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Chapter Six CULTIVATION OF FOUR KINDS OF AHARA 436 The centre of the cultivation in Buddhism is the destruction of defilements (kilesa) and suffering (dukkha.) Suffering or ill being can be described in terms of violence, discimination, hate, jealousy, anger, craving, and especially ignorance. Out of ignorance, one does many things that make him and others suffer; ignorance is the root of suffering 435 or of aharas. Hence, in Sammaditthisutta, Lord Buddha taught the right view is to comprehend foods, their uprising and stopping, and the course leading to the stopping of them; thus, one has rooted out all addiction to attachment, shunning and the latent view 'I am,' having got rid of ignorance, having made knowledge arise, is here-now the endmaker of anguish. As already discussed in the part "ahara and the Four Noble Truths" of the third chapter, four kinds of ahara of life stand for the first truth of suffering and the way leading to ending these foods or suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path. Lord Buddha taught the four kinds of food are called suffering because these foods are consumed with greed, hate, violence, conflicts, evil thoughts, etc., without right view, right mindfulness, and loving-kindness on these foods. Thus, the cultivation of Dharma, Color, and Culture, ibid., p. 61. 435 436 M. I, 48.

231 the four types of food is that of the Noble Truth of suffering 437 or the Four Noble Truths. This means that the cultivation is to identify the kinds of foods that have been feeding the suffering and then simply to stop ingesting them as well as to identify the kinds of foods have been nourishing the real happiness. The Buddha said, "When something has come to be, one has to acknowledge its presence and look deeply into its nature. When he looks deeply, he will discover the kinds of foods that have helped it come to be and that continue to feed it."438 He then elaborated four kinds of foods that can lead to our happiness or our suffering edible food, food of contact, food of intention, and food of consciousness as discussed previously. Shariputra, one of the Buddha's great disciples, also said, "When this has come to be, if one contemplates it deeply in the heart of reality, seeing its source and the food that nourishes it, he is already on the path of liberation. Liberation is real happiness. One sees clearly that real happiness is possible, if he can stop ingesting the foods that cause him to suffer. 440 Right mindfulness is the energy that can help him to investigate the kinds of foods he now ingests and decides which ones to continue to eat and which to resist. If he knows that his body and mind are suffering because of the way he eats, sleeps, wishes, acts or works, he vows to eat, sleep, wish or work in ways that are healthier. He vows to refrain from ingesting foods that make or create him suffer, and he also vows to ingest foods that are healthy and wholesome. 437 438 442 441 Why does the Buddha call suffering a Noble Truth? What is so noble about suffering? The fact is that, thanks to suffering, one has a chance to cultivate his understanding and his comapassion. Without suffering, there is no way he could learn to be compassionate. This is why sufffering is noble. One should not allow suffering to overwhelm him, but if he knows how to look deeply into suffering and learn from it, then he has the wisdom of understanding and compassion. Op. cit. S. II, 47. 439 Ibid. 440 The heart of the buddha's teaching, ibid., p. 38. 441 Ibid. 442 Ibid., p. 39.

232 The Buddha advised us to identify the kinds of foods that have been feeding our pain and then simply to stop ingesting them. And the moment we resolve to stop feeding our suffering, a path appears in front of us, which is the Noble Eightfold Path to happiness or well-being. We need suffering or food in order to see the path. This means that we should try to avoid or deny these kinds of foods although Lord Buddha said they are suffering. We should embrace our foods or sufferings and meditate or look deeply on them. We do this as a doctor treats his patient after diagnosing an illness. In doing so, we can identify the origin of suffering or food, the cessation of suffering or food, and the path leading to the cessation of suffering or food are all found in the heart of suffering or food. And the heart of suffering will be found in each of morsel food (kabalinkarahara,) at the moment of touching (phassahara,) of will of mind (manosancetanahara,) and of flow of conciousness (vinnanahara). 443 It is said that one of the most important and urgent things in human life that needs to be cultivated and transformed is the four kinds of foods, because these foods have created the so-called 'man' and 'life' and all things in life, they are the root of the life. Therefore, the cultivation of these foods is to reform or rebuild the root of the life that has been fallen and upset. For this reason, this chapter firstly focuses on discussing the cultivation of edible food in which the transformation of the purpose of eating, time for eating, and perception of repulsiveness in ahara; after that, cultivation of mental foods: food of contact, of volition, of 444 consciousness will be discussed. 443 Ibid., 444 pp.44-45. M. I, 24.