234. Two Illusions

We want to know how the world works because such knowledge is practically useful. When we know how things work we become more capable of manipulating the world to meet our material needs. The unquestionable power of knowing how each part works logically leads us to a desire to know how the whole works. So we start looking for a system that can coherently bring all of the parts together. The system we desire is a narrative connecting past, present, and future through a complex array of causal links.

233. Never Settle Down

She knows she’ll eventually have to settle. She knows this because it’s what always happens. Her thoughts get so far ahead of her that she imagines herself having a future so perfect and beautiful and true before considering whether any of it is realistic. There are so many things she wants, simply because her ideals are so lofty.

She knows she won’t achieve everything and she’ll have to settle for something less. How much less she does not know, but she’s hoping for at least something better than what she has at present. And she knows she’s not the only one who’ll have to settle. Her friends also have dreams they probably won’t fully attain. They too will have to accept whatever small good they can reach.

232. The Spectacle Consumes Us

The spectacle consumes our attention. We see major events happening around us and we cannot look away. The events themselves might not impact us directly, but we know they will eventually produce problems for our community and our future.

We are unable to stop ourselves from watching every change in the emerging situation and every action taken in response to it. We feel we must focus on these things, for it is here that the problem seems to be located. We believe power originates at the top, and we think any possible solution must also be implemented at the top. Our sociopolitical structures reflect this understanding, and they frequently demonstrate how the decisions of a single person with power can have an enormous impact.

231. Liberation From Suffering

To become free of suffering, I first need to see how it originates. But this is not as straightforward as it might seem. I cannot simply understand rationally what it means for suffering to arise, in the words of my language. I have to investigate my own experience of suffering and observe how that unique experience arises from its sources.

These sources are the intentions we call by the names of desire, aversion, and belief. I must see the suffering that arises, for example, from a specific desire. When I can see how my attachment to that particular desire causes a particular kind of suffering, for example, stress, then I’m beginning to see it fully.

230. Change Is Primary

As we experience the world, we naturally get used to it. What was once novel becomes commonplace. What was once unknown becomes predictable. We adapt our actions to our new understanding and we develop habits that allow us to navigate the world with greater ease.

Eventually, we might come to feel we’ve experienced everything and there is no longer any novelty left in the world. We might then begin to live mostly in our memories, the only place where joy still exists for us. We might even become so profoundly bored that we start to tire of life itself.

229. Relationship Harmony

To have a relationship with another person is always a challenge. It is necessarily so because you have your desires, aversions, and beliefs and the other person has theirs. While there is often significant overlap, there will also be many differences. Perhaps they want something that you do not want, or you believe something that they do not believe. When these differences come to the surface there will be tension between you.

228. Looking And Looking

My shoes sink softly into the sand as I stroll across the beach. The bay is calm today, and there are no significant waves, only slight surges of water that wash over the sand before retreating back to the sea.

I’m watching the world when I see you up ahead, sitting on a large boulder. I’m far enough away that you haven’t noticed me. You’re staring out at the water, blank-faced and unmoving. You do not know me and I do not know you. We are two separate beings in our own separate worlds.

227. Awareness Through Compassion

If I’m unable to see the reality of my own experience, then I’m less able to act from compassion. I need to be open to the totality of the world around me and to all of the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions arising inside me to even have a chance of seeing clearly.

For my awareness to expand, I need to pay attention to everything that exists. I need to question my understanding of it and of myself, and allow for the possibility that there is more than I’ve already seen. As my awareness grows, my sensitivity to myself and the world around me improves. I notice changes in myself and my environment more easily, and my intuitions tend to guide me towards more compassionate actions.

226. The Emptiness That Is You

There are many subtle ways of binding yourself. You might have a secret desire so powerful that you feel you must fulfill it or not live at all. You might have an aversion to a certain kind of experience that arises regularly and operates quietly throughout your life. You might have a belief buried so deep inside you that it feels like a fundamental part of your being. All of these attachments prevent you from being free, from seeing clearly, and from living joyfully.