Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org

mean the erroneous belief that there is something stable,
satisfying, or controllable somewhere in the universe.
Under the influence of this misunderstanding, we conceive of
certain experiences as being a source of stability,
permanence, and reliability. We conceive of them to be
therefore satisfying and pleasant and a cause of true
happiness and peace. We conceive of them to be under our
control, predictable, obeying our wishes and desires: that
when we want them to be so, they will be so; when we want
them to be otherwise, that they will be otherwise; when we
want them to be, that they will be; when we want them to
not be, that they will not be.
It is this misunderstanding that leads to greed and desire.
We become partial towards and chase after certain
experiences because we conceive them to be a source of
permanence, satisfaction, and control. We experience
certain states of pleasure or calm and, not seeing them
clearly, we think that they are stable, permanent, and thus
satisfying. As a result, we work and strive and hope and
pray and eventually are dissatisfied when the truth prevails
and such experiences change, disappear, or are
unobtainable. When our hopes and wishes are denied, there
arises the opposite emotion to greed, anger.
When we are confronted with the truth – something we
would expect to be a source of wisdom and understanding –
if we are not prepared to accept it as truth, it will give rise to
aversion, anger, hatred, and many other negative emotions.
The nature of reality is everything that arises, changes, falls
apart, and disappears; everything that brings pleasure is
unsatisfying, a cause for stress and discomfort, suffering and
pain; everything that we hold as ours is uncontrollable, not
subject to our wishes or the wishes of anyone at all. Seeing
this for the first time can lead to such great disappointment
as to make us reject what we see and prefer preconceived
beliefs in the permanent, satisfying and controllable, even
though we have observed such beliefs as going contrary to
reality. When we cling to such beliefs, we will be unable to
accept reality when it is otherwise, and will become angry
and upset even to the point of destroying ourselves in
anguish at the inability to gratify our expectations.
98