Regarding this Note:

Please begin by reading the “Preface to Erik’s Notes on Buddhism:” found on the main page of Buddhism ~ Thanks

Sure it is possible to end all suffering completely and forever. But first we need to know what suffering is and then we need to know what causes suffering.

So first, what is suffering? My suffering is an experience that results from my Negative Thinking. In fact, 100% of all my suffering is the result of my Negative Thinking: my Anger, Jealousy, Greed, Pride and Ignorance. Anger = I want to destroy your happiness and the causes of your happiness. Jealousy = 1) Your suffering is my happiness; 2) Your happiness is my suffering. Greed = More will make me happy. Pride = 1) I am already good enough, I do not need to improve myself; 2) I am so bad, there is nothing you can do to help me (my problem is more powerful then any solution you have); 3) Laziness, I know it would help, but I am not going to do it now. Ignorance = 1) Not knowing the truth about who you are (if you would like, see my Note on “What is Present Moment Thinking?”); and 2) Not knowing the truth about how things work (again, if you want, see my Note “the Four Facts”).

Once we know what suffering is, it is easy to see that Less Negative Thinking = Less Suffering (regardless of the conditions that we find ourselves in). Based on this, I can be in pain and not ‘suffer’ – as long as the pain is not driving me to get caught up in my Negative Thinking. If the pain exceeds my capacity to renounce my Negative Thinking then I am in trouble, hence the need to continually practice renouncing my Negative Thinking. (Renunciation = I want to get rid of my Negative Thinking because it is the cause of all my suffering and because it is a condition for others’ suffering. Literally, I want to decrease my attachment to my Negative Thinking.)

But then there is an important follow-up question. What is happiness and can we have true happiness? By understanding suffering and the cause of suffering, it is easy to understand that that my happiness is the cessation of my Negative Thinking; and, Zero Negative Thinking and zero negative Karma (the power of Negative Thinking) is True Happiness. True Happiness is the same as Vast Awakening – Buddha.

I think a lot of people get caught up here believing that they need to give up attachment in general. But there are at least two major problems with this idea. One, it is impossible for a sentient being (Present Moment Thinking with Ego-Clinging) to not have attachment. Thinking always has hope and fear, always has attachment and aversion. But it is only the attachment to anger, jealousy, greed, pride and ignorance that is the cause of our suffering. Therefore, we need to give up our attachment to our Negative Thinking only. Secondly, Renunciation is Positive Thinking; therefore, we need to have some attachment to our Positive Thinking – otherwise we won’t decrease our suffering and the cause of our suffering. Without attachment to Positive Thinking there is no practicing Dharma.

Of course this is a very short and simple answer but these are some of the most basic fundamental principles of Buddha’s teachings that I have been fortunate to receive from my teachers; and as these have not yet succinctly made it into the mainstream western understanding of Buddhism, I offer them here. I Hope it is of some value.

May all beings be free from suffering and Negative Thinking – may all beings have happiness and Positive Thinking.

Namo Buddha ya

Regarding this Note:

Please begin by reading the “Preface to Erik’s Notes on Buddhism:” found on the main page of Buddhism ~ Thanks

First, remember that Positive Thinking is Only:

• Renunciation = I want to get rid of my Negative Thinking because it is the cause of all my suffering and because it is a condition for others suffering.
• Compassion = I want others to be free from their suffering and the causes of their suffering (their Negative Thinking).
• Faith = I want to increase my Positive Thinking because it is the only cause of all of my happiness, and because it is a condition for others happiness.
• Love = I want others to be happy and have the causes of happiness (their Positive Thinking).
• Wisdom = Knowing, Experiencing and Realizing the Four Facts about Happiness and Suffering.

And, Negative Thinking is Only:

• Anger = I want to destroy someone else’s happiness and the causes of their happiness.
• Jealousy = 1) Your suffering is my happiness; 2) Your happiness is my suffering.
• Greed = More will make me happy.
• Pride = 1) I am already good enough, I do not need to improve myself; 2) I am so bad, there is nothing you can do to help me (my problem is more powerful then any solution you have); 3) Laziness: I know it would help, but I am not going to do it now.
• Ignorance = 1) Not knowing the truth about who you are (see Who Am I); 2) Not knowing the truth about how things work (see the Four Facts).

“I wish it were easy for me to see the difference between positive and negative thinking.”

Ok, here is an easy way to tell the difference. Just check the intention behind the rest of the thinking:

For Positive Thinking:

If my intention is to decrease my anger, jealousy, greed, pride and ignorance then I am practicing renunciation.

If my intention is to help others decrease their suffering and the causes of their suffering, then I am practicing compassion.

If my intention is to increase my renunciation, compassion, faith, love and wisdom then I am practicing faith.

If my intention is to help others increase their happiness and the causes of their happiness, then I am practicing love.

If my intention is to increase my understanding, my experience or my realization of Positive Thinking, then I am practicing wisdom.

And for Negative Thinking:

If my intention is to make someone else feel bad – to harm their happiness – then I am practicing anger.

If my intention is to acquire happiness from someone else’s suffering, or I am upset when someone else is happy, then I am practicing jealousy.

If my intention to get more things – more wealth, more sex, more fame, or more praise in order to make myself more happy – then I am practicing greed.

If I think that I am just fine the way that I am – that I don’t need to improve myself – or that I am so bad that there is no way for anyone to help me, or if I am just too lazy to work on improving myself, well then I am practicing pride.

And finally, the above: anger, jealousy, greed and pride arise from ignorance. Therefore, when my intention is to engage in any of these negative thinking I am practicing ignorance.

Also, when I ignore what I know to be good for myself and choose what is bad for me and others, I am practicing ignorance. For instance, when I ignore the fact that my negative thinking is bad for me and for others and still I choose to engage in negative thinking, that is practicing ignorance. Or, when I choose immediate gratification over real long term benefit for myself and others, that is ignorance.

“If I am doing research on the harm that organizations do to people and communities – something that I think is important and can benefit humanity – isn’t that a form of negative thinking (depressing) that could potentially have positive benefits (liberation)?”

When we look into ‘bad news,’ it is not Positive Thinking or Negative Thinking. Remember, what makes my thinking positive or negative is my intention. If I listen to ‘bad news’ and become angry – I want to harm someone – then my intention is negative and therefore, this is negative thinking. This is not different from listening to ‘bad news’ and feeling depressed, as depression is simply anger turned in upon oneself.

However, if I listen to the exact same news and I think, I want to stop their suffering and put an end to the cause of their suffering (their negative thinking), then I am now practicing compassion, which is positive thinking.

If I go on to research this particular situation with the intention of helping to stop it, then I am applying my compassion to a solution. If I continue down this path and try making positive changes that will benefit humanity, then this is the practice of love – wanting others to have happiness and the causes of happiness. This is where compassion and my love come together for the benefit of others.

These days, as a practitioner of Positive Thinking (Dharma), it is best only to watch the news when you have a lot of compassion. Otherwise, the ‘news’ can become a condition for your negative thinking.

“I remember reading somewhere about a study that showed a correlation between people who think for a living (like academics) and depression…so is it the less you think, the happier you will be? If so, who is going to do all the thinking that so much needs to be done in this world?”

First, it is important to know that thinking cannot be ‘stopped.’ Until I become Buddha (zero Negative Thinking and zero Negative Karma) I will always be thinking. Not only is there no way to ‘stop’ thinking, there is no way to decrease thinking. You can’t decrease the present moment. What I can do is decrease the amount of jumping around from subject to subject that my thinking does; and it is definitely possible to decrease gross conceptualization. But that is a different issue than the question here.

In this study, I would guess that there was a misunderstanding between the connection of suffering (depression) and thinking. The researchers simply failed to make an adequate distinction between what kind of thinking (positive vs. negative) the academics were doing and how they then felt. It is silly to say that more ‘thinking’ makes us feel depressed, because more positive thinking is the cause of more happiness. However, it is totally correct to say that more negative thinking makes us feel more depressed, because that creates more suffering.

‘Thinking’ is not the problem; only Negative Thinking is a problem.

“Are positive and negative thinking on a continuum?”

No, positive and negative thinking are different. Remember, my happiness is the result of my positive thinking and the power of my positive thinking; and my positive thinking is the cause of my happiness and the condition of all beings happiness. My negative thinking is not on that continuum. My negative thinking can never be a cause of my happiness.

Regarding this Note:

Please begin by reading the “Preface to Erik’s Notes on Buddhism:” found on the main page of Buddhism ~ Thanks

Negative Thinking = Anger, Jealousy, Greed, Pride And Ignorance

• Anger = I want to destroy your happiness and the causes of your happiness
• Jealousy = 1) Your suffering is my happiness; and 2) Your happiness is my suffering
• Greed = 1) Chasing happiness – “More will make me happy;” and 2) Squeezing happiness – “If I lose this, I’ll never be happy again!”
• Pride = 1) I am already good enough, I do not need to improve myself; 2) I am so bad, there is nothing you can do to help me (my problem is more powerful then any solution you have); and 3) Laziness: I know it would help, but I am not going to do it now.
• Ignorance = 1) Not knowing the truth about how things work (see the Four Facts); and 2) Not knowing the truth about who you are (see Who Am I).

Regarding this Note:

Please begin by reading the “Preface to Erik’s Notes on Buddhism:” found on the main page of Buddhism ~ Thanks

Happiness = Peace

Peace = the cessation of Negative Thinking
Negative Thinking = anger, jealousy, greed, pride and ignorance
Decreasing Negative Thinking = Increasing Peace
More peace = more happiness
Zero Negative Thinking = True Happiness

So is there True Happiness, lasting happiness? – YES.
The more you decrease your anger, jealousy, greed, pride and ignorance the more you experience happiness – no matter what circumstances you find yourself in.

What is NOT happiness?

Happiness is NOT: a new car / house / job / partner / lover / toy / etc.
If it were, most folks would be getting happier more of the time
and not just getting more debt, stress and grief.
New and better stuff is only a condition for how you feel – not a cause.

Happiness is NOT: having more fun / excitement / distractions / etc.
If it were, more beer would lead to True Happiness
and not to a hangover.
More and more fun is only a condition for how you feel – not a cause.