When we speak of how people have upset us . . . (Click image for video)

The more desires we have, the more we will suffer. 

The more wishes we have, 

the more disappointed we will be. 

In our continuous attempts to try to make the world conform to our wishes, we’re just setting ourselves up for unending suffering and disappointment. We know this first hand, but we keep doing it. It’s foolhardy. We already know that our wanting things to be a certain way doesn’t make them happen. Every time we get tripped up by our habits of desiring and wishing, we get reminded of such futility.

So what’s the problem?

There could be many reasons.

Perhaps, although we acknowledge the pointlessness in our heads, we are not strong enough to move beyond doing the same old thing. Our habits are eons-old. Or maybe we are brave enough to start being less demanding of the world but aren’t diligent enough to follow through. Going with the flow is so much easier than paddling in another direction. It just takes too much energy and care.

But when has easy ever achieved anything worthwhile?

After asking a question and receiving the reply . . . (Click image for video)

I got it! 

I lost it . . . 

A momentary flash of achievement.

Perhaps it will come when we open our eyes during a group chanting session and clearly see the candles, incense holder, and flowers in front of the statue of Amitabha Buddha. Suddenly, for a brief instant, there are no stirring of thoughts—no thoughts of labeling, discriminating or attaching.

Instead, perceiving everything correctly, our mind remains still—this is the “I got it” moment.

We recognize what just happened but in the next nanosecond, a tsunami of our usual thoughts overwhelms us. We start to label what we see. Thoughts of good or bad, thoughts of like or dislike, thoughts of clinging or aversion—all arise from within us.

And with all these thoughts, the realization of “I lost it!” But we remember that amazing flash of pure seeing. And how uncluttered and clear it felt. And know that we just had a taste of what awakened beings know as the state of wondrous observation.