..續本文上一頁 a condition of nature; it arises and ceases. Perhaps I can then begin to let go of guilt, anger and things like that, seeing them as not personal - not-self. I have discovered something.

　　Then dukkha: often we talk about dukkha, unsatisfactoriness, in terms of conflict. We all have conflict in our lives, but before I came across this teaching I was always just trying to get rid of conflict: trying to be a nice guy if I was angry; trying to get rid of greed if I was obsessed with greed; trying to distract my mind if I got bored, so there was this random attempt to get around it somehow. But when I heard the teaching that says conflict has a cause I began to question, and to discover the cause of suffering.

　　Now the delusion of our life is that we tend to get fascinated by particular types of experience. If I get angry at the bus being late, I think it”s the bus driver”s problem, or it”s my problem. I”m always looking outside to figure out what the problem is, but I”m not looking at the anger. The teaching that we use is one of being more objective: "OK, this is an experience of anger, but that is something which arises and ceases. What”s causing the suffering here

　　" So we”re detaching now from the seeming urgency and complexity and fascination of our experiences. In this process, it doesn”t matter what we”re angry at, what matters is that we look more deeply into these basic mental patterns in order to understand. If we are willing to look into our conflicts, to open our minds to conflict, then we can discover something, can”t we

　　 Whereas if we make a judgement that we should be someone who never has fear or anger - should always be bright and beautiful and charming - then, when the opposite comes, we tend to try to push it away. There is no reflection, there is just some kind of idea or expectation that we attach to, and then frustration when this can`t be met. But if we look at it differently we see that experience is just a process, and in that process there is something that we have to discover, something we have to look at. We have to understand what is the cause of conflict.

　　So it”s not the experience that is the problem: lust is not the problem; fear is not the problem; boredom is not the problem. The problem is the attachment to these. What does this word `attachment” mean

　　 What is attachment

　　 This moment is the way it is now. Why do I make it a problem, why does there have to be conflict

　　 This isn”t a judgement; it”s not saying I shouldn”t have conflict, it”s saying awaken to the cause. When there is a welcoming attitude to the predicament we”re in, we begin to see what attachment and letting go is. Attachment is always bound up with a sense of `I”; letting go is an open acceptance of this moment the way it is. This is something that we have to discover, we have to see it quite clearly. This is the path of insight.

　　Training (bhavana in Pali): we have to make effort. Sometimes this teaching of letting go can sound like a sort of complacent acceptance. I might get angry and punch someone in the nose and say: "It”s all right, just let go. No problem!" Then get angry again and punch you in the eye, and say: "I”m an angry person. That”s just the way it is!" - but that”s not it, is it

　　 - There is training to be done.

　　The two things that I find very helpful in training are: 1) to see cause and effect, and 2) intention. We can always reflect upon cause and effect, asking for example: "What is the result of my practice

　　 How long have I been practising and what”s the result

　　 Am I more at ease with life than I was ten years ago

　　 Or, a year ago

　　 Or am I more up-tight

　　" If I”m more up-tight, then I need to consider my practice! If I”m more at ease, then also I should consider my practice. So we look at cause and effect asking:…

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