Chapter 3. Lojong is to Like Suffering
3. Lojong is to Like Suffering
The Benefits of Problems
The benefits of suffering and problems are mentioned in Bodhicharyavatara (v. 6.21):
[ZHÄN YANG DUG NGÄL YÖN TÄN NI
Moreover, suffering has good qualities:
KYO WÄ DREG PA SEL WAR JE
Through being depressed by it, pride is eliminated,]
KHOR WA PA LA NYING JE KYE
You generate compassion for those in samsara,
DIG LA DZOM ZHING GE LA GA
Your negative karma is destroyed, and you delight in virtue.
When you have a problem, for example, when you have cancer or any other disease, it destroys your pride. Also when you see other beings suffering in samsara, who are the same as you in having cancer, AIDS, or whatever problems you have, you feel compassion for them.
For example, there was a student at Chenrezig Institute who had AIDS. When he was at Chenrezig Institute, he did the practice of the Medicine Buddha and took the eight Mahayana precepts. He disciplined himself and his AIDS got better. When he was more healthy, he went into the town to help other people with AIDS. He was busy trying to help others but because he didn’t get much time to discipline himself, his health would get worse. So again he would come back to Chenrezig Institute where he was able to discipline himself by taking the eight Mahayana precepts and doing the Medicine Buddha practice, so again his health got better. Then again he went to the city to help other AIDS people. Like that, because he got AIDS, he felt compassion the more he thought of other people who had AIDS. That’s why I’m telling this story, as proof of this. But also this story shows that if you discipline yourself by practicing Medicine Buddha and taking the eight Mahayana precepts, you get better, whereas when you don’t discipline yourself, when you become loose, your AIDS gets worse and again you have to build up your discipline.
When you recognize that your sickness or your relationship problems, all the problems that go on and on, come from your past negative karma, from not controlling your attachment, you become careful to not create negative karma. Because of the problems, you abandon creating negative karma, such as sexual misconduct and so forth, you get energy to control your attachment, and then your mind is happy to collect virtue.
In short, by seeing the problems you have, you are happy to abandon their causes. Then to have happiness, you need to create virtue, so you are happy to collect virtue. Also seeing the problems you have helps you develop renunciation to samsara.