You Should Heed These Shoulds

The very first sentence in the Buddha’s first discourse has a “should” about the two extremes that should be avoided. His very last word was an imperative: “Achieve completion.” Throughout his teaching career, he dealt in “shoulds.” In the old poems in the Sutta Nipāta, there are lots of exhortations about how monks should, should, should behave like this, and should not, not, not behave like that. And, of course, we’ve got the whole Dhamma-Vinaya. The Vinaya is full of “shoulds” and “should nots.” When the Buddha taught the Dhamma he didn’t just give information. He roused, encouraged, and urged his listeners to act as well.

I say all this because this is a feature of the Buddha’s teachings that’s often denied. We’re told that the Buddha’s teaching is simply to accept things as they are. We shouldn’t try to impose any “shoulds” on anything. Just be with things as they are and accept them as they are.

Well, that phrase “knowledge and vision of things as they are” is actually a mistranslation. The right translation is, “knowledge and vision of things as they’ve come to be.” The reason you want to know how they’ve come to be is because you want to understand the causal principle behind them. Then you can use that causal principle for the purpose of doing what should be done to put an end to suffering.

That’s why, when the Buddha gave his shortest description of his own awakening, he started with a causal principle: “When this is, that is. When this isn’t, that isn’t. From the arising of this comes the arising of that. From the cessation of this comes the cessation of that.” As he explains it, this is a causal principle that allows for freedom of choice. And he wants you to exercise your freedom of choice to develop the path.

Recently, someone explained the Buddha’s recommendations for being content with your lodgings by saying, “If you tell yourself, ‘I have to be content,’ you’re imposing the ego on things, and it’s a form of grasping. Because no matter what you become, it’s all subject to being inconstant, stressful, not-self. Instead, you should simply reflect: If you have some discontent about your lodging, don’t feel bad about yourself. Just notice, ‘Discontent is like this.’”

I’ve never seen the Buddha give advice like that.

What this line of thought is doing is taking the three perceptions and turning them into a metaphysical teaching of three characteristics, making that the basis of the Buddha’s teachings. On top of that basis, you place the four noble truths. Then you try to figure out the duties of the four noble truths in line with the fact that everything is going to be inconstant, stressful, not-self. You end up pretty much denying the duties. Comprehension of suffering simply becomes reflecting that suffering is like this, craving is like this, and so on down the line.

But the Buddha never explained things that way. For him, the four noble truths were the basic teaching. The three perceptions found their role within the duties of those four noble truths. This is why, in the first sermon, he taught the four noble truths. He didn’t teach the three perceptions until his second sermon.

In the first sermon, he taught that suffering is to be comprehended. What does comprehension mean? It means that you understand suffering to the point of having no more greed, aversion, and delusion around it. Craving, the second noble truth, is to be abandoned. How do you abandon it? First, you have to figure out where your craving is focused.

Suppose you think you have a craving for a person. But is it really focused on the person, or is it focused on your perception of that person? On your thought constructs around that person? The narratives you tell yourself? When you can really locate the craving, really see where it’s focused, then you can see what’s the allure of that focus. And then what are the drawbacks of the craving? You want to compare the allure with the drawbacks until you develop dispassion for the craving and can stop doing it.

That’s a lot more active than simply telling yourself, “Craving is like this.” You want to see very clearly the focus: Where does it arise, what’s the origination, what inside you gives rise to it? How does it pass away? How does it come back again? When it comes back, what’s the allure?

Often the hard part, though, is finding where the precise location is. You think you crave something, yet actually you’re focused on something more deeply buried, something more subtle. This is why you have to develop the path so that you can see your own mind very clearly.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The third noble truth is to be realized. How do you realize it? You watch your mind as craving gets abandoned. And you get to that point by developing the path.

When the Buddha says to be virtuous, he’s not saying just to observe what it’s like to be not-virtuous. When he’s saying, “Go do jhāna,” he’s not saying, “Go reflect on your minds that are not in jhāna.” Actually, he wants you to do virtue and jhāna and do them well. They’re activities to be done—skills to be mastered.

After all, the mind is an active entity. It’s constantly shaping the present moment. And it needs instructions on how to do it skillfully, because right now it’s causing suffering by shaping the moment in a very ignorant way. The Buddha responds to this need by giving you examples, ideas, opening opportunities: “You can do this; you can do that.” He’s teaching us things we wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. That’s what his imperatives are for. That’s what his shoulds are for. Not as an imposition, but as a means for opening opportunities.

This is why the first teaching was the four noble truths. He’s establishing the context. Within the context of the four noble truths and their duties, you apply the three perceptions of inconstancy, stress, and not-self as you try to comprehend your suffering and abandon the cause, seeing the drawbacks of craving, and the fact that no matter where the craving leads you, it’s going to be inconstant, stressful, and not-self. The craving itself is inconstant, stressful, and not-self. All the more reason to want to abandon it.

On their own, the three characteristics—when the perceptions are turned into characteristics—have no imperatives. You can use them to justify any kind of behavior—like the idea, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we may die.” Or, “Try to squeeze as much pleasure as you can out of things as they go running past.” Or the idea that you shouldn’t strive for anything, just be with things as they are, because no matter what you strive for, it’s all going to go away.

Recently, a group of meditators in Brazil were putting together a Dhamma curriculum for their children that started out with the three characteristics. When they showed it to me, I said, “No, no, no. You’ll have them all depressed and defeatist. You have to provide the context first.”

What is the context? Well, what is the context of wisdom in general? “What, when I do it, will lead to my long-term welfare and happiness? What, when I do it, will lead to my long-term harm and suffering?”—the wisdom there being that long-term happiness is possible, it’s better than short-term, and it’s going to depend on your actions. Your actions can make the difference between long-term happiness and long-term harm. When you act on that realization, that’s wise. Just saying, “Things are inconstant, stressful, and not-self, so I’ll just be with them and say that they’re like this”: That’s not wise at all.

When the Buddha tells us we should develop the path, we should work at developing it. It’s going to be worth it. And even though it involves some grasping, well, think of the image of the raft. You’re on this side of the river. It’s dangerous. On the other side of the river is safety. And the river itself is dangerous, so you have to be very careful about how you go across. There’s no bridge to the other side; there’s no nibbāna yacht coming to pick you up. But you do have twigs and branches on this side of the river, which stand for the clinging-aggregates, the things you ordinarily cling to in a way that constitutes suffering. But you cut them, bind them into a raft, and then hold on as you cross the river, making an effort with your arms and legs.

In other words, you use the aggregates of form, feeling, perceptions, fabrications, and consciousness to create a path. Your practice of the precepts will involve these five aggregates. Your practice of concentration will involve them. Even discernment—the perceptions and thought constructs you use for discernment—will involve the aggregates, especially perceptions. And you have to hold on.

And if it involves a sense of self as you do this, well, the Buddha recommends that you develop a good, healthy sense of self: a sense that, one, you can do this; and two, you will benefit; and three, you can learn from your actions so that you can perfect the path. After all, there are things in the river that will wash you away if you don’t hold on tight. You do have to make an effort, and it’s well worth it. It’ll get you to the other side. Once you’ve gotten to the other side, then you can let go of the raft with a sense of appreciation. Then you can go on your way.

So remember, the four noble truths come first. Their duties come first. The three perceptions are not three characteristics. The three perceptions are activities that you do in line with the duties of the four noble truths. As with all perceptions, they don’t tell you the totality of the reality. But we’re not here to find ultimate reality. We’re here to find the end of suffering. That’s something else. But the three perceptions incline the mind in the right direction to develop dispassion so that you can let go when the time comes to let go.

That’s how you use the Buddha’s teachings. When he says, “You should do this,” trust him that it’s worth the effort to do it. When he says, “You should not do that,” try not doing it. These are shoulds you can follow. You’re already shaping your experience anyhow. You’re already active in taking the raw material from your past karma and shaping it into your present moment experience. So take the Buddha’s advice: This is how you do it well.

His shoulds are not impositions. His shoulds are ways of opening opportunities. Regard them not as a burden, but as doors to the deathless.