Dharamsala 2009: The Four Noble Truths

This is going to be a long long entry. Or maybe not.

Well, for those who are in the know, I was supposed to attend His Holiness Dalai Lama's Teaching Tour in Dharamsala. To cut the long story short, I did go, but I didnt get the chance to see him. There was a family emergency and we flew home on the same day that the teaching was starting.

So....was it our karma? Or as another friend (new age) suggested, that I didnt believe nor give strong enough intent that I may see him?
I suppose both was possible, but I am inclined to think that it was my/our karma.
Yet before I left SG, I already had the fear/feeling that I won't meet him. So is this intuition, or self fulfilling prophecy?
It's anyone's guess.

The topic of the teachings was "The Four Noble Truths"....
And honestly, our experience of the family emergency truly reflect the lesson that the four Noble Truths were trying to teach.

1. There is Suffering
- The fear of losing a loved one
- Our daily lives can be a form of suffering due to our delusion and ignorance
- The pain and unhappiness of things not loved nor wanted

2. Cause of suffering
- The attachment towards your loved one brings about your suffering as you fear that they will no longer be in your life
- The deluded mind thinking that you have an identity, that things should go your way
- The ignorance of the ultimate nature of reality leads us to perceive things in the conventional (but mistaken) way that we were taught

3. End of suffering
- Well, it can "end", but how many of us can reach that level at our current stage
- If we truly understood the nature of impermanence, of our cyclic existence, than there is realisation, and with that, comes the understanding of death, and hence the lack of fear towards death
- Or seeing dependent origination, that our life depends on so many others, we cease to see the distinction between us and others, and thus the need for expectations or to compete, etc.

4. Path to the cessation of suffering
- And that, is the Noble Eight fold path
- Most important is Right Understanding/View: of the true nature of reality, of karma, of the Four Noble Truths, of emptiness, of reunciation, of compassion, of wisdom....