Now we have some time for a few questions. Questioner: How can we relieve day-to-day suffering

Shifu: We experience day-to-day life as a burden of body and mind that may seem to come from the environment, but it mainly originates in our own body and mind. This burden is the reality of impermanence. Because of this particular burden that we feel and experience, we take suffering to be inherent in our lives. Happiness is temporary relief from this burden, after which the sense of impermanence and through it, suffering, reappears.

One can, however, experience happiness that is less subject to impermanence. The particular happiness the Buddha discusses is the joy of Dharma. The more we practice the Dharma, the more happiness we Will have. If we really engage in the Dharma to the point of full liberation, we will be extremely happy, even elated.

Questioner: In daily life, we often encounter the suffering of the sick, such as a terminally ill relative who wants to be relieved of their suffering. What is the correct view for a Buddhist who truly grasps the essence of the Four Noble Truths? What can relieve his fellow being of such suffering, whatever the cause?