Back then, he's already had his fair share of complains and apparently that hasn't changed much. We had about 3 or 4 chance meetings so far since we completed our national services and haha, come to think of it, he's the one doing most of the talking during these chance meetings.
If my memory serves me right, he was grumbling about not getting a job despite having a degree and going through so many rounds of interviews. And after trying to get a job for more than half a year and leading nowhere, he decided to give up his search and try his luck going into business. And what kind of business, i have absolutely no idea and can't recall the slightest notion.
And sometime later, he dabbled into freelance photography and is now a full time photographer. This time round, he was complaining about the photographers' market and how freelancers are undercutting the market esp those who does actual day wedding photography. Then he went on to complain about taking on assignments for companies and how they refuse to pay up after he completed their assignments and delivered the end products.
Of course i did not have much to comment except to say that we can learn to wise up with past experiences. He can now be more careful and more mindful with his dealings so that he does not fall into such situations again. And to that his reply was that he now has his own methods in dealing with people like this ~ he gets them to enter a written agreement and have them put down their thumbprints so that they cannot deny by saying that their signatures have been forged. To that, i did not comment further - afterall, when one has nothing good or helpful to say, say nothing at all.
And currently, he's into taking photographs for nightlife events, mainly events held in clubs. And to prevent people from trespassing into his niche market, he professed doing his takes with a certain style and not just concentrate on shooting "zar bor" (hokkien word for women) that grace the event, unlike some other photographers. Right now, he noticed that some newbies actually follow him around and try to copy what he is shooting. He absolutely hates that and he finds that behaviour so typical of the locals, to just try and copy someone's work whenever they can.
And i went, "You don't sound happy with your current line of work at all. Have you considered changing your line or changing the environment you are working in?" He insisted to me that he is really happy with his current work, just not the people that he's dealing with.
Of course, i'm not convinced he's happy, not in the slightest bit at all. I could not sense the happiness he mentioned from him. So i asked again, "Are you sure you are happy cos you really sound unhappy to me at all." And he stuck to his earlier reply - he's only unhappy with the people he have to deal with in his line of work.
Little does he realise that life is a package, you cannot take what you like and reject what you don't. Be it good or bad, they come together ~ just like the sign of Ying and Yang ~ there cannot be good without bad and neither could there be bad without good. Afterall, how can he take on event photography for nightlife events and not deal with the people who provides the very event itself, the very opportunity for him to take the pictures he profess to love so much?
So i reflected and a question arises - Where's the Joy? Joy will only manifest when one realised that suffering stems from 3 destructive roots, Hatred, Greed and Ignorance. And when we do, we learn to recognise these 3 roots and transform them to the 3 constructive roots, Love, Generosity and Wisdom. Once our mind is transformed to dwell on the 3 constructive roots, joy naturally arises on its own accord since the supporting conditions are conducive.
Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh once said during an interview that the start of the cessation of suffering is also the start of the manifestation of great happiness. So how can the cessation of suffering come about? That we can relate back to the 4 Noble Truths that Buddha taught more than 2500 years ago.
First Noble Truth ~ There is Suffering. We must learn to recognise that we are suffering. Like any problem solving skills we develop or learn, the very first step is always to recognise the problem; simple logic and pure common sense will at least affirm that much.
Without first recognising the problem, we will not be able to move on to the second step, to determine the cause of the problem, which in this case also happens to be the Second Noble Truth ~ There is a Cause to Suffering. And now that we are able to determine the cause of the problem, can the problem be solved, automatically becomes the next question. And yes, we can transform Suffering and that will be the Third Noble Truth - There is Cessation to Suffering.
Last but not least, is there a way or method to end our suffering, to transform suffering into happiness? That will be the Fourth Noble Truth - There is a Path leading to Cessation of Suffering. What path are we talking about then? The Noble Eightfold Path as prescribed by the Buddha.
Why the Noble Eightfold Path? There are many reasons why we should choose to walk this path and it differs for each individual but ultimately there is but one common reason every person who walk this path shares ~ it brings happiness. Of course there are other things that bring joy and happiness but why in particular this Nobe Eightfold Path? That we have to first know and understand what Suffering is and what makes up this path.
So let's take a look at the word Suffering. What is Suffering? It is the state that a person is in when he or she is distressed. And suffering comes in many forms but for the moment, we can classify them into 3 main types of suffering, namely physical suffering, mental suffering and emotional suffering. But what really is Suffering? And most of the time, people tend to suffer more than what is really necessary. Why so? Simply because there is attachment and ignorance.
To illustrate this point, let's think of a scenario when we have to see a dentist to remove a decayed tooth. For some people, even before stepping into the clinic, they start to worry and imagine the whole process, the pain of anaesthetic jab, the pain from removing the decayed tooth. They cannot concentrate on the present moment, their thoughts constantly on the pain to come and they feel uptight and jittery. So how long did the pain last? In truth, probably no more than a few minutes. Yet, before the pain arrives, the person is already distressed. Now, that is Suffering.
Now that we know what Suffering is, let's take a look at the Path and what makes it up and how it can bring happiness and end Suffering. As the name suggests, there are eight components to it and they are:
- Right Views
- Right Thoughts
- Right Speech
- Right Action
- Right Livelihood
- Right Mindfulness
- Right Effort
- Right Concentration
With Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood, we change our environment and associate with people that will make it conducive for us to develop further both mentally and spiritual. This in turn leads to Right Mindfulnes, Right Effort and Right Concentration.
And what happens when we are more developed mentally and spiritually? It affirms our views and thoughts and so our conviction is stronger and what do we have then? "Stronger" Right Views and Right Thoughts and which in leads again to "Stronger" Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood and it goes to creating "Stronger" Right Mindfulnes, Right Effort and Right Concentration.
With that, our mind becomes calmer and the 3 roots, Love, Generosity and Wisdom will grow deeper and deeper. What happen to us then? Needless to say, we become more loving, more generous and wiser and here comes the Joy.
