Chapter 03 The Suffering of Change (pleasure) expands greed and desire, greed and desire increase suffering.

The Essence of Happiness and True Freedom

2.2-The.Essence.of.Happiness.and.True.Freedom Chapter03 Suffering Change pleasure

The Essence of Happiness and True Freedom

Today, we shall continue to explore the Suffering of Change (pleasure), greed, and desire.

If people take part in an act, they will relieve themselves from mental and physical suffering and negative emotions as well. As a consequence, they fall into the Suffering of Change and wish for this feeling to continue. As a result, they most likely will perform that particular act consistently and continuously until the Suffering of Change has been temporarily reduced. However, the suffering and the negative emotions will soon attack again, so they have no choice but to repeat that act over and over again.

The Suffering of Change will extend our greed. This so-called "greed" means that the mind is attached to the suffering of change (happiness).

It is akin to oil on a cloth: it’s hard to rinse out the oil. By the same token, detaching the mind from the suffering of change (happiness) is difficult.

Our greed will then increase the Suffering of Not Getting What We Want, coupled with other mental and physical sufferings.

Every time, when we repetitively perform an act, we repetitively perform the greed, and then become more motivated to do it. The greed will transform into greed and enjoyment.

At this phase, the act has become enjoyment, in turn they will even do it more frequently. As an effect, greed will transform into desire.

When greed becomes stronger and stronger, it will become an addiction, creating an addict.

What does ‘addiction’ mean? In medicine, the basic definition of addiction is when the central nervous system is constantly stimulated by an external source and causes a habit or dependency to form as a consequence. ‘‘Addict’’ means a person who has lost control of certain habitual behaviours. So, addiction is a pathological disorder, treatment is difficult.

When a person is addicted to something, it will seriously affect their life, family, and work; if left unchecked, they may turn to crime to resolve the feeling of lack.

The most typical example is drug addiction. A typical example is drug addiction.

Most drug addictions are the result of mental emptiness, boredom, negativity and pessimism, relatively high mental stress, long-term drop in mood, depression, or a sense of disgust and helplessness about life. Drugs tend to numb the nervous system leaving the body and mind under a state of temporary relaxation. Under this influence, hallucinations and a sense of ecstasy may emerge, thereby temporarily relieving the negative emotions such as spiritual emptiness, decadence, and depression. However, taking drugs are like drinking poison to quench thirst. After the drug’s effects have diminished, the meridians become blocked and tightened again. The nervous system becomes like a deformed mechanical spring that won’t bounce back. Tremendous physical and emotional pain will rise. The body and mind will rise indescribable, excruciating pain. Consequently, more drugs will be needed to numb the nerves, open up the meridians, relax the body and mind, and alleviate the pain.

In fact, many behaviours if done repeatedly will become our pleasures, those of which usually consist of the following: earning money, binge watching dramas, idolizing stars, playing music, painting, calligraphy, dancing, gaming, playing ball, playing sports, joining competition, playing mah-jong, gambling, pursuing officialdom, and even the seeking of truth and so on. When these hobbies are in the early stage of pleasure, with desires unsatisfied, it will result in mental suffering and negative emotions; however they are still within control. With the passage of time, they will become more pronounced, no longer within the same category as hobbies anymore, they are **the addictions.**Without fulfilling this void, mental suffering and the negative, emotional feeling will violently intensify. If we arrive at this point, we won’t be able to help ourselves.

Over time, the functions of the internal organs may begin to become disordered, and gradually the body will develop diseases. For example, nowadays many people have heart disease, the three highs, cancer, etc., and even more psychological issues. Various unusual physical and mental diseases lead to various physical sufferings. The long-term sufferings will hasten death.

Another possibility exists as well, when a person is carrying out an act which causes addiction, overtime their Suffering of Not Getting What One Wants, the Suffering of Separation from the Pleasant and the Suffering of Association with the Unpleasant will also increase rapidly.

They will be tortured in the long-term which could lead to carrying out acts that are against their own morals or even break the law. This prolonged suffering will make their life worse than death, and in turn could bring themselves to end their own life. It is also possible that they could suffer from an emotional breakdown and be warded into a mental health institute.

In other words, the source of greed is the Suffering of Change (happiness), and the essence of greed is caused by constantly habituating and increasing the attachment to the Suffering of Change.

If greed and enjoyment are not satisfied, it will cause psychological pains such as the Suffering of Not Getting What One Wants, the Suffering of Separation from the Pleasant, and the Suffering of Association with the Unpleasant, etc. It might also indirectly lead to physical diseases.

If greed and enjoyment are satisfied, due to the continual practise, greed and enjoyment will grow stronger, until they develop into greed and desire, or even avarice. If greed, desire and avarice are not satisfied continuously, it will lead to more vigorous, psychological pain along with negative, emotional feelings and many more physical sufferings.

If greed, desire and avarice is to be consistently satisfied, the already detrimental scenario will quickly consume the person’s energy and spirit, and cause one to age quickly, get sick, and die.

Under the forceful impact of various physical and psychological pain, human beings continue to seek ways to relieve themselves. Desire becomes the Suffering of Change, grows greed, which is the derivation of various hateful, negative emotions, a vicious circle is created.

This is our life.

With today's highly developed science and technology, both in the East, the West, and globally, comes the lack of faith and the decline in morality; many advocate individualism, hedonism, and liberalism. Addictions, nowadays, have become more prevalent. The entire human race is on the road of self-destruction.