Eight winds

Attha-vayubheda is eight winds, blowing very strong, causing the human life to be disturbed, which affects the life. If people do not suffer from fluctuate of these eight winds, their life is normal. Eight of these winds include Labho (benefit) - Alabho (loss), Yaso (honor) – Ninda (disgrace); Pasamsa (praise) - Ayaso (honor);Dukkha (suffering) - Sukkha (joy). They make us crazy in this world.

How do eight winds affect people?  There is a very interesting story about Sū Shì and Pan En who lived during the Song Dynasty, at the end of the 11th century. To Dong Pha is a famous poet, not only a poet but also a researcher of Buddhist study who is very erudite. He is very proud of his writers, poetic composer, even his mastering Buddhism. He communicated with zen master Pan En.They are very close friends and often exchange Buddhism to each other. One day he visited the Buddha of India. Because of the Buddhist affair, Pan En was not in the temple. He waited so long as to compose the poem:  

Paying respect to the Enlightened One

His halo lighting the universe

Eight winds do not move

Cutting on the golden lotus.

He wanted to say that Shakyamuni Buddha is a guru, His glory shining everywhere and the eight winds do not shake and remains motionless. He left the poem before leaving by the intention of telling his friend that he also understood the eight winds not to be motionless; now the eight winds do not affect me at all. In the afternoon, Pan En saw the poem and commented the words : “Low Wind”, meaning that the wind is low. He told to the novice to hand Sũ Shi. After reading the phrase "Low Wind", he rushed over to meet the Buddha, and said: “I made a poem praising Buddha Shakyamuni who was enlightened to the eight winds, and had no longer in the heart. Why did you write two words “Low Wind”. He laughed, saying that the eight winds blowing Sũshi still remained immobilized, but only the wind on the ground was a gentle blow, which he rowed from across the river to the other side of the river to argue. When Sũshi heard that, he startled by his self, his ego was too high. Talking about the theory is easy, motionless eight winds, until there is a rebellious wind blowing up has made me feel angry immediately. By the way, Pan En also gave him two verses: 

With winds mean motionless; without winds mean motion.

Motionlessness means without winds; motion means with winds.

Winds means it has wind that will be motionless, no winds will have motion, you said that you have winds that are not moving, I do not need winds, but just two words "Low Wind" that you must row from the opposite river bank to here. The Buddha’s teachings are the ones from practical evidence, so learners must practice to be tested. I mentioned impermanence, suffering, selflessness, but when some of our relatives, for some reason, left us, we cry, compensate, and suffer. The Buddha’s teachings are easily understandable, but whether practice or not is another event. Listen then think about it. After we having thought, we starting to practice until being enlightened. If we do not practice but understanding nothing, it is nothing.

Labho – Alabho are also known as benefit and loss. Labho is generally called get. Alabho is attenuation, decay or loss. When losing a job, wealth, property, we are sad and do not want to do anything. When we got married to a person who loved then we had fresh face, came out, came in, whistled, sang. But when the lover left, we were sorrowful. In this life when opening our eyes, we are followed with win and loss, It is successful to attain the lottery or our child passing the exam. That being lost of money means we lose. The Buddha never teaches us to look for the attainment, because we find that when we lose we will stick with suffering. These two winds, When the two winds are achieved, we blew ourselves up the clouds; when we fail, we would fall to the ground. These winds beat human  tattered daily and hourly when there are jobs or joblessness, with money or without money, with relatives or without relatives. The two winds makes people spin around the life. There was a Brahmin who went to the Buddha and asked, "Lord Buddha, when you attained the enlightenment, what would you achieve and what would you lose. Buddha replied, ‘I lost the self and I have what is available in the human, which is the pure mind. The Buddha wants to say that the pure mind is available in each one of us.

 

Pasamsa  - Ayaso are called praise and dishonor. Only words that make us uphill or downhill. There is a Zen story. A General who came to the Zen master and asked: “Buddhism is mentioned about Nirvana and Hell, do you believe in them? The Zen master said: “Oh. My God! you utter unrealistic words.  there is neither Nibbana, nor Hell. When he heard the Zen master’s answer,  he was so angry and ordered his guard to arrest him to be cut his head off. The Zen master laughed and said: “You want to ask me about the Hell, are you living in Hell?” The General then heard the Zen master explain, and apologized and thanked him for the teaching. The Zen master said: “You asked me Nirvana, so you’re living in Nirvana.” Praising and showing gratitude make people live in Hell or live in Nirvana at any time, Hearing of praise means flying up to the sky, while blaming one shows such anger as being in the hell. 

Yaso and Ninda mean homage and disgrace, good or bad. Because of ignorance, people accept the self, the ego. That this garden I built is very beautiful, but whosoever criticize it, I am angry. It is the same that the item being praised ‘good’ means happiness; vice versa, unhappiness. There is also a   story. A guy married a one-eyed wife, and he is shown pity. But he answered that they were pitiful. It is enough for her to have one eye; they were so poor to have an extra one eye, instead of two. So we understand that ‘what is good, what is bad’ depending on others’ opinion only. 

 

Dukkha - Sukkha  are also known as suffering and joy. The last two ordinary winds, generally, means being happy in attainment, but suffering in case of failure. " Wishing without success is miserable; wishing with achievement means satisfaction. A wind makes joy; the other causes grief. It is just a moment. It is not permanent. There is nothing endless in this life. The Buddha said that all motioned dharma are impermanent". There is a eternal dharma that is Nirvana, only when you come in enlightenment is it Nirvana – without suffering. All happiness in this world is a short period. When having delicious meals, we are happy, but the next day the meals are not good, they cause unhappiness. Happiness is always accompanied by suffering. Nirvana of Buddhism is a place where there is no suffering, nor a place where there is no happiness. Do not seek happiness in the Nirvana of Buddhism. Nirvana is only a pure land, no suffering, no unsatisfactory. The eight-winds affects our ordinary lives so much, making us circle troubles in life, Ti is a short moment to interchange between happiness and suffering. There are lottery winners and then run out of money, dissipate property and careers. There are many rich people from winning the lottery but going bankrupt, losing properties and career. So as to be starved to death. That daily happens in this world. It turns out that the eight winds, but actually it remains only four. The Buddha had to talk about the happy parts first; then he explained the suffering for all who tries to avoid suffering. In order not to be suffered, do not seek happiness. It is natural  there is birth for death, aging for sickness; disease for suffering. So it is unavoidable for birth, ages, illness, death. 

Eight winds in real life has only four winds. One of a pair blows coolness; the other does heat. These great eight winds interfere our lives upward, downward; to-and-fro. They satisfy but hurt us and it makes us crazy. Not everyone but all of us are affected by the same eight winds. To overcome the influence of the eight winds, we must strive to practice the Dharma to overcome the self, and realize the interdependent origination of Dhamma.