Understanding suffering

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There are several types of attachment. First there is the attachment to the habit of seeking sensual gratification. An addict takes a drug, because he wishes to experience the pleasurable sensation that the drug produces in him, even though he knows that by taking the drug he reinforces his addiction. In the same way we are addicted to the condition of craving. As soon as one desire is satisfied, we generate another. The object is secondary; the fact is that we seek to maintain the state of craving continually, because this very craving produces in us a pleasurable sensation that we wish to prolong. Craving becomes a habit that we cannot break, an addiction. And just as an addict gradually develops tolerance towards his chosen drug and requires even larger doses in order to achieve intoxication, our cravings steadily become stronger the more we seek to fulfill them. In this way we can never come to the end of craving. And so long as we crave, we can never be happy.

Another great attachment is to the ‘I’, the ego, the image we have of ourselves. For each of us, the ‘I’ is the most important person in the world. We behave like a magnet surrounded by iron filings: it will automatically arrange the filings in a pattern centered on itself, and with just as little reflection we all instinctively try to arrange the world according to our liking, seeking to attract the pleasant and to repel the unpleasant. But none of us is alone in the world: one ‘I’ is bound to come into conflict with another. The pattern each seeks to create is disturbed by the magnetic fields of others, and we ourselves become subject to attraction or repulsion. The result can only be unhappiness, suffering.

Nor do we limit attachment to the ‘I’: we extend it to ‘mine’, whatever belongs to us. We each develop great attachment to what we possess, because it is associated with us, it supports the image of ‘I’. This attachment would cause no problem if what one called ‘mine’ were eternal, and the ‘I’ remained to enjoy it eternally. But the fact is that sooner or later the ‘I’ is separated from the ‘mine’. The parting time is bound to come. When it arrives, the greater the clinging to ‘mine’, the greater the suffering will be.

And attachment extends still further – to our views and our beliefs. No matter what their actual content may be, no matter whether they are right or wrong, if we are attached to them they will certainly make us unhappy. We are each convinced that our own views and traditions are the best and become very upset whenever we hear them criticized. If we try to explain our views and others do not accept them, again we become upset. We fail to recognize that each person has his or her own beliefs. It is futile to argue about each person which view is correct: more beneficial would be to set aside any preconceived notions and try to see reality. But our attachment to views prevents us from doing so, keeping us unhappy.

Finally, there is attachment to religious forms and ceremonies. We tend to emphasize the external expressions of religion more than their underlying meaning and to feel that anyone who does not perform such ceremonies cannot be truly religious person. We forget that without its essence, the formal aspect of religion is an empty shell. Piety in reciting prayers or performing ceremonies is valueless if the mind remains filled with anger, passion and ill will. To be truly religious we must develop the religious attitude: purity of heart, love and compassion for all. But our attachment to the external form of religion leads us to give more importance to the letter of it than the spirit. We miss the essence of religion and therefore remain miserable.

All our sufferings, whatever they may be, are connected to one or another of these attachments. Attachment and suffering are always found together!

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(Compiled from ‘The Art of Living’ by William Hart)