Monday, 21st April 2025 - What kind deeds did I do today to make others happy

1. I washed the bathroom.

2. I hoovered downstairs in preparation for guests.

3. I watered the gardens.

4. I emptied the bins and changed the bin liners.

5. I helped a housemate wash the dishes.

6. I helped a housemate get the drinks and snacks from upstairs for the guests because she finds it hard to climb the stairs.

7. I helped a housemate get the serving dishes she needs to put the food in for the guests.

8. I helped a housemate serve the guests drinks and snacks.

Comments

• The aim of Buddhism is to end suffering. That is wonderful. To end suffering you need to know the four noble truths.

  • The first noble truth is what suffering is (dukkha). Suffering is feeling physical pain when ill or emotional pain when treated cruelly or coldly, Suffering is losing contact with someone who was kind to you. Suffering is losing something or things that allow you to communicate with people who are being kind to you. Suffering is being separated from everyone who is kind to you. Human inflicted suffering is cruelty. Suffering is worrying about anything at all. For example, worrying about death.

  • The second noble truth is what is the cause of suffering. The first cause of suffering is attachment to people and things. When you attach yourself to anyone or anything, you suffer when you lose that person or thing. Attachment is a strong feeling for a person or thing. It is holding on to a person or thing. The second cause of suffering is craving things such as certificates, food, money and other things you can buy from the shop and not having your craving satiated. The third cause of suffering is ignorance (samudaya) which is not knowing the truth. This leads to believing lies which makes you sad because you don't know the truth. You are guessing the truth. You are getting worked up because you don't know the exact truth. You guess things that are not the truth and this can lead you anywhere and you can think anything in your made up story. You can end up getting angry about a story you made up to support your guess of what the truth is.

  • The third noble truth is that suffering can end by letting go of attachments and ceasing desire and craving for things and people.

  • The fourth noble truth is the noble eightfold path that leads to the end of suffering. This path is as follows:

    • Right Understanding - Knowing the true answer to why

    • Right Intention - Doing actions and saying words out of kindness and harmlessness and not doing actions and saying words to harm the other. Not being attached to anything or anyone when reacting to an action or words.

    • Right Speech: Speaking truthfully, kindly, and constructively (not destructively).

    • Right Action: Doing kind actions that don't harm oneself or others. For example, visiting someone in jail or hospital to help them feel happy by being friendly and warm towards them. You can bring them a bottle of drinking water and a book on Buddhism to help make them happy.

    • Right Livelihood: Choosing to study a course for work and to do a job that is kind and doesn't harm others.

    • Right Effort: Making an effort to be kind, loving, hard-working, generous and honest instead of being hateful, lazy, dishonest and angry.

    • Right Mindfulness: Thinking about what I am doing in the present moment and focusing my attention on what I am doing in the present moment.

    • Right Concentration: Concentrating on what I am doing and thinking whilst doing it of how to do what I am doing in a kind and harmless manner.

If you follow the noble eightfold path then you will be of a very noble character and will end suffering in your locality and possibly throughout the world by being kind, generous, honest, harmless and friendly.

• Everyone should have a voice including the animals. I will stand up for the animals' rights to live and the animals' right to live a good quality life. Everyone ought to live the life they want to live harmlessly and kindly.