Text:
The Saha World is the place where a myriad sufferings intermingle and a myriad evils abound. As to sufferings, there are three, eight and limitless sufferings. There is no way to discuss them all, for they could never be fully described. The three sufferings are:
1. The suffering within suffering
2. The suffering of deterioration
3. The suffering of process

Commentary:
The topic is "Pleasure Is the Cause of Suffering." We feel that the things we experience are pleasurable, but actually they are very bitter. If you don't understand, then you mistake suffering to be happiness. If you understand, then you know that happiness will turn into suffering in the future or even right now. That's the Saha World, the world where beings are "able to endure." What is meant by "Saha"? Saha is a Sanskrit word that means "able to endure." Living beings are able to endure this kind of suffering. "It's so much suffering; how can they endure it?" you might ask. Even though the suffering is basically unbearable, they still manage to bear it.

The Saha World is the place where a myriad sufferings intermingle. There are many kinds of suffering in this world, not just one kind, and they all intermingle and cause mutual torment. Each suffering is connected to the others, and it's as if one is being fried in a pot of oil--fried by the dharmas of suffering and a myriad evils abound. As to sufferings, there are three, eight and limitless sufferings. There is no way to discuss them all, for they could never be fully described. The three sufferings are:

1. The suffering within suffering. This is suffering added on top of suffering. The person may already be poor, have no clothes to wear, and live in a run-down old shack. Then a tornado comes and blows down his shack, so he has nowhere to live. That's the suffering within suffering. Or maybe his shack gets burned down, or gets ruined by heavy rains. That's also suffering within suffering. Or maybe his shack leaks, and on top of that it rains all night. That's suffering within suffering as well.

2. The suffering of deterioration. This is when a person is rich and is basically getting along pretty well, but then there's a fire, a flood, a tornado, or some other kind of calamity or accident that causes him to lose his wealth. His wealth deteriorates.

3. The suffering of process. You might not experience the suffering of poverty or the suffering of losing your wealth, but there's the suffering of process. From your youth to the prime of life, and then on to old age and death, your thoughts follow one another in continual succession, never stopping. As there is really no happiness to be found, this is known as the suffering of process.

Text:
The eight sufferings are: birth, old age, sickness, death, the suffering of being separated from objects of love, the suffering of encountering objects of hate, the suffering of not getting what one seeks, and the suffering of the raging blaze of the five skandhas.

Commentary:
The eight sufferings are:
Birth: We are not aware of how painful the birth process is. Actually when a person is born, he feels as much pain as a cow being flayed alive, or as a live turtle getting its shell pulled off. When a baby is born, the first thing it does is cry, "Ku, ku, ku!" [In Chinese, the word ku for 'crying' (哭) sounds similar to the word ku for 'suffering' (苦).] So children experience suffering when they are first born. But after a few days, they forget about the suffering and mistake it to be happiness. So children will also smile and laugh. They think it's pretty nice, that there's no more suffering. But as they get older--passing from youth into the prime of life, and then onto old age--they experience suffering again. When they are old, they don't have the strength to chew their food or to walk, and everything becomes a hassle. That's the suffering of old age. Sickness is also a kind of suffering. When one is sick, everything one eats loses its flavor. But there is no suffering greater than that of death. The Buddha observed these four sufferings and it prompted him to leave the home-life and cultivate. There are four additional kinds of suffering: the suffering of being separated from objects of love. When you are separated from the person you love most dearly, that is this kind of suffering. When you lose your most treasured possession, you also experience this kind of suffering. If someone sets fire to your house, which you love to live in, you have this suffering. If someone steals your favorite outfit, you also have this suffering. In general, this suffering is experienced when something or someone that you are very attached to and cannot let go of is taken away from you. The suffering of encountering objects of hate. There may be someone you absolutely detest, so you decide to go somewhere else to get away from the person. But when you go to another place, you meet the same kind of person there. You hate him and loathe him, but as things turn out, you keep running into him. The suffering of not getting what one seeks. There is something you really wish to have, but you just can't obtain it. That's also a kind of suffering. The suffering of the raging blaze of the five skandhas. The five skandhas are form, feeling, thought, formations, and consciousness. They are like a roaring fire, and they also constitute a kind of suffering, although no one considers it to be suffering. Once you awaken to this kind of suffering, you'll know that it's worse than anything.

Text:
Wearing beautiful new clothes is a great pleasure, but before long the clothes become a yoke. When they get dirty or stained, worry arises. Would you call this pleasure or suffering? Fine eating is foremost among pleasures, but even when served the most delicious gourmet food, one can only eat three meals a day; more brings on vomiting and diarrhea. Would you call this pleasure or suffering?

Commentary:
Wearing beautiful new clothes is a great pleasure. People love nothing better than putting on new clothes. But now there's a new twist. In America the young people like to cut patches out of their new clothes. That's a very carefree and clever way to do things. However, it does take a bit of work. You have to take a pair of scissors and cut up your new clothes. That's to ruin clothes on purpose.

Suppose you don't do that, and you put on a very expensive outfit. But before long the clothes become a yoke. When you put on that outfit for the first time, you're afraid to move or touch anything, lest you get it dirty. So you are very, very careful. When you walk, you walk like a piece of wood, and you dare not lean against anything. You really take good care of your clothes. But suppose you go to a party, or a banquet, or out for a drink, and you accidentally spill something on your clothes. "Oh no! I paid $5000 for this outfit, and now it's messed up." You start berating yourself, "How could I be so careless? I've ruined my clothes." You fight with yourself, because you made the mess yourself. If someone else gets your outfit dirty, you fight with them: "How dare you mess up my clothes like this?" When they get dirty or stained, worry arises. The stains will never wash out, and your expensive outfit is ruined. Then you become afflicted in everything you do, all because of this one outfit. Would you call this pleasure or suffering?

People have an extremely hard time renouncing their attachment to food. You might want to renounce it, but your tongue and mouth don't go along with you. Your throat also craves good flavors: "I'm determined to have a little nibble." Fine eating is foremost among pleasures. You might try to refuse delicious food, but you find yourself unable to. Your desire for food is so strong it's as if a hand comes out of your throat and says, "Gimme, gimme!" That's how bad it is. And so take a look! There are people who say they won't eat after noon, but when evening comes, they want to eat. The precept of eating one meal a day is even more difficult to maintain. One of my disciples acknowledges that he has broken the precept of not eating at improper times. It's really not easy! But even when served the most delicious gourmet food, the finest delicacies in a hundred flavors--more delicious than candy and sweeter than honey--one can only eat three meals a day. No matter how delicious it is and how much you like to eat, you can't eat more than than three times a day.

In China there was an emperor who really went to extremes. At mealtime, an area of 50,000 square feet was set with all kinds of dishes of food. How could anyone eat that much? You could only eat what was in front of you. He would just look at all that food. He might taste one dish and look at two or three others. That was really excessive, and so it's a good thing that the imperial system is no longer around. Eating three meals a day is good. If you eat more than that, say four or five meals, or even eight meals--like Dharma Master Yuanying in Shanghai, which is why he was so plump--it doesn't do much good, and in fact it brings on many illnesses.

Yuanying really knew how to eat. He ate eight times a day, but he only ate a fixed amount of one bowl at each meal. In the morning he would have "Eight Treasures Porridge"--rice porridge made with eight of the most expensive delicacies. Every hour and a half after that, he would have a meal. So he ate eight meals per day, but each meal was very small. He understood how to eat, so he became very plump. Even at the time of his death, he was very fat. He hardly ever got sick, because he knew how to eat. You can learn from Dharma Master Yuanying.

If you don't know how to eat right, you'll get sick.What kind of sickness? More brings on vomiting and diarrhea. If you are greedy, thinking, "This is so good, I'll eat two bowls instead of one," your stomach will say, "That won't do. I've got to clear things out--now!" Then either you vomit the food, or else you rush to the toilet with diarrhea. You might have to make many visits to the toilet, perhaps going ten times a minute! Would you call this pleasure or suffering? You are thinking, "I don't believe anyone could go to the toilet ten times in one minute." Well, in this age everything happens at rocket-speed, right?

Text:
Living in a luxurious house is considered a great pleasure, but although one may accumulate thousands of mansions, during sleep one's realm extends less than eight feet. All those estates need stewards, and caring for them exhausts one's mental faculties. Would you call this pleasure or suffering?

Commentary:
The two preceding passages discussed the matters of clothing and food. This section concerns the matter of dwelling. Living in a luxurious house is considered a great pleasure. People are fond of living in elegant, fine houses. But although one may accumulate thousands of mansions, during sleep one's realm extends less than eight feet. You can't sleep in all ten thousand houses at once. You only occupy eight feet of space at night. All those estates need stewards. You have to worry about managing your houses and keeping them in good shape. And caring for them exhausts one's mental faculties. You wear yourself out. Each day your thoughts run: "How am I going to repair this house? What needs to be done on that house?" All day long your mind is occupied with these problems, to the point that your hair starts turning white. These thoughts burn up your mental "gasoline" and you even lose sleep over them. Would you call this pleasure or suffering? Think it over. How relaxing it would be if you didn't own so much property and have to make so many calculations! So although these things appear to be pleasurable on the surface, if you take a closer look, you'll discover that they're a lot of trouble.