Grasping Sucks

So...umm yeah.

I'm driven insane on daily basis.

It seems like everything sucks.

My job is overwhelming:

I can do the work and I like the people I work with, both our customers and my co-workers. There's just a larger volume of work than I can handle.

My wife is disinterested in me:

I'm never able to have her undivided attention. The phone makes sure there's always someone "in the room" with us, as she almost never puts it down.

I'm having difficulties securing funding for my medically necessary weight-loss program:

My insurance won't pay and there's no easy route to charitable support.

My car is dying:

It has an oil leak I can't find the source of and I just spent over $500 that wasn't in the budget to fix the brakes/rotors/struts.

But why does all this crap bother me??

It all has the same root cause: grasping. It's not like it should be. We create "ideal" fantasies about the way we want out life to be and ignore the awesome that surrounds us.

In just these situations, let's look at the awesome:

My job is overwhelming:

I have a job. That kind of, mostly pays our bills and I don't hate it. It's close to where I live and the benefits are good. The company isn't terrible and the people are great.

My wife is disinterested in me:

My wife has had a pinched nerve for the last week and before that we both had colds. We conquered the spectre of divorce and I know she loves me without a doubt. Sex (and physical affection in general) may not happen as often as I would like, but that doesn't mean it never happens.

I'm having difficulties securing funding for my medically necessary weight-loss program:

The intake Dr. who did all my blood-work and my physical evaluation wasn't worried about me finding a payment solution. She had lots of advice and general well wishes to offer.

My car is dying:

The brakes are fixed and that's done. My friend will probably help me track down the oil leak and fix it for cheap. 

In the final analysis. I just need to chill out and okay with what is. 

I suppose I just need a little Dude and a little less Walter.

Abide, Achievers.

Buddhism: It's All About the Lists, Baby.

My Sangha-mate, David compiled this List of Lists. Most of this is from Wikipedia. He told me that he claims no ownership of the text so, I'm guessing little, if any, of it is his text.

Buddhists really are crazy about lists. I think this might have come about during the early days before the first Sangha Council, when the Triptaka began to be standardized and written down. It's easier to remember lists then long passages without any delineation, I suppose.

Feel free to add to this or point out any omissions. I'll forward those back to David.

So without further adieu:

The Four Noble Truths

1. The Nature of Suffering (or Dukkha): "This is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering." Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11), trans. Bodhi (2000), pp. 1843-47.
2. Suffering's Origin (Dukkha Samudaya): "This is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination.” Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11), trans. Bodhi (2000), pp. 1843-47.]
3. Suffering's Cessation (Dukkha Nirodha): "This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it." Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11), trans. Bodhi (2000), pp. 1843-47.
4. The Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering: (Dukkha Nirodha Gamini Patipada Magga): "This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration."

Noble Eightfold Path

Division	Eightfold Path factors
Wisdom (Sanskrit: prajñā, Pāli: paññā)	1. Right view
	2. Right intention
Ethical conduct (Sanskrit: śīla, Pāli: sīla)	3. Right speech
	4. Right action
	5. Right livelihood
Concentration (Sanskrit and Pāli: samādhi)	6. Right effort
	7. Right mindfulness
	8. Right concentration

The Six Paramitas (Perfections)
1) The Perfection of Generosity (Dana Paramita)
2) The Perfection of Ethics (Sila Paramita)
3) The Perfection of Patience (Kshanti Paramita)
4) The Perfection of Joyous Effort / Enthusiastic Perseverance (Virya Paramita)
5) The Perfection of Concentration (Dhyana Paramita
6) The Perfection of Wisdom (Prajna Paramita)

The Twelve Nidānas (chain of causation)
ignorance Avidyā (Sanskrit) or Avijjā (Pāli)
(mental) formations Saṃskāra (Sanskrit) or Saṅkhāra (Pāli)
consciousness Vijñāna (Sanskrit) or Viññāna (Pāli)
name and form Nāmarūpa (Sanskrit and Pāli)
six sense gates Ṣaḍāyatana (Sanskrit) or Saḷāyatana (Pāli)
contact Sparśa (Sanskrit) or Phassa (Pāli)
sensation Vedanā (Sanskrit and Pāli)
"craving" or "desire" or "thirst" Tṛṣṇā (Sanskrit) or Taṇhā (Pāli)
attachment Upādāna (Sanskrit and Pāli)
becoming Bhava (Sanskrit and Pāli)
birth Jāti (Sanskrit and Pāli)
aging (old age), decay and death Jarā-maraṇa (Sanskrit and Pāli)

Three Marks of Existence
impermanence (anicca)
suffering or unsatisfactoriness (dukkha)
not-self (anattā)

The 5 Skandhas (aggregates)

1. form or matter (Skt., Pāli rūpa)
2. sensation or feeling (Skt., Pāli vedanā)
3. perception, conception, apperception, cognition, or discrimination (Skt. samjñā, Pāli saññā)
4. mental formations, impulses, volition, or compositional factors (Skt. samskāra, Pāli saṅkhāra)
5. consciousness or discernment (Skt. vijñāna, Pāli viññāṇa)

Three Poisons- the mūla kleśa (English: root poisons) of the Twelve Nidānas are:
ignorance (Sanskrit: Avidyā)
attachment (Sanskrit: Upādāna)
craving (Sanskrit: Tṛṣṇā)

The Five Hindrances

1. Sensual desire (kāmacchanda): Craving for pleasure to the senses.
2. Anger or ill-will (byāpāda, vyāpāda): Feelings of malice directed toward others.
3. Sloth-torpor or boredom (thīna-middha): Half-hearted action with little or no concentration.
4. Restlessness-worry (uddhacca-kukkucca): The inability to calm the mind.