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It is said that we are concerned only with external phenomena—things that happen outside of our body. We do not pay attention to ourselves, to our state of mind. We only become aware when consequences have occurred. We only become aware once sufferings occur. Sometimes we carry the burden of sufferings for a very long time, before placing it down. Often, by the time we become aware of our sufferings, they have already become unbearable. As mentioned before, the Buddha’s enlightenment was about sufferings. Being born is suffering, aging is suffering and dying is suffering. Suffering (dukkha), the cause of suffering (samudaya), the cessation of suffering (nirodha), in reality, are the path leading to the cessation of suffering (magga). Sometimes we see sufferings, but we do not pay attention to it, we do not know it. We do not know what causes sufferings.
Sometimes we cannot distinguish between sufferings and the problems that arise. Suffering is one thing; problem is another thing—so we should try to distinguish them. As mentioned, we should separate the corporeality from the mind—to observe that they are different and apart. We only need to observe—there is no need to force them to be. Wisdom will arise from our contemplation or observation of phenomena that emerge. Here, we really understand nature and things that happen to our lives. When practitioners ask me: “Arjan, could we use dhamma in real lives?” My question back is: “How is dhamma not real?”