What are Wandering Thoughts?

Wandering thoughts are afflictions that cloud our true nature. To have no wandering thoughts means to have absolute proper and virtuous thoughts. It does not mean that our minds are empty of all thoughts! As ordinary beings, we use an illu­sory mind, a mind that arises and ceases, and one which has wandering thoughts. Enlightened beings use the true mind, which constantly dwells on truth. They have deep concentra­tion, the state without wandering thoughts or attachments.

Not to have wan­dering thoughts does not mean that we are supposed to be idle. We continue to do every­thing, but we do so with a pure and completely aware mind. When the external environment no longer hinders or affects us, we will have attained deep concentra­tion.

Afflictions

 

Afflictions are conditions or causes of pain and suffering that af­fect. Common afflictions are thoughts of gain or loss, of controlling others, criticism, worries, regrets, resentments, etc. Afflic­tions feel perfectly normal to us because we have had them for innumerable lifetimes.

Our major afflic­tions are greed, anger, igno­rance, arrogance, and doubt. Afflictions arise because of our selfishness. As Pure Land practitioners, we chant “Amituofo” to re­strain afflic­tions so we can eradicate our unwholesome karmic consequences, give rise to merits and virtues, and uncover our innate wisdom.

Lamp of a Buddha

King Ajatasatru invited the Buddha to preach and offered as a token of his piety several tens of thousands of lamps. At the time, an old woman (named Nanda) who had been begging, and had only managed to collect two coins, bought some oil with them and offered it all in a small lamp to the Buddha. [With this offering she vowed to eliminate the darkness of the sufferings of all people.] Old and hungry, she later collapsed and died.

By the next morning the many lamps offered by the king had already burned themselves out, but the lamp of the poor old woman was still burning with increasing brilliance. When it proved impossible to extinguish it, the Buddha explained that it was so because of the donor's extremely fervent faith and transcendental vow. 'The light of a Buddha can never be extinguished' said the Buddha who then predicted that she would attain Buddhahood."

~ Thus Have I Heard, Translated by the Sutra Translation Committee 
 

What are Attachments?

Attachments are our desires for people, things, pleas­ures, wrong views, life, the idea of the self as an individual, etc. Attach­ments arise from delusion and lead inevitably to suffer­ing. In our delusion, we do not understand cause and effect. Our past thoughts and behavior determine what we will receive in this lifetime. What we are des­tined to obtain will naturally come to us. What we are not destined to obtain, will either elude us or quickly slip through our fingers if we do manage to grasp it.

In our delusion, we do not understand the true nature of everything in our world, that all conditioned phenomena are impermanent and without an individual self. So, we cannot truly possess anything be­cause all is imperma­nent: every­thing is in a state of change.

Our attachments lead us to have expecta­tions, to see the world through rose-colored glasses. We then attrib­ute qualities to people or things that they do not have. It is inevitable that these exaggerated expecta­tions will not be met and when this happens, we become disillusioned and blame the person, object, and so on for our frustration, unhap­piness, and suffering.

We can eliminate attachments by living simply and only asking for what we need. This will also enable us to conserve our good fortune. We can eliminate attach­ments through giving. When we can let go or give something away and do not think of it again, we have severed an attachment. We will begin to feel lighter and more contented. As our expectations are reduced, we will feel calmer and less subject to the whims of our emo­tions. Gradually, our purity of mind will increase.

Struggling to Not Harm

Question: Hello... Even though I respect all religions I still struggle with my own spirituality from time to time. The main reason for my struggle is the fact that I am a pedophile; even though I would never hurt a boy sexually or physically I have still been born with the attraction towards them. I have the same desire to share sex with a boy as much as any adult would have for another adult; but it is my knowlage for what is right for the child that stops me from doing those things.

My point is; is that even though I feel love and attraction for children; but do not act these emotions out; does this still make me a monster? I cannot help the way I feel and did not choose the way I am. What advice would you give me?

Response: We are all born with desires and attachments. That is why we are still in the cycle of rebirth. We can give in to those desires or we can work to control them. You understand that to act on your desires as a pedophile would bring great harm to an innocent child and so you work hard and control yourself. This is what our practice is all about—restraining ourselves from harming others.

Ideally, we would not have any thoughts of desire. But since we are not yet awakened, we start from where we are. Each one of us has committed the karmas that have lead to our being the person we are today. To judge and label others or ourselves is pointless because none of us knows the causes that have lead us to who we are. All we now know is that those causes are fixed and cannot be changed.

But we can change who we are and who we will become with our current thoughts and actions. You are successfully controlling your actions. Do not judge yourself; but, rather, continue to control, reduce, and eventually eliminate harmful thoughts and impulses. This is something that each of us needs to do.