The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.
9 June 2024
“ Craving “
If you take note of yourself, you will see that you’ve acted according to your craving since the day you were born.
Have you ever had enough? Have you ever felt truly satisfied? Haven't you done enough? You’ve seen enough movies and shows. You’ve been to enough parties.
You’ve travelled around and been to enough places. Perhaps it is time to stop. However, such a feeling has never crossed your mind due to the nature of your craving.
The Buddha once said that our craving is boundless and limitless: ‘No matter how big the ocean is, it still has a boundary. But it is not so with our craving. For craving has no bounds nor limits.
Once a craving has arisen, it will continue on and on, and grow stronger and stronger.’ This is just like people say, ‘When you have an inch, you want a whole foot.
When you have a foot, you want a whole yard’. This is just how it is: our craving just keeps multiplying on and on.
So who bears the burden of gratifying these cravings? It is the mind that is in charge and gives a command to seek things, and so you have to act accordingly. Once you’ve done it, it is only happy for a little while. There will soon be a new command to seek other things, and so you have to act on it again. If you cannot get the things you want, then sorrow and sadness follow—disappointment and suffering arise. Suffering also prevails when you lose the things you’ve already obtained.
“Against the Defilements.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
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