"The situation the Earth is in today has been created by unmindful production and unmindful consumption. We consume to forget our worries and our anxieties. Tranquilising ourselves with over-consumption is not the way." - Thich Nhat Hanh
"There is a deep malaise in society. When we put a young person in this society without trying to protect him, he receives violence, hatred, fear, and insecurity every day, and eventually he gets sick. Our conversations, TV programs, advertisements, newspapers, and magazines all water the seeds of suffering in young people, and in not-so-young people as well. We feel a kind of vacuum in ourselves, and we try to fill it by eating, reading, talking, smoking, drinking, watching TV, going to the movies, or even overworking. Taking refuge in these things only make us feel hungrier and less satisfied, and we want to ingest even more. We need some guidelines, some preventive medicine, to protect ourselves, so we can become healthy again. We have to find a cure for our illness. We have to find something that is good, beautiful, and true in which we can take refuge."
- Thich Nhat Hanh
Noticed how we all (myself included) tends to seek external comfort (sensual desire) of all kinds to cover up our disatisfaction in life, which is inherent in all conditioned existence. Dukkha is inescapable in Samsara.
For me, that refuge is to be found from the Triple Gem (Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha), and walking the Middle Way till we exit from Samsara. Fortunately, walking the Path itself does provide some relief to our sufferings. Buddhism is about happiness now and happiness hereafter. It's ok if you don't understand this, or disagree with it. Buddhism is best to be experienced, not studied.
Sincerely, Charles.
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