31 March 2012

The Land of Enough

What moves us from one set of conditions to the next is craving.  Things rise and fall, come into being and pass away, but what turns it into a story line with a "me" involved and demarcated relations between that "me" and everything else, is craving.

"Craving" is a hard word to like.  It sounds so crass and banal.  That's because it is.   I can look at everything I've ever been driven to seek out or avoid and see in all of it nothing but pettiness and smallness.

Of course, at issue here is not the usual run of things in a normal life.  Part of growing up is discerning some suitable line of work, securing appropriate training, applying for a job, and doing one's work.  It's not craving to seek to pay one's own bills and make one's way in the world, put a roof over one's head or maintain a level of cleanliness and dignity.

Craving, at least in my experience, starts of with that little "bright idea" in the mind: "Instead of doing what needs doing now, I think I'll do this, because it's more fun/less stressful/makes me feel good/etc."  It's seeking the alternative to what's right in front of me that marks the first signs of craving arising.  How rarely do I find myself seeking what's right under my nose.  "Somewhere over the rainbow," "on the other side of the fence," and "in the future" are the places toward which craving tends.  "Right here, right now" never seems to be quite enough.

But it is.  At least that's what the noble ones say, and that's what I, in my better moments, have actually begun to see.  I heard recently that one of the Thai Ajaans spoke of the extinguishing of craving as entering "the land of enough."  What a cool way to put it!  Cuts right to the heart of the matter, doesn't it?

1 comment:

  1. "Craving, at least in my experience, starts of with that little "bright idea" in the mind: 'Instead of doing what needs doing now, I think I'll do this, because it's more fun/less stressful/makes me feel good/etc.'"

    That's a wonderful definition of craving - the world of the hungry ghost. I've been fighting with craving a lot lately.

    I enjoy your blog. :)

    ReplyDelete