Got Satisfaction?

Estimated reading time: 4 minute(s)

By day, I’m a software program manager. I’m a process guy. Flow charts are a valuable way to communicate process effectively. Especially to people who have a visual learning style. I’ve been pondering how to encapsulate Buddhist ideas in a flow chart format. This one came to me recently. You’ve either got self or you’ve got satisfaction.

The crux of this flow chart is a challenge to our assumptions about seeking satisfaction. It’s what the Buddha described as the problem in his sermon on the Four Noble Truths. The First Noble Truth is that there is dissatisfaction. The Second Noble Truth states that the reason there is dissatisfaction is because we seek lasting contentment in things that can’t last. When we rely on temporary things, at best our satisfaction is temporary.

He also pointed to a special case, the self. While it is much easier to see that objects, relationships, and ideas are fleeting, seeing ourselves as temporary is difficult.

Our most profound dissatisfaction comes from our sense of a lasting permanent self! It is manifested as pride, defensiveness, and paranoia. It can even lead to disease.

The Third Noble Truth can be gleaned from the flowchart; there is a way out of the vicious cycle to get the the green winner’s circle. The Fourth Noble Truth and the final, is the way out. This is done by living the examined life, committed to stepping out of the circle of suffering!

Originally published at www.andrewfurst.net on January 10, 2015.

Andrew Furst is the author of the new book Western Lights, a Meditation Teacher, Buddhist blogger, yogi, backup guitarist for his teenage boys, lucky husband and a technologist