Chocolate or Fame? Why am I here?

(This article is adapted for a meditation class and based on a teaching by Lama Thubten Yeshe, entitled "Make your Mind an Ocean". The full article on the teaching can be found here.)

I don’t know if you remember the dreams and wishes you had when you were a kid. Dreams about growing up, earning your own money and buying as many sweets, chocolates and ice cream as you wanted. Then we would be so happy!

As an adult, if I told you that all I’m living for is chocolate and ice cream, you’d think I was crazy. And if we examine our life from childhood to the present as an analytical meditation, it is obvious and easy to see how our mind has changed since we were little: “At that time my mind was like that; now my mind is like this. It has changed this way, that way.”

Being adult, and chocolate alone (probably) doesn’t make us happy anymore, we think slightly differently: bigger house, new tv, a husband or wife. Or perhaps we don't eat chocolate anymore because a slimmer body makes us happy. Or we strive for status or popularity.

Our mind has changed so many times since we were children, and maybe we need more now than just chocolate. But have we actually reached any conclusion as to what really makes us happy? Is it chocolate? Or fame?

We are intelligent; and we know intellectually, that material objects alone cannot bring satisfaction, and are in themselves not what creates happiness. We don't expect material objects to satisfy us completely or make our life perfect; it's impossible.

Conversely, to find happiness outside our material possessions, don’t think we have to give up all our possessions. Possessions are not what is creating misery or making our life difficult. We become restless and unhappy when our mind CLINGS to our possessions with attachment.

So what does create happiness? Or, alternatively, what is it that is causing us problems?

How well do we know our own mind? "Our mind is like a mirror, reflecting everything without discrimination. If you have understanding-wisdom, you can control the kind of reflection that you allow into the mirror of your mind. If you totally ignore what is happening in your mind, it will reflect whatever garbage it encounters - including things that will make you psychologically sick."

In meditation we can work at generating the kind of attention which Lama Yeshe calls "checking-wisdom". Your checking-wisdom should distinguish between reflections that are beneficial and those that bring psychological problems.

Try it. Introduce a problem to yourself. Perhaps start with something simple and small: “Here is this kind of problem. How has it become a problem? What kind of mind feels that it’s a problem?”

When you check your mind, don't push or try to intellectualise it too much. Relax. And don't get upset when problems arise. Just be aware of them and where they come from, know their root. Watch how your mind perceives or interprets any object that it encounters. Observe what feelings come up, comfortable or uncomfortable. Then check: when this feeling arises, that emotion or this emotion comes, what do I perceive? How do I discriminate? Why do I discriminate in this way? How much am I attached to the outcome?

When we check our own mind thoroughly like this, we will soon see that what we thought was a problem, automatically disappears. So a problem is in the mind. It's that simple."

"Therefore, we should treat ourselves wisely and try to discover the true source of our happiness or satisfaction."

Lama Yeshe: “I’m not exaggerating—check yourself, then you’ll see. Through thorough examination you can realise that dedicating your entire life to seeking happiness through chocolate and ice cream completely nullifies the significance of your having been born human."

"Birds and dogs have similar aims. Shouldn’t your goals in life be higher than those of dogs and chickens? What are you living for—chocolate? Steak? Perhaps you think, “Of course I don’t live for food. I’m an educated person.” But education also comes from the mind. Without the mind there’s no philosophy, no doctrine, no university subjects. All these things are mind-made. So we need to check our mind.”

What, then, is satisfaction?

The greatest problems of humanity are psychological, not material. From birth to death, people are continuously under the control of their mental sufferings.

Is all this very new for you? No, it is not.

What I liked particularly about this article was the push it gave me to look deeper into the questions:

"What makes me happy?", which leads me to the question:

"What is my life’s purpose?"

"Why are we here?" To be well liked? To become famous? To accumulate possessions? To be attractive to others?

In this teaching, Lama Yeshe was asked:

Q: I was thinking that many people in the world today are hungry and deprived of basic needs and while they are preoccupied with hunger and the safety of their families, its hard for them to grasp the more subtle aspects of phenomena, such as the nature of their own minds.

LAMA: Yes, I understand what you are saying, but don’t forget that the starving person preoccupied by hunger and the obese person obsessing over what else to buy in the supermarket are basically the same. Don’t just focus on those who are materially deprived. Mentally, rich and poor are equally disturbed, and, fundamentally, one is as unhappy as the other.

Have a great week!

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Mx