Dukka, that is, overcoming the
greed, anger and delusion that are the source of Dukkha. Accepting change as a
characteristic of life and not becoming angry or frustrated about it is part of the
way to overcoming Dukkha. This overcoming of Dukkha is termed "Nirvana".
Nirvana is not a place but could be described as a state of mind - a mind that sees
things as they really are and not clouded by delusion. Yet it is more than just a state

of mind. It transcends speculation and description. The Buddha spoke of it thus:

Monks, there is an unborn, a not-become, a not-made, a not-compounded.
Monks, if that unborn, not-become, not-made, not-compounded were not, there
would be apparent no escape from this that here is born, become, made,
compounded. But, monks, since there is an unborn, not-become, not-made, notcompounded, therefore the escape from this that here is born, become, made and
compounded is apparent. Some may refer to this unborn, not-become, not-made,
not compounded as God. Buddhists, however, are reluctant to use the term "God".
God means different things to different people. Some will say that it refers to an
anthropomorphic being like ourselves who created the world whilst others, such as
the Christian Philosopher of Religion, Paul Tillich, suggests that God is the
ground of being - the very fact of existence, whereas others prefer not to
define God because such things as descriptions are inadequate when speaking of
the transcendental. It is because of the confusion surrounding meaning of the term
"God" that Buddhists avoid using the term altogether. Buddhists speak of Nirvana that which is unborn, not-become, not-made, and not-compounded. Nirvana is not
anihilation, as many non-Buddhists claim but is a state beyond becoming - a
transcendental state. It is beyond comparison with anything that we can know in
the world so how can we define it? All descriptions are inadequate.
The Fourth Noble Truth is the method taught by the Buddha for attaining this state
of Nirvana. It is the Noble Eightfold Path. You may be wondering why the term
Noble(Ariya) is used for the Path. One who walks the Path is considered to be
a noble or worthy person. The eight steps of the Path are: Right Understanding,
Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right
Mindfulness and Right Concentration. Right Understanding is knowledge that the
Four Noble Truths lead to the overcoming of Dukkha. It does not imply a total
understanding of these Truths but a confidence that, by following the Path, the
result, Nirvana, will be attained. Right Thought is to be constantly aware of ones
thoughts and actions and thereby avoiding harm to any living creature. Right
Speech is awareness of ones speech so that, what one says, is beneficial to the
hearer. Right Action is to be aware of ones actions and observe the five precepts
of avoiding the taking of life, taking what is not given to you, sexual misconduct,
lying and deceiving and the partaking of alcohol and drugs which tend to distort
the mind. Essentially one should avoid any action which may cause harm to
oneself or any other living creature. Right Livelihood is to earn ones living in a
way that does not cause harm or suffering. Such occupations as the selling of
intoxicants, firearms or animals for slaughter would be considered inappropriate
for Buddhists. Right Effort is the avoiding of evil which has not already arisen,
rejecting evil which has already arisen, the acquiring of wholesome things which
have not yet been acquired and the stabilising of those wholesome characteristics
that have already been acquired. Right Mindfulness is training in constant
awareness of the effects of ones actions, whether of body, speech or mind, and

thus avoiding harmful actions. Right Concentration is cultivating the mind through
concentration and meditation so that one attains intuitive insight.
Meditation (Bhavana) is a central part of Buddhist practice. In the Theravadin
tradition, two forms of meditation, calm (Samatha) and insight (Vipassana) are
recognised as essential practice in achieving spiritual progress. Calming the mind
is achieved by concentration on a specific object and excluding all extraneous
thoughts. Often, the breath or the movement of the diaphragm is used as a suitable
object for concentration. At other times, objects, such as coloured discs (Kasinas)
or meditation beads (Mala) or even counting the breaths are used to fix the mind
during this preliminary practice. This concentration practice, calms the mind and
induces a feeling of well-being. It is also a necessary practice for gaining onepointedness of mind or full concentration. Once the mind has been trained in
concentration, the meditator can then reflect on the feelings and sensations of the
body, noting them as they arise and pass away. This latter practice is known as
Vipassana and is the means of cultivating insight or mindfulness.
In the Chan (Zen, Japanese) tradition, two techniques are employed. One
method is to concentrate on the breath and then try to clear the mind of all thoughts
whatsoever. This method eliminates the constant chatter of the mind and results in
an awakening (satori). Another Chaan technique is to ponder a question (Kungan, Chinese, Koan, Japanese), which has no rational answer. Typical koans are,
"what was your face before you were born?" "what is the sound of one hand
clapping?" or the word "Mu". These techniques are aimed at pushing the mind
beyond rational thought in order to experience the ultimate awakening.
A technique used by the Pure Land Sect of the Mahayana is to constantly recite the
name (nien-fo, Chinese, nembutsu, Japanese) of the Buddha of infinite light,
Amitabha Buddha (Omi to-Fo, Chinese, Amida Butsu, Japanese). This, again, is
a means of fixing the mind on one object and not dissimilar to repetitions of
prayers used by many Christians. The result is a calmed mind, and, according to
Pure Land Buddhism, rebirth in the Pure Land where enlightenment may be
attained by listening to the teaching of Buddha Amitabha.
Most Buddhists believe that, upon the disolution of the body, rebirth may take
place in a state consistent with the qualities of the consciousness energy, or
resultant of past actions (karma) at the time of death. This rebirth may occur in
human form, animal form, as a ghost (preta), in a blissful state (deva) or in a
woeful state. Each of these states is impermanent and lasts as long as the karmic
energy, which resulted in that rebirth state, sustains it. In other words, we are
subject to a constant round of rebirths (Samsara) until Nirvana, or the release from
rebirth is attained.
In summary, then, the object of the Buddhist life is the overcoming of Dukkha or
the unsatisfactory nature of life. In the process of overcoming this Dukkha, one

empathises with the Dukkha of others and identifies with them. By this means we
tend to see all creatures as one in this sea of suffering and thus we cultivate
compassion for all living creatures. All have the potential, the seed of
enlightenment or Buddha nature within them so we see each living creature as a
potential Buddha. Once we see that all creatures have Buddha nature, we can
overcome anger and aversion - two of the poisons that are the source of Dukkha.
By following the Noble Eightfold Path, we have a tried and proven means of
overcoming our deluded minds and attaining the wisdom to realise the bliss of
Nirvana. May you all be well and happy.
Graeme Lyall
Australia, 1996
lyallg@zip.com.au
http://www.zip.com.au/~lyallg/index.html