Lokadhamma, Dhamma

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the 8 lokadhamma that the Buddha talked about, especially in this sutta AN8.6:

“Bhikkhus, these eight worldly conditions revolve around the world, and the world revolves around these eight worldly conditions. What eight? Gain and loss, disrepute and fame, blame and praise, and pleasure and pain. These eight worldly conditions revolve around the world, and the world revolves around these eight worldly conditions…

Bhikkhus, when an uninstructed worldling meets with gain… (2) loss … (3) … fame … (4) … disrepute … (5) … blame … (6) … praise … (7) … pleasure … (8) … pain, he does not reflect thus: ‘This pain that I have met is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change.’ He does not understand it as it really is.

Gain … and loss, fame …and disrepute, blame … and praise, pleasure… and pain obsesses his mind. He is attracted to gain and repelled by loss. He is attracted to fame and repelled by disrepute. He is attracted to praise and repelled by blame. He is attracted to pleasure and repelled by pain. Thus involved with attraction and repulsion, he is not freed from birth, from old age and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and anguish; he is not freed from suffering, I say."

A dinner I had recently with some Dhamma friends reminded me of what Ajah Ganha (whom I spent four fruitful days with in 2023) often said: do not trust nor follow your preferences. This was also a learning I had from my own retreat experience in 2023 (see point 6).

And the reason for not following one’s preferences, has to do with the fact that your preferences are often driven by the 8 lokadhamma.

And these “worldly conditions” are wholly in the realm of the five senses, and do not really have anything to do with the Buddha’s Dhamma, to be honest. That is why the Buddha teaches (in the same sutta AN8.6):

… when an instructed noble disciple meets with gain (PJ note: or any of the lokadhamma: loss, fame, disrepute, blame, praise, pleasure, pain), he reflects thus: ‘This (lokadhamma) that I have met is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change.’ He thus understands it as it really is. … (These lokadhamma do) not obsess his mind…. Having thus discarded attraction and repulsion, he is freed from birth, from old age and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and anguish; he is freed from suffering, I say.

This is quite linked to the recent post about Ah So/Arsehole that I wrote about, in that just because one is speaking from the Dhamma, that is no guarantee one won’t get blamed, scolded, etc.

And it is a reminder to myself that even if I get praised or fame, that too, is uncertain, unreliable, and just another worldly wind.

Far better to ignore that worldly wind, and just focus on letting go, being kind and gentle, by body, speech and mind, as much as possible.

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Another reflection I had recently (which is linked) came from a meal with a friend, who observed that all religions and spiritual practices teach one to abandon the ego. That is so true!

But it also occurred to me:what IS the ego?
One way to look at it, is that the ego is basically any bodily, verbal or mental action, that reinforces one’s sense of self.

This includes reinforcing one’s preferences, and also probably includes anytime we follow the lokadhamma (vs. doing what is aligned with the Dhamma).

So anytime you go with what you prefer, you are basically reinforcing your ego.

I hope this reflection is helpful for others, as much as it is for me. May this help you on your spiritual journey!

Written on 8 Mar 26