Peace of mind arises from not seeing through the tainted lenses of deluded attachment and aversion.
Alas! If we observe how this lost mind works,
When it is happy, it becomes arrogant and its desires multiply;
When it suffers, it loses courage and wants to be happy;
Whatever happens to it, it never takes the path of lasting happiness.
Alas! It wanders endlessly in suffering!
Who can count the number of thoughts,
In just one day, one after another, like ripples on the water?
Exhausted with vain concepts of rejection and appropriation,
By hopes and fears, it buys its own suffering!
This inner conversation that we are powerless to stop
Goes round and round like a wheel.
Its root is the belief in duality:
Without it, there would be no mental constructs.
These constructs spawn mistaken thoughts.
The arrogance of the ego arises, and an endless web
Of thoughts, pursuing pleasure and refusing suffering,
Is woven continuously even into our dreams.
Would I not be better to set down
The useless burden of these troubles
That no one imposes on me
But I inflict on myself?
– Mipham Rinpoche
On The Path To Enlightenment: Heart Advice From The Great Tibetan Masters
Compiled By Matthieu Ricard
