Ther’s no suffering.
When I saw Zen Master Sheng Yen for the very first time, I knew I could not be a good student. The Theosophists said when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. But it’s also the opposite when the teacher is there everything disappears, your ego, your name, your clinging to the past. Even words. It’s not physical death but still, it is something coming to an end.
There is no suffering, no cause of suffering
It’s the story of the pessimist and the optimist. The first says the glass is half empty and the second: the glass is half full. But the teacher says: it’s your mind that is full!
The glass holds the water and gives you the perception that something is there, but what is a glass of water when you break the glass? What is a car when you pull out the wheels, is it still a car? And if we broke it apart, what makes it recognizable, what is its real essence?
no cessation of suffering, and no path.
Master Sheng Yen died in Taiwan from renal failure in 2009, while returning from the hospital. He refused a kidney transplant while being sick for many years. But why?
Suffering comes from ignorance, attachment to the self, and confusion is caused by afflictions.
A person completely selfless can decide on his own life without despair, without hope.
And so he did.
