Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org

when they hear such a teaching. To many, the idea of letting
go of the objects of clinging and attachment is terrifying as
they feel that if they let go they will lose the happiness they
have worked so hard to gain. It is precisely such terror,
however, that show the truth of the Buddha’s teaching,
illustrating as it does how the threat of losing the objects of
one’s attachment leads one directly to suffering and distress.
In order to cultivate and maintain the objects of our desire,
we must engage in endless labour to acquire them and,
worse, must protect them jealously against danger from
thieves, villains, and natural and unnatural disasters.
Whenever we let down our guard in the slightest, we risk the
loss of something cherished, something on which our
happiness depends. In fact, even with the best of our efforts
to guard and collect pleasant experiences, we must
inevitably part with all that is dear to us, leaving nothing we
can truly call our own apart from our eternally unsatisfiable
desire.
The people, places and things we cling to as bringing us
happiness are undeniably the very cause for all of our fear,
worry, stress, lamentation and despair. While we are in
contact with the beloved, we build up greater and greater
attachment and strive harder and harder for more and more
contact with them until we are inevitably forced to come to
terms with our attachments when we lose what is dear to us.
For some, it is this loss that leads them to question their
belief in the merit of craving and clinging and decide to find
a better means of seeking happiness. Some are not so lucky,
dying in great anguish and despair due to never having come
to terms with their attachments. Unable to see the truth of
reality, such people are unable to end their lives in peace
and are liable to continue their suffering after death, based
on the power of their dissatisfaction.
Undeniably, the Buddha’s path is a radical departure from
how most people live their lives. Often, the first thing a new
meditator realizes from their practice is the immensity of the
challenge in just seeing things as they are, due to the
profound shift in outlook it requires. One who has never paid
much attention to their mental well-being will live their life
treating the mind much like a garbage dump, piling on more
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