People do their thinking with their emotions. This is a sure path to suffering. They manifest hate while speaking abstractly of love. Then they wonder why they have unfulfilled lives. The Buddhist Abidhamma (Buddhist psychology) says there are sixty-odd joyous states of consciousness and only three miserable ones. Yet people rush blindly toward the three negative ways. Why? If we know that craving, anger, and delusion cause us suffering, why do we entertain these three? Are we compulsive and compelled to think and act in this manner?
In order to hide the truth from ourselves, we cultivate neuroses. “He went to his mahasamadhi” we say, when the truth is, “He died.” Aren’t we all going to die?
Spiritual practice causes us to accord with death, not to fear it. We know excess attachment and aversion (I love this, I hate that) cause us suffering, yet we allow sentiment and deluded emotion to lead us down that path. Impermanence is a fact of life; why fear it? Tantra says that every cell in the body can be brought to a point of ecstasy. Inside we have the treasure we are searching for. Why not follow this joyous way?
