How often it is that our response to our own suffering is to grasp at the very things which bring about our suffering!
We seem to have a wrong ‘gameplan’ – one which says that having or grasping this or that experience will make things ‘right’, and not having or pushing away something will lessen what is unsatisfactory. So when times get tough, or we feel disatisfied, we seem to want to grasp onto these ephemeral experiences, and push and pull at them to attain what we seek.
Yet what we seek surely comes from letting go of this gameplan, this uncontrolled desire to make the world right via accepting and rejecting experiences, and seeking the perfect situation.
Trying to beat Samsara at its own game
When the going gets tough, we often retreat into trying to beat Samsara at its own game, only to find that the wheel goes round, and actually spins faster. When the pressure is on, we may choose to not meditate, but to watch TV or whatever turns you on, seeking relief in that which cannot bring it.
How interesting that this ‘vicious circle’ is a tendency in something which is described as an endless circle. It’s as if things compound themselves – we suffer, so we grasp ever stronger at that which binds us to our suffering. And so the wheel goes round, and we are ever more bound to the wheel, tighter and stronger.
The courage to not grasp
Sometimes it takes an act of courage to not grasp at the samsaric straws, and have faith in the methods of the Buddhas, however seductive the straws seem.
Then the more we reject the attempted quick fix, the straw, the more we see that the true path works, the more confidence we gain in the teachings and the more faith we experience for this path.
The virtuous circle
And this too builds up, a ‘non-vicious’ circle, empowering our actions and thoughts. A pressure builds up which pushes us onwards, even when we falter, a momentum which guides and supports us.
Step off one wheel, and step onto the conveyor belt!