Why did Buddha reject the offer of a comfortable life as a prince from his father? Why do most people grab such an opportunity? Why do most people struggle all through their lives to get such a comfortable life? It is because most people can't see what Buddha could see. That is exactly why Buddha wanted to tell the secret to the entire world.
Buddha asked questions to his charioteer about disease and death. He could have closed his eyes to the suffering of the people and sat happily inside his palace. But he enquired into the nature of death and diseases, the old age and pains thereof. He asked whether anyone can avoid suffering, and came to know that it is not possible to avoid the sufferings of old age, diseases, and death. He was determined to find a solution and therefore delved deeper and deeper into the nature of suffering and its source. His inner journey revealed the secrets that he shared with the whole world. The real cause of suffering is ignorance.
We form many habit patterns in the state of ignorance. We lose awareness of the reality that we have entered into this body for a limited period, just like forgetting that we checked into a hotel room for a limited period, and start crying when it is time to check out. If we remember that we have checked in for a limited time, there will be no fear or sorrow at the time of death. We suffer diseases and pain because we give undue importance to the pleasant sensations in the body. Again, due to ignorance, we create an artificial division of different sensations on our bodies into pleasant and unpleasant. For example, we like certain tastes because we have tasted that kind of food since our childhood and therefore feel happy when we get food to our taste. We resent the taste that we are not used to. Unconsciously, we want the same food to be repeated again and again, and the more we repeat the same, the more fixated we become. That's why we often feel like going to McDonald's and eating fast food. The more we eat spicy food and sugars and the more we feel like eating that more.
Similarly, we get used to the comforts of different types. Our mind gets used to pleasant sensations of listening to good things about us, and that's why the moment somebody says something bad about us, we become uncomfortable. That's why social validation is so important to us. We somehow want to maintain our self-image. In fact, we can do anything to retain our self-image of being good, including telling lies, manipulating others, and investing time and money in building that self-image of being good. We get used to the comforts provided by beliefs. We believe in X or the Y theory, join some Baba where the same theory is repeated by many. The theory looks very convincing, and we set that theory at the core of our existence. That theory makes us feel safe. We do not want to work hard to know the reality like Buddha, and therefore, such a theory is comfortable. Every time we go to the Baba, we feel safe. We never examine our inner reality.
We become comfortable with our beliefs, self-image, and comforts, but the fact is that the more we embrace comfort, the more insecure we grow inside. The reason is quite simple: we lose awareness of the possibilities of a world without these comforts. That's why we always dread losing them. Whenever we perceive the possibility of any event that may take away some of these comforts, we feel fear and consult an astrologer for remedies. Remedies may or may not work in the short term, but unless we address our inner turmoil, our fear will only increase in the long run. Until we become aware of the temporality of all sensations, no remedy will be effective. We reject the idea of such a possible state where we are fully aware. We just want a quick fix in the form of some remedy, mantra, or blessing. That's why we start exploring options among babas and Gods. One gem after another, and soon all our fingers are adorned with rings. We fail to recognize that the root cause of suffering is ignorance, as taught by Buddha long ago, and, due to ignorance, continue to accumulate more comforts that deepen our fear. We overlook the fact that self-observation with equanimity is the only key to overcoming our fears.
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